Epinal

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Epinal
Coat of arms of Épinal
Épinal (France)
Epinal
region Grand Est
Department Vosges ( prefecture )
Arrondissement Epinal
Canton Épinal-1
Épinal-2
Community association Epinal
Coordinates 48 ° 10 ′  N , 6 ° 27 ′  E Coordinates: 48 ° 10 ′  N , 6 ° 27 ′  E
height 315-492 m
surface 59.24 km 2
Residents 31,740 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 536 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 88000
INSEE code 88160
Website http://www.ville-epinal.fr/

Location of the town of Épinal
in the Vosges department

Template: Infobox municipality in France / maintenance / different coat of arms in Wikidata

Épinal is the capital ( prefecture ) of the French department Vosges in the Grand Est region (until 2015 Lorraine ). It is the seat of the community association Agglomération d'Épinal , which was reorganized on January 1, 2012 .

In German , the original name Spinal (also called Spinneln ) was used until the 19th century , which is derived from the Latin Spinalium, from which the name of the inhabitants as Spinaliens comes from.

geography

The city with 31,740 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) on the southwestern edge of the Vosges is located on the upper Moselle .

Neighboring municipalities of Épinal are Golbey and Dogneville in the north, Jeuxey , Deyvillers and Aydoilles in the northeast, La Baffe in the east, Archettes and Arches in the southeast, Dinozé and Dounoux in the south, Uriménil and Renauvoid in the southwest and Chantraine in the west.

history

Épinal of the 10th century by the late Metzer Bishop Dietrich I founded.

The battle at Épinal took place during the winter campaign of 1814 of the Wars of Liberation on January 11, 1814 between French and Württemberg troops supported by Russian Cossacks.

After the lost Franco-Prussian War and the associated border shift to the west, Épinal was expanded as a fixed place Épinal to a belt fortress with a large number of forts surrounding the center. Since there was no fighting here during the First World War , most of these fortifications have been almost completely preserved.

In June 1940, Épinal was captured by the 2nd Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht as part of the western campaign . The city was liberated on September 24, 1944 after the center was badly damaged by artillery.

Population development

year 1962 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2007 2014
Residents 30,313 36,856 39,604 37,818 36,732 35,782 33,528 32.006

Attractions

  • St Maurice Basilica

  • Castle ruins

  • The Moselle in Épinal

  • Musée de l'Image , collection of over 23,000 picture sheets and woodcuts . The predecessors of the comics were printed here from 1796 and at times went all over the world.
  • Imagerie d'Épinal , craft company founded in 1796 by Jean-Charles Pellerin.
  • Museum of Ancient and Contemporary Art ( Musée départemental d'Art ancien et contemporain ), shows Gallo-Roman finds, medieval sacred art and excellent paintings, etc. a. Job and his wife from Georges de la Tour .
  • Historical old city
  • Basilica Saint-Maurice , an 11th century building with pointed arch vaults in the central nave from the 13th century, with side aisles with round vaults, with a Gothic choir from the 14th century in the typical style of Champagne , with a tower from the 12th century ( Parapet walk from the 13th century; neo-Romanesque main portal from 1843), with main altar from the 19th century
  • Church Notre-Dame-au-Cierge , built in 1956-1958, with a 180 m 2 large glass windows by Gabriel Loire
  • Castle ruins (1670 destruction of the castle) in a park east of the old town
  • Roserie (medieval rose garden in Roman style)
  • Marina
  • planetarium

Town twinning

Transport links

The city on the Moselle is connected to the Canal des Vosges via a three-kilometer-long branch canal , which, in conjunction with the Saône and Rhône rivers, creates a navigable connection with the Mediterranean and via the Rhine-Marne Canal to the Rhine . Today the canal connection is mainly used by sport boats and houseboats ; Épinal also has a marina. Épinal is connected to the SNCF rail network via the Lure - Nancy railway line and the line to Remiremont that branches off near the city . The city can be reached by road via the RN 57 from Metz or Besançon.

Culinary specialties

  • The spinadors , specialty of a chocolate manufacturer from Épinal

Personalities

Web links

Commons : Épinal  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikivoyage: Épinal  - travel guide
Wikisource: Espinal in the Topographia Palatinatus Rheni (Matthäus Merian)  - sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Heinz Guderian, page 134
  2. ↑ a b Philippe Gloaguen, et al .: Le Routard - Le guide de la visite d'entreprise . No. 79/0425/0 . Hachette Livre, Vanves 2016, ISBN 978-2-01-323703-1 , pp. 117 .