Saint-Avold

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Saint-Avold
Saint-Avold coat of arms
Saint-Avold (France)
Saint-Avold
region Grand Est
Department Moselle
Arrondissement Forbach-Boulay-Moselle
Canton Saint-Avold (main town)
Community association Saint-Avold synergy
Coordinates 49 ° 6 ′  N , 6 ° 42 ′  E Coordinates: 49 ° 6 ′  N , 6 ° 42 ′  E
height 215–383 m
surface 35.48 km 2
Residents 15,483 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 436 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 57500
INSEE code 57606
Website http://www.mairie-saint-avold.fr/

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

Saint-Avold (German Sankt Avold , Lorraine Sänt Avuur ) is a French city with 15,483 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Moselle department in the Grand Est region ( Lorraine until 2016 ). It is located in the Forbach-Boulay-Moselle arrondissement and is the main town (chef-lieu) of the canton of Saint-Avold . The inhabitants of Saint-Avold are the Naboriens or Saint-Avoldiens .

history

In 509, the Irish monk Fridolin von Säckingen built a small church in the area of ​​today's Saint-Avold before he later founded the Säckingen monastery . Sigebald , Bishop of Metz , had the later St. Nabor Abbey built around 720 . On August 24, 765, Chrodegang , Minister of Karl Martell and Pippin the Short , brought relics of Saints Nabor and Felix to the abbey. In the course of the Middle Ages , a small town developed around the Abbey of St. Nabor (Latin: "Monasterium Sancti Naboris"), which was visited as a pilgrimage center , and took the name of the abbey. As a result of name abrading, “Sankt Nabor” became “Santerfor” in the local Rhine-Franconian dialect. The French-speaking administration later turned the local pronunciation into “Saint-Avaux”. From 1750 it became the official spelling "Saint-Avold".

From 1163 Saint-Avold belonged to the County of Saarbrücken and developed into a flourishing trading center. A Gothic church was built around 1300 . The first hospital was opened in 1313. In 1327 the city was fortified. In 1534 the citizens took over the city administration.

From 1581 to 1766 the city belonged to the Duke of Lorraine . The Thirty Years War hit Saint-Avold hard: in 1656 only 18 inhabitants were counted, compared to 1,800 in the 16th century. With the treaties of Rijswijk (1697) and Paris (1718), peace returned. Saint-Avold was rebuilt and economic prosperity began again.

In 1751 Saint-Avold was added to the Bailliage Boulay . In 1791, during the French Revolution , the city was renamed Rosselgène (German: Rosselquelle) as a result of anti-church tendencies . In 1814 General Blücher set up his quarters in Saint-Avold. Until 1818 Saint-Avold was occupied by Bavarian troops .

In the 19th century, Saint-Avold benefited from the onset of industrialization . Nevertheless, a large part of the population emigrated to America due to epidemics and famine, especially in 1818, 1849 and 1866. In 1851 the railway connection to Metz ( Forbacher Bahn ) was opened, and in 1852 to Saarbrücken . For Carling large were coal deposits discovered in 1862 the first took mine into operation. Another period of economic boom began.

From 1871 to 1918 Saint-Avold was part of the German Empire . The city was in the Lorraine district of Forbach and became a Prussian garrison : From 1886 the Uhlan Regiment No. 14 was stationed there. In 1890 the field artillery regiment No. 33 was added, and in 1899 it was replaced by the field artillery regiment No. 69 . In 1897 the Infantry Regiment No. 173 with Garrison St. Avold was set up. Shortly before the outbreak of the World War, the Jäger Regiment on horse No. 12 was added.

In 1910 Saint-Avold had 6,400 inhabitants, 2,500 of whom were soldiers. During the First World War , St. Avold was also a training location for z. B. the 1st Replacement Battalion of Infantry Regiment 173 . (See "Little Adolf - The story (s) of my grandfather" by Achim Amme .)

Even after 1918, Saint-Avold remained a garrison town. From 1928 the Maginot Line was built in the immediate vicinity . During World War II , General Patton's 3rd US Army took Saint-Avold on November 27, 1944 . The Cimetière militaire américain of Saint-Avold is the largest US military cemetery in Europe with the graves of 10,489 US soldiers.

After 1945, thanks to the coal, it was rebuilt quickly. Between 1945 and 1966, the population grew from 7,000 to 18,000. The petrochemical industry successfully established itself in Carling . The Emile Huchet coal-fired power station (1873 MW installed nominal output) was also built there, which now also has two gas-powered power station units. The A 4 from Metz in the direction of Saarbrücken, completed in 1971, contributed to the upswing.

Population development

year 1962 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2007 2015
Residents 15,247 16,280 17,955 16,485 16,533 16,925 16,611 15,759

languages

Several languages ​​are used in the area of ​​the city of Saint-Avold. The most important are:

  • French (official language)
  • German or Standard German in publications, worship language and singing
  • The Rhineland-Franconian dialect of St. Avolds and its surroundings is currently in decline and is dying out. In 1794, a law prohibited any official act in a language other than French. In St. Avold, however, this law was not used consistently. Since the middle of the 19th century, the French language spread increasingly while church services and religious instruction remained in German. In the upper class of St. Avolds, the Rhine-Franconian dialect tended to be rejected in favor of French and German standard language. Thus the Rhine Franconian sank to the language of common people and everyday life.

