Saint-Germain-le-Châtelet
Saint-Germain-le-Châtelet | ||
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region | Bourgogne-Franche-Comté | |
Department | Territoire de Belfort | |
Arrondissement | Belfort | |
Canton | Giromagny | |
Community association | Vosges du Sud | |
Coordinates | 47 ° 42 ′ N , 6 ° 58 ′ E | |
height | 365-540 m | |
surface | 3.36 km 2 | |
Residents | 644 (January 1, 2017) | |
Population density | 192 inhabitants / km 2 | |
Post Code | 90110 | |
INSEE code | 90091 | |
![]() St. Germanus Church |
Saint-Germain-le-Châtelet is a commune in the department Territoire de Belfort in the region Bourgogne Franche-Comté .
geography
Saint-Germain-le-Châtelet is located at 399 m, about ten kilometers northeast of the city of Belfort (as the crow flies). The former street line village extends on the northern edge of the Burgundian Gate , on the plateau in the foothills of the Vosges , at the southern foot of the Châtelet, east of the Madeleine valley plain .
The area of the 3.36 km² municipal area includes a section in the area of the Vosges foothills. The main part of the area is taken up by the plateau at the foot of the Vosges, which is an average of 400 m. It is mostly covered with arable and meadow land, but also shows some forest areas. The plateau is bounded in the west by the valley level of the Madeleine, in the east by the Mulde des Margrabant , a tributary of the Ruisseau de Saint-Nicolas . In the valley basin of the Margrabant there are several ponds that were once created for fish farming. The southern border runs along the main road N83, which connects Belfort with Mulhouse . To the north, the community area extends over a wooded slope onto the Châtelet , a wooded foothill of the Vosges that extends to the south. Here, at 540 m, the highest point in Saint-Germain-le-Châtelet is reached.
Neighboring municipalities of Saint-Germain-le-Châtelet are Romagny-sous-Rougemont in the north, Felon and Angeot in the east, Lagrange , Bethonvilliers and Menoncourt in the south and Bourg-sous-Châtelet and Anjoutey in the west.
history
A castle already existed on the Châtelet in the 10th century, but no remains of it are visible. Saint-Germain was first mentioned in a document in 1388. In the middle of the 14th century, the area of Saint-Germain came under the sovereignty of the Habsburgs. It belonged to the Rougemont dominion . Together with the Sundgau , the village came to the French crown with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. Since 1793 it belonged to the Haut-Rhin department , but in 1871 it remained as part of the Territoire de Belfort, unlike the rest of Alsace, in France. In 1913, Saint-Germain was connected to the French railway network by a narrow-gauge railway line that ran from Belfort via Les Errues to Rougemont-le-Château. A few years before the Second World War, however, operations were stopped. To avoid confusion with other communities of the same name, Saint-Germain was officially renamed Saint-Germain-le-Châtelet in 1934. Today Saint-Germain-le-Châtelet is united with 13 other parishes to form the communal association Communauté de communes du Pays Sous Vosgien .
Attractions
The Saint-Germain church was rebuilt from 1734 on the site of a medieval building. See also: List of the Monuments historiques in Saint-Germain-le-Châtelet
population
year | 1962 | 1968 | 1975 | 1982 | 1990 | 1999 | 2007 |
Residents | 291 | 293 | 327 | 347 | 506 | 525 | 601 |
With 644 inhabitants (January 1, 2017), Saint-Germain-le-Châtelet is one of the small communities in the Territoire de Belfort department. After the population in the first half of the 20th century had always been in the range between 230 and 300 people, a continuous population growth has been recorded since the beginning of the 1970s. Since then the number of inhabitants has doubled.
Economy and Infrastructure
Until well into the 20th century, Saint-Germain-le-Châtelet was primarily a village characterized by agriculture (arable farming, fruit growing and cattle breeding), fish farming and forestry. In addition, there are some small businesses today. In the meantime the village has turned into a residential community. Many workers are also commuters who work in the agglomerations of Belfort and Mulhouse .
The village is well developed in terms of traffic. It is located near the main road N83, which leads from Belfort to Mulhouse. The closest connection to the A36 motorway is around five kilometers away. Further road connections exist with Anjoutey and Bethonvilliers.
literature
- Le Patrimoine des Communes du Territoire de Belfort. Flohic Editions, Paris 1999, ISBN 2-84234-037-X , pp. 238-239.