Mulhouse is a town and commune in eastern France close to Swiss and German border. It is the largest town in Haut-Rhin, and the second largest in Alsace after Strasbourg. Its designated local development area consists of 16 communes, but its conurbation is substantially larger than that.

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Population: 110,000
• The town's development was stimulated first by the expansion of the textile industry and tanning
• Medieval Mulhouse consists essentially of a lower and an upper town
• Two rivers run through Mulhouse, the Doller and the Ill, both tributaries of the Rhine

SIGHTS AND ATTRACTIONS

• Place de la Bourse and the building of the Société Industrielle de Mulhouse, in the Nouveau Quartier (19th century)
• Botanical gardens and zoo
• Renaissance Town Hall with painted façade
• Numerous quality museums: French Railway Museum, National Automotive Museum (several hundred vintage cars), Printed Fabrics Museum, and others