This charming little Alsatian village in the Haut-Rhin region has a special feature. Have you heard of it?. It's here, and nowhere else in Alsace, that an endemic variety of almond tree grows. And the villagers are very proud of it. As proof, the hill overlooking the village is called " Mandelberg ," the almond tree hill. This village is also called "Le Midi de l'Alsace," thanks to and/or because of the microclimate that allows these almond trees to be grown here. Passed down from generation to generation in Mittelwihr , legend has it that almond trees traveled a little over 1,200 years ago in the coffers of Emperor Charlemagne. While passing through Alsace with his entourage, he stopped in Mittelwihr. Legend has it that after leaving, a bag of seeds was found (forgotten here or left intentionally).Finding this suspicious, the men of the village buried these seeds. In the spring, to their surprise, they discovered cuttings bearing a fruit unknown in the region: the almond. These almond trees still exist today and bloom again every spring.
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