Economy

After the First World War the largest employer was the Société Alsacienne de Constructions Mécaniques (SACM), a heavy engineering business that specialised in the manufacture of railway locomotives and machine tools. The factory had originally been built before the annexation of Alsace by Germany, but had been operated separately as a German business between 1871 and 1918. Although heavy engineering still plays a part in the local economy, the second half of the twentieth century saw a massive decline in the sector and much of the old industrial site is today covered by a large shopping centre, offices and even residential developments. Today it is the tertiary sector that provides most of the employment in the area.