A bridge leads over the Rhine to Neuf-Brisach , Alsace. Its name is Celtic and means breakwater. The root Breis can also be found in the French word briser meaning to break. The hill on which Breisach came into existence was — at least when there was a flood — in the middle of the Rhine, until the Rhine was straightened by the engineer Johann Gottfried Tulla in the 19th century, thus breaking its surge.
The seat of a Celtic prince was at the hill on which Breisach is built. The Romans maintained an auxiliary castle on Mons Brisiacus which came from the Celtic word Brisger, which means waterbreak. The Staufer dynasty founded Breisach as a city in the modern sense, but there had already been a settlement with a church at the time.
An 11th-century coin from Breisach was found in the Sandur hoard. In the early 13th century, construction on the St. In the early 16th century, Breisach was a significant stronghold of the Holy Roman Empire.
After Bernard's death in , his general gave the territory to France, which saw it as its own conquest. In the Peace of Westphalia in , Breisach was de jure given to France. In , Breisach was part of Further Austria. The St. In , Breisach was considered as the construction site for a nuclear power plant , but Wyhl was chosen instead, where the construction project was later abandoned in the face of heavy opposition. After the municipal elections on June 13, , the seats in the municipal council were distributed as follows:.
Breisach station was, until , the frontier station on the Freiburg—Colmar international railway line. Since the railway bridge across the Rhine was destroyed during the Second World War , railway services have been restricted to the German side of the river. Viticulture is very important for the economy of both Breisach and the Kaiserstuhl.
