Grendelbruch is a commune

Communes of France

The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...

 in the Bas-Rhin

Bas-Rhin

Bas-Rhin is a department of France. The name means "Lower Rhine". It is the more populous and densely populated of the two departments of the Alsace region, with 1,079,013 inhabitants in 2006.- History :...

 department in Alsace

Alsace

Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...

 in north-eastern France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

The name is sometimes colloquially shortened to Gembri.

Geography

Grendelbruch is a mountainous village set in the forested region to the west of Obernai.

Surrounding communes

• Bœrsch
  Bœrsch
  Bœrsch is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
  
  , Mollkirch
  Mollkirch
  Mollkirch is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
  
  , Rosheim
  Rosheim
  Rosheim is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.It lies southwest of Strasbourg, on the eastern slopes of the Vosges mountains...
  
  , Muhlbach-sur-Bruche
  Muhlbach-sur-Bruche
  Muhlbach-sur-Bruche is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
  
  , Barembach
  Barembach
  Barembach is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
  
  , Natzwiller
  Natzwiller
  Natzwiller is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-History:Built around 1941 on the territory of the commune, Natzweiler-Struthof was the only Nazi concentration camp on French soil. The inmates originally were German who were to supply labor for building V-2...
  
   and Russ
  Russ
  Russ is a participant in the traditional Norwegian upper secondary high school graduation ceremony known as russefeiring . Russ are easily recognized by their distinctive overalls and caps resembling student caps...
  
  .

History

The first surviving written mention of Grendelbruch appears in a papal bull

Papal bull

A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....

 dated November 28, 1049, wherein the pope confirms that the Abbey of Altdorf may receive the tithes from "Grundelbac". Bac is an old Germanic

Alsatian language

Alsatian is a Low Alemannic German dialect spoken in most of Alsace, a region in eastern France which has passed between French and German control many times.-Language family:...

 word for a brook (Modern German: Bach), and Grendelbruch is one of a number of place names formed between the fifth and eighth centuries (when Germanic dialects predominated in the region) ending in a form of this word.

Grendelbruch was liberated from German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 occupation on November 26, 1944 by the Second Battalion of the Thirtieth Infantry Regiment

30th Infantry Regiment (United States)

The 30th Infantry Regiment is a United States Army infantry regiment.-Lineage:*Constituted 2 February 1901 in the Regular Army as the 30th Infantry...

 of the US Army. Under the command of Lt Col Frederick R Armstrong the battalion engaged in fierce house to house fighting through the night. Significant further fighting took place in the forest surrounding the village.