Guebwiller (, ; Alsatian: Gàwiller ; ) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin département in Grand Est currently in north-eastern France. It was a sub-prefecture of the department until 2015. It is situated northwest of Mulhouse at the foot of the Vosges mountains. The Ballon de Guebwiller, the highest point in the Vosges, lies to the west of the town. In 2018, Guebwiller had a population of 11,022 and its urban area had a population of 28,662. History Guebweiler, as Gebweiler, is mentioned as early as 774. It belonged to the religious foundation of Murbach, and in 1759 the abbots chose it for their residence. In 1789, at the outbreak of the French Revolution, the monastic buildings were laid in ruins, and, though the archives were rescued and removed to Colmar, the library perished. Geography Climate Guebwiller has a oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb). The average annual temperature in Guebwiller is . The average annual rainfall is with December as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Guebwiller was on 13 August 2003; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 20 December 2009. Population People Guebwiller was the birthplace of Casimir de Rathsamhausen (1698-1786) Ignace Ritter (1732-1813), architect François Joseph Rudler (1757-1837) Émile Keller (1820-1909) Niklaus Riggenbach (1817-1899), engineer Frédéric Ritter (1819-1893) Théodore Deck (1823-1891), ceramist Joseph Guerber (1824-1909), writer and journalist Gustave Schlumberger (1844-1929), historian, Byzantinist, numismatist Andreas Bauer (1866-1900) missionary Franciscan friar, martyr in China Jeanne Bucher (1872-1946) Prosper Merklen (1874-1939), physician Jean Schlumberger (1877-1968), publisher and writer Francois Conrad Schlumberger (1878-1936), co-founder of Schlumberger. see Schlumberger Brothers Charles Hueber (1883-1943), politician Emile Henry Marcel Schlumberger (1884-1953), co-founder of Schlumberger. see Schlumberger Brothers Louis Gava (1891-1965), conductor Al Weill (1893-1969), boxing manager Joseph Storck (1897-1989) Alfred Kastler (1902-1984), physicist Émile Baas (1906-1984), essayist Pierre Lévy (1907-2002), industrialist Armand Walter (1908-1995) Robert Schilling (historian) (1913–2004), Pierre Ritz (1922-2009), conductor and composer Katia Krafft (1942-1991), volcanologist Roland Hodel (1943-), prefect and politician Sonia Pelletier-Gautier (1958-), historian and writer Twin towns Guebwiller is twinned with: Lucerne (Switzerland) Castelfiorentino (Italy) Points of interest Romanesque and early gothic church, Église Saint-Léger Gothic former Dominican abbey Les Dominicains, now used as a cultural center. Early Renaissance townhall (Hôtel de ville) Neoclassical church Église Notre-Dame, the largest Neoclassical church in Alsace Musée Théodore Deck