The commune is part of the Parc naturel régional des Vosges du Nord.

In the Middle Ages it was part of the lordship of Lichtenberg, a small German territory within the Holy Roman Empire.

During the reign of Louis XIV of France the territory came under French dominance, although it continued to be ruled by the counts of Hanau.

After the death of the last Hanau count, Johann Reinhard III, the county was inherited by the son of his only daughter Charlotte, the hereditary prince and later Landgrave of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt, Ludwig IX.

While the area was occupied by Germany from 1940 until the liberation of France from Nazi occupation in the Second World war, it was not formally annexed.