It is near the FranceβSwitzerland border and FranceβGermany border. It is the largest city in Haut-Rhin and second largest in Alsace after Strasbourg. Mulhouse is a commune with a population of , in Mulhouse commune is a subprefecture , the administrative centre of the Arrondissement of Mulhouse. It is one of the most populated sub-prefectures in France. The first written records of the town date from the twelfth century. The city joined the Swiss Confederation as an associate in and was therefore not annexed by France in the Peace of Westphalia in like the rest of the Sundgau.
Starting in the middle of the eighteenth century, the Koechlin family pioneered cotton cloth manufacturing; Mulhouse became one of France's leading textile centers in the nineteenth century. The firm in already employed 1, people.
The city was briefly occupied by French troops on 8 August at the start of World War I , but they were forced to withdraw two days later in the Battle of Mulhouse. French forces then reoccupied the city again on 19 August, before retreating again on 28 August having suffered heavy casualties. Alsatians who celebrated the appearance of the French army were left to face German reprisals, with several citizens sentenced to death.
The town's development was stimulated first by the expansion of the textile industry and tanning , and subsequently by chemical and Engineering industries from the mid 18th century.
Mulhouse was for a long time called the French Manchester. Consequently, the town has enduring links with Louisiana , from which it imported cotton, and also with the Levant. The town's history also explains why its centre is relatively small.
