Last modified: 2021-04-24 by ivan sache
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Flag of Niederbronn-les-Bains - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 10 October 2020
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The municipality of Niederbronn-les-Bains (4,292 inhabitants in 2018; 3,140 ha) is located 50 km north-west of Strasbourg.
Olivier Touzeau, 10 October 2020
The flag of Niederbronn-les-Bains (photo, 2011) is white with the municipal logo.
Niederbronn-les-Bains was founded in 48 BC when the Romans discovered the healing properties of the local water. The earliest bathing place was in or near the present-day's location of the municipal casino. Water is recommended to heal rheumatism and degenerative illnesses.
The logo represents Source Liese / Liechteneck, better known as the Celtic Source. Located north of the town at the forest edge, the source supplies a cold (10C), oligo-metallic (0.03 g.L-1) water known as France's less mineralized water (sodium: 0.0011 g.-1).
The Société d'Exploitation des Eaux de Niederbronn started the exploitation of the Celtic source in 1989; close to bankruptcy, the company was purchased in 1999 by Edouard Meckert, who renamed it to La Source (website) and changed the market line of the water from a cheap product sold by hard discounters to the "high-quality water from the northern Vosges". In 2004, 80% of the production was sold to Germany, Nordic countries and the US Army.
The Celtic water was granted a purity label by the Parc naturel régional des Vosges du Nord; in 2004, the harnessing site was transferred in 2004 from the historic source to an underground source (- 40 m) located closer to the bottling factory. Celtic employs 25 people in Niederbronn and has remained since then independent from the majors of food industry.
[LSA, 25 March 2004]
Olivier Touzeau & Ivan Sache, 19 October 2020