Moselle (department)

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Moselle
Department
Prefecture building of the Moselle department, in Metz
Communes		725
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

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Culture Coat of arms Flag Symbol People Languages Lorrain Lorraine Franconian Low Alemannic Demographics Musée lorrain
Religion Roman Catholicism : Immediately subject to the Holy See ) Diocese of Nancy Diocese of Saint-Dié Diocese of Verdun Protestantism: Union of Protestant Churches of Alsace and Lorraine (Moselle) Lutheranism: Protestant Church of the Augsburg Confession of Alsace and Lorraine (Moselle) Calvinism : Reformed Church of Alsace and Lorraine (Moselle) United Protestant Church of France (rest of Lorraine) Jewish consistories : Metz (Moselle) Nancy (rest of Lorraine)
Law Local law in Alsace-Moselle Concordat in Alsace-Moselle (1801)
Administrative divisions Meurthe-et-Moselle (54) Capital: Nancy Arrondissement of Briey Arrondissement of Lunéville Arrondissement of Nancy Arrondissement of Toul Meuse (55) Capital: Bar-le-Duc Arrondissement of Bar-le-Duc Arrondissement of Commercy Arrondissement of Verdun Moselle (Lothringen, 57) Capital: Metz Arrondissement of Forbach-Boulay-Moselle Arrondissement of Metz Arrondissement of Sarrebourg-Château-Salins Arrondissement of Sarreguemines Arrondissement of Thionville Vosges (88) Capital: Épinal Arrondissement of Épinal Arrondissement of Neufchâteau Arrondissement of Saint-Dié
Lorraine in the EU European Parliament elections Constituency
Related topics Politics of France Politics of Germany Politics of the European Union
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Moselle (French pronunciation:

On 4 March 1790 Moselle became one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution.

In 1793, France annexed the

However, with the return of Napoleon (March 1815) and his final defeat at the Battle of Waterloo (June 1815), the Treaty of Paris in November 1815 imposed much harsher conditions on France. Tholey and the communes around Sierck-les-Bains were still to be ceded as agreed in 1814, but the south of the Sarre department with Saarbrücken was withdrawn from France. In addition, France had to cede to Austria the area of Rehlingen (now in Saarland) as well as the strategic fort-town of Saarlouis and the territory around it, all territories and towns which France had controlled since the 17th century, and which had formed part of the Moselle department since 1790. At the end of 1815, Austria transferred all these territories to Prussia, making for the first time a shared border for those two states.

Thus, by the end of 1815, the Moselle department finally had the limits that it would keep until 1871. It was slightly smaller than at its creation in 1790, the incorporation of the Austrian enclaves not compensating for the loss of Saarlouis, Rehlingen, Tholey, and the communes around Sierck-les-Bains. Between 1815 and 1871, the department had an area of 5,387 km² (2,080 sq. miles). Its prefecture (capital) was Metz. It had four arrondissements: Metz, Briey, Sarreguemines, and Thionville.

After the French defeat in the

Imperial State of Alsace-Lorraine. France merged the remaining area of Briey with the truncated Meurthe department to create the new Meurthe-et-Moselle department (a new name chosen on purpose to remind people of the lost Moselle department) with its préfecture at Nancy.

In spite of the 22 June 1940 armistice, Moselle was again annexed by Germany in July of that year by becoming part of the Gau Westmark. Adolf Hitler considered Moselle and Alsace parts of Germany, and as a result the inhabitants were drafted into the German Wehrmacht.

Several organized groups were formed in resistance to the German occupation, notably the Groupe Mario, led by Jean Burger, and the Groupe Derhan. During these years more than 10,000 Mosellans were deported to camps, many to the Sudetenland, for publicly opposing the annexation.^[5]

The United States Army liberated Moselle from Nazi Germany in the Battle of Metz in September 1944, although combat continued in the northeastern part of the department until March 1945. Moselle was returned to French governance in 1945 with the same frontiers as in 1919.

The department was hit particularly hard during the war: the American bombardments in the spring of 1944 caused widespread collateral damage; 23% of the communes in Moselle were 50% destroyed, and 8% of the communes were than 75% destroyed.^[6]

As a result of German aggression during the war, the French Government actively discouraged the German heritage of the region, and the local German

Geography

Moselle is part of the current

The following are the most important rivers:

• Moselle
• Sarre
• Seille

The department is geographically organized around the Moselle valley. The region was long considered a march between Alsace and the north, remaining relatively poor until the 19th century, and was consequently less urbanized and populous than other regions at the time.

