Rhinau is a working small town in Alsace whose daily geography is shaped by the Rhine: river channels, floodplain woods, a hydroelectric landscape and a ferry landing sit alongside homes and local businesses. The commune counted 2,723 people in the 2023 municipal population, the precise Insee figure for Rhinau itself; 18 people were counted separately, making the total population 2,741. Those reference figures took effect on 1 January 2026. The town belongs to the Canton d’Erstein intermunicipal community and the Benfeld living area, but neither is the population boundary used here.
A border landscape made by a changing river
Rhinau’s unusual relationship with the opposite bank is part of its local history. The municipality traces its landholding east of the Rhine to a change in the river course in 1541. Later engineering, including nineteenth-century correction and twentieth-century canalisation, created the landscape of the old Rhine course, the canal and the island between them. That story is best read as the municipality’s account of a complicated border history, rather than as a substitute for current cadastral or legal information.
The Île de Rhinau National Nature Reserve protects 306.72 hectares across Rhinau, Schœnau and Sundhouse. It was established in 1991 to conserve a Rhine alluvial forest still influenced by seasonal flooding. Former channels, woodland, clearings and wet habitats make the reserve a living river landscape, not simply a stand of trees. Keep to the marked public trail: reserve protection does not mean that every part of the island is open for unrestricted access.
Saint-Michel: survival and rebuilding
Rhinau was heavily damaged during the fighting of December 1944. A French defence archive preserves a contemporary record of refugees leaving the burning commune, a sobering document of the destruction. The town centre was rebuilt after the war, and Saint-Michel makes that rupture visible in its architecture. The Ministry of Culture dates the earlier church’s principal construction campaign to the first quarter of the sixteenth century and records protection of its choir from 1935. The old pink-sandstone choir survived the destruction; a modern church was built around it in the 1950s and consecrated in 1960. The contrast is not a staged heritage effect: it records what the community lost and what it chose to preserve.
Work, services and a walk by the lock
Insee counted 532 jobs located in Rhinau in 2023: 187 in commerce, transport and services; 160 in public administration, education, health and social action; 125 in industry; 50 in construction; and 10 in agriculture. These are workplace jobs in a single census snapshot, not a description of every resident’s livelihood. The town’s autumn 2026 bulletin also reports a proposal by Gravières Rhénanes to extend extraction by roughly 10 hectares and continue for around twelve years; it was still subject to public and environmental review in that publication.
For a close look at the river setting, the marked Île des hautes eaux trail starts at the D20 lock parking area. The listed circuit is 4 km, around 1 hour 30 minutes, with no stated elevation gain. Its interpretive signs explain how the island formed. One branch is floodable and may be closed or impassable when water is high, including periods of snowmelt. Check conditions before walking and allow extra time for muddy ground.
Crossing and planning a visit
The free Rhénanus ferry normally carries pedestrians, bicycles and vehicles below 3.5 tonnes between Rhinau and Kappel-Grafenhausen. Its operator and tourism listings warn that maintenance or roadworks can interrupt service. On 18 October 2026, Grand Ried listed a German L103 works closure through 23 October, while the regional road-information portal showed a different end date. Treat the crossing as unavailable until its live status confirms otherwise. The Grand Ried visitor-information office is in Rhinau; the mairie and local bus information are also useful for services. Confirm ferry, office and attraction opening times before travelling, since notices and seasonal hours change.