With the annexation of St. Avold to the German Empire in 1871, the emigration of Pro-French residents and the immigration of people from the German-speaking area, the German-speaking aspect strengthened again in the city. Since 1872, school lessons have been held exclusively in German, that is, High German. “Platt” remained the language of everyday life. In 1902, the St. Avolder writer Hans Koch founded the expressionist magazine Der Stürmer , the magazine of the association “ The youngest Alsace ”, together with the Metz writer Otto Flake and the Colmar poet Ernst Stadler . Koch also contributed to the magazines Die Weißen Blätter and Die Aktion .

With the annexation of St. Avolds to France after the First World War , the French language was strongly promoted. The Germans who immigrated since 1871 were, like everywhere in the former Reichsland Alsace-Lorraine, forcibly expelled. The language of instruction was now French and German lessons were only a few hours a week. Religious instruction and church services remained largely in German. In 1930 Adrienne Thomas (Hertha Strauch) , who was born in St. Avol, published her anti-war novel “Die Katrin becomes a soldier” in German, which made her famous overnight and was subsequently translated into 16 languages. During the time of National Socialism Thomas was one of the ostracized German writers. With the annexation of St. Avolds to Nazi Germany in 1940 ( CdZ area Lorraine ), High German became the exclusive official and teaching language again. The Rhine Franconian dialect ("Platt") was still used by the population.

With the annexation of St. Avolds to France after the Second World War , the German language tradition was massively pushed back and dialect use experienced a long phase of decline. The Rhine-Franconian tradition only emerged in the everyday language of the older population and in dialect theater plays, songs and poems. In 1967 the German language was finally abolished as the regular language of worship in St. Avold. Since 1986 it has been possible to take lessons on the subject of "Language and culture of the Moselle region" in the upper school level. In 2004, a dialect conference under the direction of the linguist Albert Hudlett in St. Avold laid down a charter to harmonize the spelling of different dialect variants of Rhine-Franconian. Several cultural groups as well as the tourist office of the city of Saint-Avold are currently organizing various cultural events to preserve the Rhine-Franconian “St. Avolder Platt ”.

politics

mayor

- since the 20th century -

  • 1894-1908: Robert Hein
  • 1908–1918: Joseph Koestel
  • 1919–1934: Théodore / Theodor Paqué
  • 1934–1950: Barthélémy / Bartholomäus Crusem
  • 1951-1959: Jean Robert
  • 1971–1977: Denis Klein
  • 1977–2001: François Harter
  • 2001–: André Wojciechowski

Town twinning

The partnership with today's Saarbrücken district of Dudweiler in Saarland was one of the first Franco-German town twinning after the war in 1964 and thus played an important role in the rapprochement between the two states. There are also partnerships with Fayetteville (North Carolina) in the United States .

Attractions

  • The St. Nabor monastery church in the early classical style was rebuilt between 1754 and 1769. The red sandstone structure replaced a Romanesque church from the 11th century, which was renovated between 1515 and 1520.
  • The Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours basilica in neo-Romanesque style was completed in 1902. The Lorraine cross rises on the dome of the church as a symbol of Lorraine.
  • The evangelical church (Temple protestant) was built in 1889 according to plans by the architect Conrad Wahn when German Protestants moved to St. Avold after the Franco-Prussian War .
  • The synagogue was built between 1959 and 1960 according to plans by the Metz architect Roger Zonca and replaces the former synagogue, which was desecrated in 1940 under the Nazi regime and then used as a fire station for the St. Avolder fire brigade.
  • The American Military Cemetery of St. Avold is 46 hectares and is the largest US American war cemetery of World War II in Europe. It is the burial place of 10,489 US soldiers who were killed during the conquest of the Rhine during World War II .

  • Saint-Nabor monastery church

  • Organ of the monastery church of Saint-Nabor

  • Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours basilica

  • Protestant Church

  • synagogue

Personalities

- in chronological order -

literature

  • Friedrich Toepfer: Supplements II. Hombourg and Saint-Avold In: ders. (Ed.): Document book for the history of the noble and baronial house of the Voegte von Hunolstein , Bd. III. Ms. Campe, Nürnberg 1872, pp. 220–224 ( Google Books )
  • Hans Walter Hermann: Réflexions sur le développement urbain de la ville de Saint-Avold au Bas Moyen-Age , 2004.
  • Denis Schneider: Saint-Avold aux XVIIIème et XIXème siècles, croissance et stagnation d'une petite ville des confins germaniques ( voir en ligne ).
  • Jean-Yves Pennerath. Lesproblemèmes linguistiques à Saint-Avold et dans sa région avant la Révolution française , 1997 ( voir en ligne ).
  • André Pichler et Pascal Flaus: Histoire des Saint-Avold par ses monuments religieux (Societé d'Histoire du Pays Naborien), Merzig 2015.

Web links

Commons : Saint-Avold  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

swell

  1. ^ André Pichler et Pascal Flaus: Histoire des Saint-Avold par ses monuments religieux (Societé d´Histoire du Pays Naborien), Merzig 2015, p. 15.
  2. ^ Information from E.ON France on the Emile Huchet power plant; accessed on April 26, 2011
  3. ^ André Pichler et Pascal Flaus: Histoire des Saint-Avold par ses monuments religieux (Societé d'Histoire du Pays Naborien), Merzig 2015, p. 143.