Amiens
Amiens | ||
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region | Hauts-de-France ( Prefecture ) | |
Department | Somme | |
Arrondissement | Amiens (chef-lieu) | |
Canton |
Amiens-1 (main town) Amiens-2 (main town) Amiens-3 (main town) Amiens-4 (main town) Amiens-5 (main town) Amiens-6 (main town) Amiens-7 (main town) |
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Community association | Amiens metropolis | |
Coordinates | 49 ° 54 ' N , 2 ° 18' E | |
height | 14-106 m | |
surface | 49.46 km 2 | |
Residents | 134,057 (January 1, 2017) | |
Population density | 2,710 inhabitants / km 2 | |
Post Code | 80000 | |
INSEE code | 80021 | |
Website | http://www.amiens.fr/ | |
![]() Amiens Cathedral |
Amiens [ amjɛ ] ( Latin Ambianum of [ad] Ambiānōs , on Ambiani ' ) is the capital of the French departments of Somme in the region of Hauts-de-France , and has 134,057 inhabitants (as of January 1 2017). These are called Amiénois .
geography
The city is located about 140 kilometers north of Paris on the canalized Somme and at the confluence of its left tributaries Selle and Avre .
history
Ancient and Middle Ages
Human evidence goes back to the Paleolithic era 700,000 years ago. In 1872 Gabriel de Mortillet discovered a site of hand axes in the Amiens suburb of Saint-Acheul . That is why today a cultural stage of the Paleolithic bears the name Acheuléen .
Before the Romans occupied the area on the Somme, the Celtic Ambiani had lived there. The name Amiens was later derived from their tribal names . At the time of Roman rule, the settlement was named Samarobriva ( Gaulish : briva , bridge , Samara , Somme , that is, bridge over the Somme). The Romans built the strategically important Somme crossing into one of the most important places in their province of Gallia Belgica .
Julius Caesar , according to his own report ( De Bello Gallico ) of September 54 BC, stayed. Until the spring of 53 BC. BC to convene the Gallic council twice. The city received a large forum (320 × 125 m), thermal baths (on today's Rue Beauvais) and an amphitheater for 15,000 spectators (on the site of today's town hall). In 287 Saint Firmin was mentioned as a bishop; he was martyred in 303 . The diocese was later subordinated to the Archdiocese of Reims .
The Saint Martin should have shared in Amiens in winter 338/339 his cloak with a beggar.
With increasing barbarian invasions by Alans , Vandals and Burgundians , Amiens was converted into a fortress: the city wall covered 20 hectares, making Amiens the largest fortress north of the Alps. Nevertheless, the city fell into the hands of the Franks in the 5th century . With Picardy , Amiens came to Burgundy at the beginning of the 15th century and belonged to that part of the Burgundian heritage that remained with France after 1493.
Modern times and the present
Amiens has developed into an important industrial location since the 18th century , primarily the textile industry, with the Cosserat family becoming particularly important.
In 1802, Great Britain and Napoleonic France signed the Amiens Peace Treaty here , which lasted only 13 months. In 1848 Amiens got a railway connection. In 1906 the French trade union CGT held a historic congress here, at which it approved the Amiens Charter .
During the First World War (1914–1918) the city was briefly occupied by the Germans; from July 1 to November 18, 1916, the Battle of the Somme took place a little east of Amiens . It was canceled without having brought about a military decision; With over a million soldiers killed, wounded and missing, it is one of the most costly battles of the First World War. Amiens was a stage town , and the baroque figure of the Weeping Angel in the cathedral of Amiens became a symbol of this attrition battle among soldiers and on their postcards . The Battle of Amiens in August 1918 formed the prelude to the Allied final offensive, the Hundred Days Offensive .
During the Second World War (1939-1945), Amiens was captured by the advancing 1st Panzer Division at noon on May 20, 1940 as part of the western campaign . In April 1944, the Western Allies flew air strikes mainly on railway junctions - including Amiens - in preparation for the invasion of Normandy . Amiens was badly damaged. On August 31, 1944, British troops entered the city. The cityscape is shaped by the reconstruction of the 1950s.
In Amiens, there is one of the nationwide 15 security zones ( Zone de sécurité prioritaire ) in a problem district for which the (former) Interior Minister Manuel Valls (PS), who came into office in 2012 , has announced an increased police presence.
On April 6, 2016, the En Marche movement was founded in Amiens .
politics
coat of arms
Blazon : "Under with golden lilies besätem blue shield main red a symmetrical silver ivy tree."
The coat of arms comes from a jury seal that Philipp-August bestowed on the city in 1185. The French royal lilies were included in the coat of arms . The open spaces were filled in by coat of arms painters with arabesques , ornamental foliage, willow branches and ivy tendrils. The tendrils of the ivy tree were intended to show the city's bond with the crown . In the large coat of arms, two unicorns hold the shield and demonstrate purity and sincerity.
Partnerships
Amiens is twin city of Dortmund and Görlitz in Germany as well as Darlington in Great Britain and Tulsa in the United States of America. Further relationships with the aim of social and economic cooperation exist with Brighton and Hove in Great Britain, Lviv in Ukraine and Santa Catarina on the island of Santiago off Cape Verde. There are also contacts with the city of Nador in Morocco.
