Illkirch is believed to be a Frankish foundation. The town, like Alsace/Elsaß, takes the first syllable of its name from the river that crosses it: the second syllable is simply the local word for a church. The spelling of the name has changed as the language has developed: Ellofanum (720), Illechilechen (826), Illenkirche (845), Illekiriche (920), Illachirecha (1163) and Illenkirchen (1172) which mutated into the contemporary name, Illkirch.
When Rudolf von Habsburg was elected King of the Romans in 1273, he urgently needed military help from his leading supporters against his rival, King Ottokar II of Bohemia, who was reluctant to accept Rudolf as emperor. As a reward for their services, Rudolf in 1284 elevated several leading Strasbourgers to the knighthood. To his favoured supporter, Bernhard von Müllenheim, he also granted the ford at Grafenstaden, with the right to levy tolls on travellers: the value of the concession was enhanced by the absence of any bridge. Hitherto the citizens of Strasbourg had been able to use the Grafenstaden ford without payment, and in 1391 ownership of the ford reverted to the city: from that year, there was a requirement weekly to transfer money collected from tolls to Strasbourg.
Historians know of Illkirch from the Illkirch Capitulation Document. In 1681, facing the prospect of imminent French invasion, Hans Georg von Zedlitz, mayor of Strasbourg, tried to obtain imperial support to turn back the advancing soldiers from Strasbourg, which enjoyed privileged status as a free imperial city. Imperial support did not materialize, however, and in order to avoid greater suffering von Zedlitz was finally obliged to sign the Surrender Document of Illkirch on 30 September 1681.
Graffenstaden was a village bordering Illkirch: the two communes were merged for economic reasons between 1790 and 1794.
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