Amiens

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Amiens
Amiens coat of arms
Amiens (France)
Amiens
region Hauts-de-France ( Prefecture )
Department Somme
Arrondissement Amiens (chef-lieu)
Canton Amiens-1 (main town)
Amiens-2 (main town)
Amiens-3 (main town)
Amiens-4 (main town)
Amiens-5 (main town)
Amiens-6 (main town)
Amiens-7 (main town)
Community association Amiens metropolis
Coordinates 49 ° 54 '  N , 2 ° 18'  E Coordinates: 49 ° 54 '  N , 2 ° 18'  E
height 14-106 m
surface 49.46 km 2
Residents 134,057 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 2,710 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 80000
INSEE code 80021
Website http://www.amiens.fr/

Amiens Cathedral

Amiens [ amjɛ ] ( Latin Ambianum of [ad] Ambiānōs , on Ambiani ' ) is the capital of the French departments of Somme in the region of Hauts-de-France , and has 134,057 inhabitants (as of January 1 2017). These are called Amiénois .

geography

The city is located about 140 kilometers north of Paris on the canalized Somme and at the confluence of its left tributaries Selle and Avre .

history

Ancient and Middle Ages

Human evidence goes back to the Paleolithic era 700,000 years ago. In 1872 Gabriel de Mortillet discovered a site of hand axes in the Amiens suburb of Saint-Acheul . That is why today a cultural stage of the Paleolithic bears the name Acheuléen .

Before the Romans occupied the area on the Somme, the Celtic Ambiani had lived there. The name Amiens was later derived from their tribal names . At the time of Roman rule, the settlement was named Samarobriva ( Gaulish : briva , bridge , Samara , Somme , that is, bridge over the Somme). The Romans built the strategically important Somme crossing into one of the most important places in their province of Gallia Belgica .

Julius Caesar , according to his own report ( De Bello Gallico ) of September 54 BC, stayed. Until the spring of 53 BC. BC to convene the Gallic council twice. The city received a large forum (320 × 125 m), thermal baths (on today's Rue Beauvais) and an amphitheater for 15,000 spectators (on the site of today's town hall). In 287 Saint Firmin was mentioned as a bishop; he was martyred in 303 . The diocese was later subordinated to the Archdiocese of Reims .

The Saint Martin should have shared in Amiens in winter 338/339 his cloak with a beggar.

With increasing barbarian invasions by Alans , Vandals and Burgundians , Amiens was converted into a fortress: the city wall covered 20 hectares, making Amiens the largest fortress north of the Alps. Nevertheless, the city fell into the hands of the Franks in the 5th century . With Picardy , Amiens came to Burgundy at the beginning of the 15th century and belonged to that part of the Burgundian heritage that remained with France after 1493.

Modern times and the present

Amiens has developed into an important industrial location since the 18th century , primarily the textile industry, with the Cosserat family becoming particularly important.

In 1802, Great Britain and Napoleonic France signed the Amiens Peace Treaty here , which lasted only 13 months. In 1848 Amiens got a railway connection. In 1906 the French trade union CGT held a historic congress here, at which it approved the Amiens Charter .

During the First World War (1914–1918) the city was briefly occupied by the Germans; from July 1 to November 18, 1916, the Battle of the Somme took place a little east of Amiens . It was canceled without having brought about a military decision; With over a million soldiers killed, wounded and missing, it is one of the most costly battles of the First World War. Amiens was a stage town , and the baroque figure of the Weeping Angel in the cathedral of Amiens became a symbol of this attrition battle among soldiers and on their postcards . The Battle of Amiens in August 1918 formed the prelude to the Allied final offensive, the Hundred Days Offensive .

During the Second World War (1939-1945), Amiens was captured by the advancing 1st Panzer Division at noon on May 20, 1940 as part of the western campaign . In April 1944, the Western Allies flew air strikes mainly on railway junctions - including Amiens - in preparation for the invasion of Normandy . Amiens was badly damaged. On August 31, 1944, British troops entered the city. The cityscape is shaped by the reconstruction of the 1950s.

In Amiens, there is one of the nationwide 15 security zones ( Zone de sécurité prioritaire ) in a problem district for which the (former) Interior Minister Manuel Valls (PS), who came into office in 2012 , has announced an increased police presence.

On April 6, 2016, the En Marche movement was founded in Amiens .

politics

coat of arms

Blazon : "Under with golden lilies besätem blue shield main red a symmetrical silver ivy tree."

The coat of arms comes from a jury seal that Philipp-August bestowed on the city in 1185. The French royal lilies were included in the coat of arms . The open spaces were filled in by coat of arms painters with arabesques , ornamental foliage, willow branches and ivy tendrils. The tendrils of the ivy tree were intended to show the city's bond with the crown . In the large coat of arms, two unicorns hold the shield and demonstrate purity and sincerity.

Partnerships

Amiens is twin city of Dortmund and Görlitz in Germany as well as Darlington in Great Britain and Tulsa in the United States of America. Further relationships with the aim of social and economic cooperation exist with Brighton and Hove in Great Britain, Lviv in Ukraine and Santa Catarina on the island of Santiago off Cape Verde. There are also contacts with the city of Nador in Morocco.

Attractions

Saint Leu district

Old historical landmarks

19th century buildings

  • Bibliothèque Louis Aragon , in the neoclassical style in 1823 by François-Auguste Cheussey built
  • Palais de Justice , two buildings from 1834 and 1846
  • Place Saint-Denis (now Place René Goblet) 1839
  • Parish Church of Saint-Firmin-le-Martyr 1842–1843 François-Auguste Cheussey
  • On the Cimetière de la Madeleine the grave of Jules Verne

Buildings of the 20th century

Tour Perret
  • The Tour Perret, completed in 1952 and designed by the architect Auguste Perret , towers over the cathedral with a height of 104 meters and is a defining element of the city's silhouette

economy

Amiens is an important location for suppliers to the automotive industry ( Valeo , Goodyear , Dunlop ). Since the 1990s, more and more internet companies and call centers have settled in the city.

traffic

Amiens is a major transport hub in northern France:

Road traffic

The A16 autoroute connects Amiens with Paris and Calais , and the A29 autoroute connects Amiens with Saint-Quentin and Le Havre.

Rail transport

There are train connections to Boulogne, Lille , Reims , Paris and Rouen . From the Gare d'Amiens, the main train station, there are only regional connections. The TGV Haute-Picardie long-distance train station has existed since 1993 on the north high-speed line between the cities of Amiens and Saint-Quentin .

air traffic

In the east of the city is the Amiens-Glisy airfield .

city ​​traffic

The city has a bus network with 18 lines. Most of the city buses are from Mercedes-Benz . In addition, 43 electric buses from the Spanish manufacturer Irizar are in use. In addition, Amiens Métropole has had a plan to build a tram since 2012 .

Personalities

Web links

Commons : Amiens  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Caesar, de bello Gallico 5.24 + 53
  2. ^ LF Ellis: The War in France and Flanders, 1939-1940 , HMSO, London 1954, p. 253.
  3. ^ Serious youth riots in the northern French city of Amiens. In: NZZ.ch. August 14, 2012, accessed July 14, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Amiens website ( Memento of May 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ^ Base Mérimée