Environment

The environment has undergone heavy industrialization linked to iron deposits in Lorraine, which have artificialized valleys and river banks. Industries have created vast land holdings in the valleys by buying land from agriculturists and profiting from water rights.

Questions of environmental degradation were politicized at the end of the 19th century. Since then, one academic has argued that a consensus has been reached in the region regarding pollution, which is seen as the price of continuing the steel industry.^[7]

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Metz, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 8 communes with more than 15,000 inhabitants:^[3]

Economy

In the 19th century, Moselle's economy was characterized by heavy industry, especially steel and iron works. After the weakening of these industries at the end of the 20th century, the department has tried to promote new economic activities based on industry and technology, such as the Cattenom Nuclear Power Plant.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Moselle created the "Achat-Moselle" website in the 2000s to address issues of e-commerce and in-person commerce. The site helps local businesses to create pages showcasing their services, boosting their visibility and potential activity.^[8]

Demographics

The inhabitants of the department are called Mosellans in French.

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1792 346,614 —     1801 348,131 +0.05% 1806 385,949 +2.08% 1831 417,003 +0.31% 1841 440,312 +0.55% 1872 490,459 +0.35% 1880 492,713 +0.06% 1890 510,392 +0.35% 1900 564,829 +1.02% 1910 655,211 +1.50% 1921 589,120 −0.96% 1931 693,408 +1.64%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1936 696,246 +0.08% 1946 622,145 −1.12% 1954 769,388 +2.69% 1962 919,412 +2.25% 1968 971,314 +0.92% 1975 1,006,373 +0.51% 1982 1,007,189 +0.01% 1990 1,011,302 +0.05% 1999 1,023,447 +0.13% 2006 1,036,780 +0.19% 2011 1,045,146 +0.16% 2016 1,045,271 +0.00%
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
Figures before 1872 are for the old department of Moselle. Sources:[9][10]

The population has remained relatively stable since World War II and now exceeds 1 million, located mostly in the urban area around

If the Moselle department still existed in its limits of between 1815 and 1871, its population at the 1999 French census would have been 1,089,804 inhabitants. The current Moselle department, whose limits were set in 1919, had less population, with only 1,023,447 inhabitants. This is because the industrial area of Briey and Longwy lost in 1871 is more populated than the rural areas of Château-Salins and Sarrebourg gained in 1919. The southern part of the department, especially around Saulnois, has remained more rural.

A significant minority of inhabitants of the department (fewer than 100,000) speak a

Eastern Moselle has preserved a number of local traditions, notably the Kirb festivals celebrated in October in rural areas, Mardi Gras parades in Sarreguemines, and the August mirabelle festival in Metz which includes a variety of cultural activities.

The Opéra-Théâtre de Metz, is the oldest active theater in France and has continuously operated from the 18th century. Metz also has a number of concert halls that offer diverse events such as comedy shows and symphony orchestras.

Thionville is home to the NEST (Nord-Est Théâtre).

Law

Moselle and Alsace to its east have their own laws in certain fields. The statutes in question date primarily from the period 1871–1919 when the area was part of the German Empire. With the return of Alsace-Lorraine to France in 1919, many in central government assumed that the recovered territories would be subject to French law.

Local resistance to a total acceptance of French law arose because some of Bismarck's reforms included strong protections for civil and social rights. After much discussion and uncertainty, Paris accepted in 1924 that pre-existing German law would apply in certain fields, notably hunting, economic life, local government relationships, health insurance, and social rights. Many of the relevant statues continue to be referred to in the original German, as they have never been formally translated.

One major difference with French law is the absence of the

• 
  Metz Cathedral
• 
  Statue of Abraham de Fabert, in Metz
• 
  Saint-Quirin
• 
  Rodemack, one of the most beautiful villages of France
• 
  Citadel of Bitche
• 
  Medieval heritage site of Hombourg-Haut

See also

• Arrondissements of the Moselle department
• Cantons of the Moselle department
• Communes of the Moselle department
• German exonyms (Moselle)

References

Further reading

• Carrol, Alison. The Return of Alsace to France, 1918-1939 (Oxford University Press, 2018).
• Zanoun, Louisa. "Language, Regional Identity and the Failure of the Left in the Moselle Département, 1871-1936." European History Quarterly 41.2 (2011): 231–254.
• Zanoun, Louisa. "Interwar politics in a French border region: the Moselle in the period of the Popular Front, 1934-1938." (PhD Diss. The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), 2009) online.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Moselle.

• (in French) Prefecture website
• (in French) Departmental Council website
• (in French) Moselle-annuaire.fr, Moselle's Websites Directory