Pornichet

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Pornichet
Pornichet coat of arms
Pornichet (France)
Pornichet
region Pays de la Loire
Department Loire-Atlantique
Arrondissement Saint-Nazaire
Canton La Baule-Escoublac
Community association Region Nazairienne et l'Estuaire
Coordinates 47 ° 16 ′  N , 2 ° 20 ′  W Coordinates: 47 ° 16 ′  N , 2 ° 20 ′  W
height 0-44 m
surface 12.67 km 2
Residents 10,669 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 842 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 44380
INSEE code
Website www.mairie-pornichet.fr

Pornichet ( Breton Pornizhan ) is a commune with 10,669 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in the Loire-Atlantique in the Region Pays de la Loire on the Côte d'Amour .

geography

Pornichet is located on the Atlantic coast, the Bay of Biscay , on the Côte d'Amour , the coast of love , and on the Guérande peninsula . In the south-west, Pornichet borders on Saint-Nazaire in the north-west on La Baule . Nantes , the capital of the department, is about 70 kilometers east of Pornichet. The municipality is located at the Regional Nature Park Brière ( French Parc naturel régional de Brière ) 5 km north.

history

The traditional Pornichet

Before Pornichet became an independent parish in April 1900, the place was divided between the parishes of Saint-Nazaire and Escoublac . Until the 19th century, the small town, surrounded by dunes, lived mainly from salt production and fishing. Hidden ( niché ) behind the tip of the island of , the place mainly consisted of the village of Saint-Sébastien with its church, a village ( Vieux Pornichet 'alter Pornichet' ) in the tip of the island and thatched huts along a fairway that connects the salt marshes of the Villès-Liron (on the site of today's hippodrome ) together.

Development of tourism

During the 19th century, salt production got smaller and smaller, but tourism developed: the opening of the railway line in 1879 connected this small market town with the outside world. Thanks to the influences of the numerous artists, musicians, writers and other distinguished personalities, such as Camille Flammarion , who regularly stay in Pornichet and own large estates there, the place becomes a tourist attraction. The beach is called Plage des libraires 'Beach of the Booksellers' . At the end of the 19th century, the salt marshes disappeared and make way for the racecourse ( Hippodrome ) in the new municipality , which was inaugurated on August 15, 1907. The first paid vacation for French workers in 1936 increased the tourist development and so the first campsite Pornichets was opened in the Bonne-Source district that year.

The Second World War and the German military cemetery in Pornichet

During the Second World War , Pornichet was occupied by the Germans from June 1940. While Nantes was liberated in August 1944, the Wehrmacht was able to hold Pornichet, like the Saint-Nazaire area, the so-called Poche de Saint-Nazaire , until May 11, 1945.

Since then, there has been a military cemetery in Pornichet in addition to the municipal cemetery with graves of around 5,000 German soldiers: 2,872 from the years 1942–1945 and 2,163 that were removed from other cemeteries in the Loire-Atlantique , Maine-et-Loire , Vendée and Deux- Sèvres were reburied.

The grave of Karl Hotz , German field commander of Nantes during the Second World War, is also located in this cemetery . After a fatal attack by a resistance fighter on October 20, 1941, 48 hostages were murdered. Grave 655 is in Block 2, Row 21. The Pornichet Cemetery is a monument to the victims of National Socialism .

New developments

In the 1960s, the sea promenade was created in its current form; the thalassotherapy develops. In the 1970s, due to the increasing number of tourists, numerous futuristic hotel buildings were built along the coast. Due to the emerging water sports, the leisure harbor ( Port de Plaisance ) was opened in 1978 and is navigable at all tides. Over the years, it became the department's main leisure port.

Naming

The name "Pornichet" is made up of the combination of port , harbor and niché , hidden .

population

On March 8, 1999 Pornichet had 9668 inhabitants (4580 men and 5088 women), with a population density of 763 inhabitants per km². Compared to the previous census in 1990, the city had 1,535 more inhabitants. 10.2% of the population was 75 years of age or older at the census. The number of people living in Pornichet varies greatly depending on the season. An estimated 55,000 people live in Pornichet in summer.

climate

Pornichet's climate is maritime . It is characterized by mild winters with relatively high precipitation and moderate temperatures in summer. The proximity of the Gulf Stream also brings about a further reduction in annual temperatures.

tourism

Due to its direct location by the sea, Pornichet is heavily influenced by tourism. There are numerous leisure activities such as mini golf , water sports, tennis and hiking. Sights of the city are: the market hall, the casino, the hippodrome inaugurated in 1907, the avenue de l'Océan and the adjoining Port de Plaisance , which has existed in its current form since 1978. It has a capacity for about 1000 boats. A special feature of this port is that it is the only one in the area that is navigable both at low tide and at high tide .

education

Pornichet has four kindergartens, four elementary schools and a private high school.

beaches

Pornichet has a beach section of seven kilometers, which can be divided into three larger sections: Plage des Libraires (length: 2 km), Plage de Bonne Source (length: 2.5 km) and Plage de Sainte-Marguerite (length: 1, 5 km). The centrally located sandy beach, Plage des Libraires , forms a seamless transition to the neighboring town of La Baule .

Transport and infrastructure

The nearest major city is Nantes , around 70 kilometers away , where the nearest national airport is also located. Pornichet train station is on the Saint-Nazaire – Le Croisic railway line . The French capital, 450 kilometers away, can be reached in around three hours by TGV . Nantes can be reached in 50 minutes by regional train (TER Pays de la Loire). The D 213 expressway (Guerande - La Baule - Saint-Nazaire) runs north past Pornichet.

economy

353 companies and 7 businesses have their headquarters in Pornichet. There are 120 shops, 112 restaurants and accommodations as well as 66 other public or semi-public institutions and associations.

politics

mayor

  • 1900-1908: Charles Mercier
  • 1908-1919: Eugène Coicaud
  • 1919–1945: Achille Bertoye
  • 1945–1948: Léopold Hervo
  • 1948-1958: Eugène Thierry
  • 1958-1965: Emile Outtier
  • 1965–1977: Jean-Marie Erraud
  • 1977–1983: Marcel Daudin
  • 1983–1995: Jean-Claude Empereur
  • 1995-2008: Jacques Lambert

Town twinning

Pornichet has been twinned with the Saarland city of Bexbach since 1985 and with San Vicente de la Barquera in northern Spain.

media

Print media

There are three local newspapers in Pornichet, two of which ( Ouest-France and Presse-Océan ) appear daily. L'Écho de la Presqu'Île appears once a week (on Fridays). There is also a free weekly newspaper ( Estuaire ) and a free monthly newspaper ( Haut Parleur ), both of which are available from the tourist information office.

TV channel

There are three local TV channels in Pornichet:

Distances

  • Nantes: 74 kilometers
  • Bordeaux: 420 kilometers
  • Paris: 450 kilometers
  • Toulouse: 658 kilometers
  • Lyon: 800 kilometers
  • Strasbourg: 925 kilometers

literature

  • Le Patrimoine des Communes de la Loire-Atlantique . Flohic Editions, Volume 1, Charenton-le-Pont 1999, ISBN 2-84234-040-X , pp. 118-125.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Source: Name book of the Pornichet cemetery ( Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge ). The exact chronology of the burials is:
    • 1,753 by the Wehrmacht 1942–1945;
    • 1,119 by the French authorities after May 11, 1945;
    • 2,163 in 1955.
  2. Nick Hare: Dr Karl Holtz - Wrong place wrong time -. In: The Wargraves Photogravic Project. Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), July 2011, accessed February 18, 2019 (English, with images of grave and headstone).