Kembs, an ancient Gallo-Roman village (formerly called Cambete), developed along the axis of a Roman road that linked Strasbourg to Augst in Switzerland. Later, Kembs became an important staging post for the Royal Mail (the horseshoe on its coat of arms evokes this period). Between 1928 and 1932, Kembs was the site of the first of ten hydroelectric power stations to be built on the Franco-German section of the Rhine, at the same time as the first reach of the Grand Canal d'Alsace was constructed under the direction of engineer Koechlin. Inaugurated on October 9, 1932 by French President Albert Lebrun, the power station was destroyed during the Second World War, then rebuilt and put back into operation in 1945.