The name refers to a dry, uncultivable soil (Hart) on which boxwood grows and is used on Palm Sunday (Palmen). On 19 August 1914, the Palmenhart was first occupied by French battalions of the 253rd Infantry Regiment and then taken by the 4th Battalion of the 119th Württemberg Landwehr Regiment. The latter dominated Flaxlanden on one side and the Ill valley on the other. It was driven out by French artillery fire from behind the Petit Séminaire in Zillisheim.