Ranville
| Ranville | ||
|---|---|---|
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| region | Normandy | |
| Department | Calvados | |
| Arrondissement | Lisieux | |
| Canton | Cabourg | |
| Community association | Normandy-Cabourg-Pays d'Auge | |
| Coordinates | 49 ° 14 ′ N , 0 ° 15 ′ W | |
| height | 1-49 m | |
| surface | 8.42 km 2 | |
| Residents | 1,805 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 214 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 14860 | |
| INSEE code | 14530 | |
| Website | www.ranville.fr | |
 Bell tower of the old church |
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Ranville is a French commune of the department of Calvados in the region of Normandy . It is assigned to the canton of Cabourg and the Arrondissement of Lisieux .
geography
The northern French village with 1805 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) is located on the right bank of the Orne . Immediately west of the river runs parallel to the Orne, an artificial tributary, the approximately 15 km long Canal de Caen à la Mer , which connects the Norman capital Caen with the port of Ouistreham on the English Channel . Ranville is strategically located halfway along this canal.
Travelers to the west have to cross two bridges between Ranville and the neighboring municipality of Bénouville : the first over the Orne and the second over the canal.
history
In November 2000, an archaeological site from the early Paleolithic was discovered at the confluence of the Orne and Aiguillon rivers . In the two years that followed, excavations were carried out and the remains of animals and stone tools were found dating back to around 230,000 BC. To be dated.
During the Gallo-Roman period, a Roman road connecting the places Pont-Audemer and Bayeux ran through Ranville. The travelers had to rent a boat in Ranville to continue their journey in Bénouville. Only in the 19th century was the ferry service replaced by a swing bridge .
In the Middle Ages , a fiefdom was formed on site . It belonged to a liege lord of Germanic origin. His name Rando completed by the Latin place name ending -villa ('country estate') resulted in the place name Ranville ('country estate des Rando'). The population lived mainly from agriculture and inland fishing, but as early as the 11th century, when the Normans overran England , limestone, the coveted Pierre de Caen , was mined. This was shipped to England in large quantities on the Orne . River sand was also extracted. Fishing and the extraction of sand came to a standstill when the canal was opened.
Agriculture experienced an upswing in the 19th and 20th centuries with the drainage of the swamps. The municipality was divided into the following hamlets: Le Bourg Neuf , Le Bas de Ranville , Le Hom , Le Moulin , Le Mariquet , Longueville and Longueval . On August 23, 1857, the Canal de Caen à la mer by Emperor Napoleon III. solemnly inaugurated.
In 1934 a new bridge was built over the canal. This bridge, which was actually called Pont de Bénouville , was fought over during the invasion of Normandy in 1944 as part of Operation Tonga and was subsequently known nationwide as the Pegasus Bridge . In 1944, an attempt by German combat swimmers to blow up the bridge failed by mistake : they blew up a neighboring bridge.
In 1994 the bridge was replaced by a larger duplicate, with the original being moved to the outside area of a museum. Ranville was then the first village in France to be liberated from German occupation after the Allied forces landed in Normandy on June 6, 1944 . The 13th Paratrooper Battalion of the British Army , which was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Peter Luard, was responsible for this . The former mansion Château du Heaume then served as the headquarters of the British 6th Airborne Division .
Population development
The population increased sharply in the second half of the 20th century.
| year | 1962 | 1968 | 1975 | 1982 | 1990 | 1999 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 883 | 1.005 | 1,519 | 1,690 | 1,896 | 1,668 | 1,668 |
economy
Ciments Français , a subsidiary of the Italian Italcementi , operates a cement factory in Ranville .
Attractions
Guernon-Ranville Castle
The Château de Guernon-Ranville dates back to the middle of the 18th century. It bears the name of the very old Norman aristocratic family Guernon , who acquired the Ranville fief in 1751 and had the feudal building built on it. It remained in the family for almost 200 years, the most famous owner being the Count and Minister Martial de Guernon-Ranville .
During the German occupation of France in World War II, the castle was confiscated by the Wehrmacht in 1940 and made available to the Todt Organization . During the liberation of Normandy on the night of June 5th to 6th, 1944, three members of this organization were arrested by the Allies, still wearing nightgowns. The building complex was then immediately converted into a military hospital, which was named Main Dressing Station and was operated by around ten British officers and around a hundred soldiers. The medical company treated around four hundred wounded in the first few days and carried out around forty emergency operations. The war disabled were then repatriated by sea.
Today the castle, which has been carefully renovated, is a hostel for holiday guests. The residences are partly set up in the main building but also in the old stables . The furnishings are largely authentic.
Other facilities
- The bell tower of the old church from the 12th and 13th centuries, made of limestone Pierre de Caen , has been preserved. In 1860 the residents decided to demolish the other parts of the old church, as this place of worship was felt to be too small and outdated. The tower, which was renovated between 2007 and 2008, stands next to the new church.
- The Château du Mariquet from the 18th and 19th centuries belonged to the Rohan-Chabot family until 2009.
- The Château du Hom
- The Military Museum Memorial Pegasus - Ranville-Bénouville with the original Pegasus Bridge in the outside area.
- The Commonwealth military cemetery, where 133 German soldiers are buried and visited by Gerhard Schröder in 2004 and Angela Merkel in 2014
- The Horsa Bridge, which spans the River Orne, was originally called Pont de Ranville and, like the Pegasus Bridge, was fiercely contested during the invasion of Normandy. The capture of the bridge by the Allies is the theme of the film The Longest Day .
- The 16th century mansion on Rue de la Grange aux Dimes
Château du Mariquet
Original of the Pegasus Bridge at night
British war cemetery
Personalities
- Martial de Guernon-Ranville (1787–1866), legal scholar and politician, died in 1866 at Château de Guernon-Ranville, whose owner he was.
- Den Brotheridge (1915–1944), British lieutenant, is buried in the Ranville military cemetery.
Partner communities
- Motten , Bavaria, Germany
- Petworth , West Sussex , England - since 1989
See also
literature
- Le Patrimoine des Communes du Calvados. Volume 1, Flohic Editions, Paris 2001, ISBN 2-84234-111-2 , pp. 380-382.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Chapitre 1 - Presentation et découvert du site. (No longer available online.) In: www2.ulg.ac.be. Université de Liège, formerly in the original ; Retrieved on August 7, 2012 (French). ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )
- ↑ Vincent Carpentier, Emmanuel Ghesquière, Cyril Marcigny: Archéologie en Normandie . Ed .: Inrap. Éditions Ouest-France, Rennes 2007, ISBN 978-2-7373-4164-9 , pp. 21 (French).
- ^ René Lepelley: Dictionnaire étymologique des noms de commune de la Normandie. Éditions Charles Corlet, Presses Universitaires de Caen, Caen, 1996.
- ↑ faz.net