Épinal

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Template:DMCA Script error: No such module "Template wrapper".Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters". Template:Lorraine sidebar Épinal (Script error: No such module "IPA".; Template:Langx; Template:Langx) is a commune in northeastern France and the prefecture of the Vosges department.[2]

Geography

The commune has a land area of 59.24 square kilometres (22.87 sq mi). It is situated on the river Moselle, 60 kilometres (37 miles) south of Nancy. Épinal station has rail connections to Paris, Remiremont, Strasbourg, Belfort and Nancy.

History

File:Epinal-Hôtel de Ville (2).jpg
The Hôtel de Ville

The mythical founding date of Épinal is said to be 983 since celebrations took place for the "Millennium" in June 1983.[3] This date was chosen for political reasons to mark a "starting point" following the election of Philippe Séguin as mayor in March 1983.[4]

In 1444, the town of Épinal was still part of the domain of the bishops of Metz. In September, representatives of the town took advantage of King Charles VII's passage through Nancy to offer him the submission of the town and to ask for his protection in return. The act of submission of Épinal is dated September 7, 1444.[5] The king promised never to alienate the city; however, Louis XI handed over the town to the Marshal of Burgundy in 1465. Eventually, Épinal came under the guardianship of the Duke of Lorraine.

The Hôtel de Ville was completed in 1757.[6]

In 1790, the Constituent Assembly requested the departmental assembly of Vosges to choose between Mirecourt and Épinal as the capital of the department. The departmental assembly convened in Épinal on June 1 and, with three hundred and eleven votes against one hundred and twenty-seven, chose the city of Épinal. Mirecourt became a sub-prefecture.

During World War II, in January 1944, the Stalag 315 prisoner-of-war camp was relocated from the German-occupied Netherlands to Épinal, and it housed Indian POWs.[7] At least 40 POWs were killed and 80 were wounded after the camp was hit during a bombing of the town on 11 May 1944.[7]

Many of the prisoners took advantage of the chaos to escape. Once free, most of them began marching south towards the region of Porrentruy, the first town in Swiss territory, some 100 kilometers away. By the end of June 1944, the Swiss authorities had recorded the entry into Swiss territory of 500 former prisoners from the Epinal camp. This was the largest escape of prisoners of war during the Second World War. This episode is recounted in the book 'The Great Epinal Escape' by British historian Ghee Bowman.[8]

Population

In 2022, 32,296 people lived in the town proper, while its functional area had a population of 118,915.[9]

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Main sights

The old town centre features the Place des Vosges, the Chapitre district, Saint-Maurice's Basilica, medieval castle remains and the Roman House (11th and 13th centuries). It is also known for its parks and gardens, as well as a large communal forest with arboretum (the Arboretum de la Forêt d'Épinal).

There are major fortifications, extended and maintained until the early 20th century. There is a legend, among the populace of Épinal, that Napoleon's ghost strolls the wall ramparts on 9 September of each year at 05:00. It was on this day and at this time that, in 1811, Napoleon gave his first and last oration to the city of Épinal, wherein he addressed the challenges posed by northern expansion.

The Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial on the outskirts of the town where United States service members killed in World War II are buried.

Notable residents

Sportspeople

Economy

Épinal is best known for the "Images d'Épinal" – which is now a common expression in French language – the popular prints created by a local company, the Imagerie d'Épinal, formerly known as the Imagerie Pellerin. These stencil-colored woodcuts of military subjects, Napoleonic history, storybook characters and other folk themes were widely distributed throughout the 19th century. The company still exists today, and still uses its hand-operated presses to produce the antique images. Other local industries include textiles, metals, morocco leather, precision instruments, and bicycles. There is a school of textile weaving.

Politics

Épinal is contained within Vosges' 1st constituency for elections to the National Assembly.

Education

The engineering College École nationale supérieure des technologies et industries du bois dedicated to wood Industry is located in the city.

Sport

The commune is home to SAS Épinal, which play in the Championnat National 2, the fourth-tier of football in France. There is also a hockey team, Wildcats d'Épinal, which currently plays in the FFHG Division 1, the second tier of ice hockey.

International relations

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Climate

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See also

References

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  1. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 2 December 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  2. ^ Commune d'Épinal (88160), INSEE
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Vosges. Savez-vous que le marché d'Épinal existe depuis 983 ?". www.vosgesmatin.fr (in français). November 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  4. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Philippe Séguin - Histoire - La Ve République - Les Présidents de l'Assemblée nationale depuis 1958 - Assemblée nationale". www2.assemblee-nationale.fr. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Marot, Pierre (1941). "L'expédition de Charles VII à Metz (1444-1445). Documents inédits". Bibliothèque de l'École des chartes. 102 (1): 109–155. doi:10.3406/bec.1941.449238.
  6. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."A l' Origine des quartiers 2" (PDF). The Municipal Archives of Épinal. 2017. p. 11. Retrieved 12 November 2025.
  7. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Megargee, Geoffrey P.; Overmans, Rüdiger; Vogt, Wolfgang (2022). The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV. Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. pp. 303–304. ISBN 978-0-253-06089-1.
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The Great Épinal Escape".
  9. ^ Comparateur de territoire, INSEE, retrieved 14 January 2026.
  10. ^ Template:Cassini-Ehess
  11. ^ Population municipale entre 1968 et 2023, INSEE
  12. ^ Jeanne Cressanges: installed in Épinal since 1968, novelist, essayist, screenwriter originally from Noyant in the Allier, who dedicated two of his works to his adopted region: "Je vous écris d’Épinal" and "Je vous écris des Vosges" éditions Serge Domini, respectively in 2009 and 2014.
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Plougastel, Yann (13 August 2014). "Nicolas Mathieu a le spleen des Vosges". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 2 May 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Nicolas Mathieu". Dublin Literary Award. Nicolas Mathieu was born in 1978 in Épinal, a small town in north-eastern France. After studying history and cinema, he moved to Paris, where he worked variously as a scriptwriter, a news editor, a private tutor, and a temp at City Hall. His first novel, Of Fangs and Talons, won the Erckmann-Chatrian prize, the Transfuge prize and the Prix Mystère de la Critique. His second novel, And Their Children After Them, was published to universal acclaim in 2018 and won various prizes including the most coveted prize in France, the Prix Goncourt. He lives in Nancy.
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Villes jumelles". epinal.fr (in français). Épinal. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Normales et records pour Épinal (88)". Meteociel. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
File:Epinal-pano2.jpg
Épinal from the ruins of the castle

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Wikivoyage has a travel guide for [[Wikivoyage:Épinal#Template:Wikidata|Épinal]].

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