Stadt Ditzingen

Rillieux-la-Pape is located at the edge of the Rhộne department, 15 kilometers from Lyon and belongs to the Rhộne-Alpes region. The town is on the A46 express route and is only 30 minutes from the airport in Saint-Exupery. Rillieux-la-Pape has 30,003 inhabitants, 75 nationalities, and is spread out over 14,498 hectares, of which 50% is green space and agricultural land.

The name Rillieux derives from the early Latin word rilla (groove, furrow) and refers to an ancient route prior to Roman times. Rillieux-la-Pape was created on December 12, 1972 with the merging of Rillieux und Crépieux-la-Pape and is a young community with a thousand-year-old history. Originally, Rillieux-la-Pape was a prosperous, agricultural village and the site of the first cooperative sauerkraut factory in France. Today the town is shaped by the urbanization that took place between 1965 and 1975 with the construction of la ville nouvelle (the new city) between Rillieux and Crépieux for those returning from northern Africa and Asia. Today Rillieux-la-Pape possesses a special economic dynamism with 750 businesses and 6,000 jobs. Particularly present are those with expertise in the textile industry or a focus on the automotive industry, as represented by seven concessions, but small enterprises are also promoted and encouraged.

Rillieux-la-Pape has eight nursery schools, 10 elementary and two comprehensive schools, one college-preparatory school and three vocational schools, as well as one private school with kindergarten, elementary, comprehensive and college-prep schools. The German language is emphasized in the schools with additional instruction on German traditions and culture. The town’s cultural institutions, Espace Baudelair and La maison de la jeunesse et de la culture, house a theater and cinema, along with a mediathek, music studios and ballrooms. A theater troupe and a cultural association are located in Le Tapis volant. Classical dance is rehearsed and performed in Maguy Marin. For athletic activities, there is a swimming pool, eight gymnasiums and athletic halls, nine outdoor sports fields, three stadiums, three sports clubs, four bouledromes outside and one indoors, as well as a mini-golf course. Rillieux-la-Pape offers its citizens numerous activities and festivals with over 260 clubs and associations.  Among the most popular are the solidarity festival, the Mardi Gras parade, the Sports Day, the annual fair with over 100 exhibitors, the week of the Citoyenneté, the popular du chou (sauerkraut) festival, and the traditional Christmas market.

The mayor Alexandre Vincendet is in office since 30th march 2014. 

After the vast majority of those on district councils of both towns agreed to the formation of a twin town partnership, the formal documents establishing the sister-city status of Ditzingen and Rillieux-la-Pape were drawn up and signed on May 9, 2010 in the banquet hall of the town hall in Rillieux-la-Pape.