Attractions
Old historical landmarks
- The city is a bishopric and university city. Construction of the Amiens Cathedral in the then wealthy trading city of Amiens began around 1218. It is the largest religious building in France .
- The Belfry of Amiens, built in the 15th century and remodeled in the 18th century, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site Belfries in Northern France and Wallonia since 2005 and has been a monument historique since 1926 .
- In the Archaeological Garden of Saint-Acheul you can see finds from people who lived on the Somme more than 450,000 years ago.
- Amiens Citadel
- Les Hortillonnages are a centuries-old fruit and vegetable growing area criss-crossed by canals.
19th century buildings
- Bibliothèque Louis Aragon , in the neoclassical style in 1823 by François-Auguste Cheussey built
- Palais de Justice , two buildings from 1834 and 1846
- Place Saint-Denis (now Place René Goblet) 1839
- Parish Church of Saint-Firmin-le-Martyr 1842–1843 François-Auguste Cheussey
- On the Cimetière de la Madeleine the grave of Jules Verne
Buildings of the 20th century
- The Tour Perret, completed in 1952 and designed by the architect Auguste Perret , towers over the cathedral with a height of 104 meters and is a defining element of the city's silhouette
economy
Amiens is an important location for suppliers to the automotive industry ( Valeo , Goodyear , Dunlop ). Since the 1990s, more and more internet companies and call centers have settled in the city.
traffic
Amiens is a major transport hub in northern France:
Road traffic
The A16 autoroute connects Amiens with Paris and Calais , and the A29 autoroute connects Amiens with Saint-Quentin and Le Havre.
Rail transport
There are train connections to Boulogne, Lille , Reims , Paris and Rouen . From the Gare d'Amiens, the main train station, there are only regional connections. The TGV Haute-Picardie long-distance train station has existed since 1993 on the north high-speed line between the cities of Amiens and Saint-Quentin .
air traffic
In the east of the city is the Amiens-Glisy airfield .
city traffic
The city has a bus network with 18 lines. Most of the city buses are from Mercedes-Benz . In addition, 43 electric buses from the Spanish manufacturer Irizar are in use. In addition, Amiens Métropole has had a plan to build a tram since 2012 .
Personalities
- Firmin the Elder of Amiens (272–303), bishop and martyr, patron saint of the city
- Magnentius (303–353), Roman emperor
- Peter the Hermit (1050–1115), preacher at the time of the First Crusade
- Petrus de Cruce , composer and music theorist, lived around the middle of the 13th century
- Jean Bauhin (1511–1582), personal physician to Johanna von Albret, Queen of Navarre
- Vincent Voiture (1598–1648), poet and writer
- Jean Baptiste Louis de Gresset (1709–1777), poet
- Jean-Baptiste Joseph Delambre (1749-1822), astronomer
- Louis-Hyacinthe Duflost (1814–1887), called Hyacinthe , French actor
- Antoine Daveluy (1818–1866), missionary to Korea and martyr
- Jules Verne (1828–1905), writer
- Édouard Corroyer , (1835–1904), architect
- Édouard Lucas (1842-1891), mathematician
- Édouard Branly (1844–1940), physicist and pioneer of radio technology
- Paul Bourget (1852-1935), writer
- Paul de Wailly (1854–1933), composer
- Charles Faroux (1872–1957), motorsport official and race director
- Maurice Boutmy (1877–1935), racing car driver
- Clovis Trouille (1889–1975), painter
- Alfred Letourneur (1907–1975), racing cyclist
- Jacques Cardinal Martin (1908–1992), Curia Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church
- Robert Marchand (* 1911), cyclist
- Jacques Bellenger (* 1927), track cyclist
- Pál Benkö (1928–2019), Hungarian-American chess grandmaster and study composer
- Véronique Silver (1931-2010), theater and film actress
- Jean-Claude Naude (1933–2008), jazz and entertainment musician
- Hervé Bayard (* 1944), French motorcycle and car racing driver
- Olivier Blanchard (* 1948), Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Brigitte Macron (* 1953), teacher and the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron
- Albin de la Simone (* 1970), chansonnier
- Franck Perque (* 1974), racing cyclist
- Emmanuel Macron (* 1977), politician, President of France
- Greg Houla (* 1988), football player
- Olympe (* 1989), pop singer
- Yann M'Vila (* 1990), national soccer player
- Mélanie Henique (* 1992), swimmer
Web links
- Jules Verne's house in Amiens (French)
- City of Amiens website (French)
- Amiens pronunciation on Forvo.com
Individual evidence
- ^ Caesar, de bello Gallico 5.24 + 53
- ^ LF Ellis: The War in France and Flanders, 1939-1940 , HMSO, London 1954, p. 253.
- ^ Serious youth riots in the northern French city of Amiens. In: NZZ.ch. August 14, 2012, accessed July 14, 2018 .
- ↑ Amiens website ( Memento of May 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Base Mérimée