Hatten (French pronunciation: [atən]; Alsatian: Hàtte) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France,[3] some fifteen kilometres (nine miles) to the south of Wissembourg.

In 1939, because Hatten was on the Maginot Line, the authorities had arranged for the town's 1,500 inhabitants to be evacuated to Châteauponsac in the Limousin region, six hundred kilometers to the southwest.

However, after July 1940, the village had survived the invasion of France undamaged; therefore, the residents were able to return to Hatten, since the whole of Alsace had then reverted to its pre-1919 status as a part of Germany.

On December 13, 1944, after four years of occupation, the village had been liberated without any fighting by the Americans and the residents looked forward to the resumption of peace.

During the fierce tank battles between the Germans and the Americans that had taken place over the course of twelve days in the middle of January, 350 of the 365 houses which had inhabited the village had been destroyed.