Bethune
| Bethune | ||
|---|---|---|
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| region | Hauts-de-France | |
| Department | Pas-de-Calais | |
| Arrondissement | Bethune | |
| Canton | Béthune (main town) | |
| Community association | Béthune-Bruay, Artois-Lys novels | |
| Coordinates | 50 ° 32 ' N , 2 ° 38' E | |
| height | 19-38 m | |
| surface | 9.43 km 2 | |
| Residents | 24,895 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 2,640 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 62400 | |
| INSEE code | 62119 | |
| Website | www.mairie-bethune.fr | |
 Grand Place with town hall, belfry and church |
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Bethune ( Dutch Betun ) is a French municipality with 24,895 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in the department of Pas-de-Calais in the region of Hauts-de-France . Béthune is a member of the Béthune-Bruay municipal association , Artois-Lys Romane .
geography
Béthune is located on the A 26 (E 15) 85 km south-southeast of Calais and 35 km from Arras . The city is bypassed to the north by the Canal d'Aire (German 'La Bassée-Kanal'), which forms the major shipping route Dunkirk-Schelde as part of a chain of canals that have been expanded for ships with a loading capacity of up to 3,000 tons . The original route of the canal has crossed the city and is still preserved in the periphery. The river Lawe flows northeast through the city.
history
During the War of the Spanish Succession , the fortress was successfully besieged by Marlborough and Prince Eugene in 1710 . During the First World War , Béthune was not occupied by the German army. In October 1914 the Allies were able to stop the German troops eight kilometers from Béthune. During the spring offensive of 1918 they shelled the center of Béthune with numerous grenades and incendiary projectiles . The city was on fire for more than four days. The artillery razed the Grand'Place and its surroundings to the ground. Only the sandstone belfry , built in the 14th century, remained - as a ruin. Overall, a quarter of the buildings were completely destroyed or badly damaged, including the town hall.
The center was later rebuilt in a picturesque style (including high facade gables with ornamental decorations from the Art Deco and Flemish styles).
During the Second World War , Béthune was under German occupation from June 1940 to autumn 1944 .
Sports
The " miners - footballers " of the Stade Béthune , founded in 1902, played an important role in French amateur football, especially in the decades before the onset of economic structural change in the region (from the beginning of the 1960s), and were twice (1938 and 1949) French amateur champions.
Twin cities
Personalities
- Counts, margraves and princes of Béthune (noble family)
- Jocelyn Blanchard (born 1972), French footballer
- Jean Buridan (1300–1358), French philosopher
- Antoine Busnois (1430–1492), French composer and poet
- Colin Dagba (* 1998), French football player
- Sabrina Delannoy (* 1986), French soccer player
- Nicolas Fauvergue (* 1984), French football player
- Sébastien Huyghe (* 1969), French politician
- Pierre de Manchicourt (around 1510–1564), Flemish composer
literature
- R. Fossier: Béthune . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 1, Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1980, ISBN 3-7608-8901-8 , Sp. 2084 f.
Web links
- Official website of the municipality of Béthune (French)
- Communauté d'Agglomération de l'Artois (French)
- Illustration of the city 1588 in Civitates orbis terrarum by Georg Braun