Longwy (; older , ; ) is a commune in the

French department In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a '' département'' in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. Its prefecture and largest city is Nancy and it borders the departments of Meuse to the west, Vosges to the south, ...

Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...

, administrative region of

Grand Est Grand Est (; ) is an Regions of France, administrative region in northeastern France. It superseded three former administrative regions, Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine, on 1 January 2016 under the provisional name of Alsace-Champagne-A ...

, northeastern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The inhabitants are known as ''Longoviciens''. In 2008, the ''ville neuve'' ("New Town") was listed as a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

, as part of the " Fortifications of Vauban" group for its contributions to the development of military architecture and engineering.

Economy

Longwy has historically been an industrial center of the

iron mining district. Factories lined the river in historic postcards. The town is also known for its artistic

faience Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white Ceramic glaze, pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an stannous oxide, oxide of tin to the Slip (c ...

, produced there since 1798. It is produced today by the Société des faïenceries de Longwy et Senelle, often in cooperation with artists and ceramists. Overglaze enamel decoration, known as ''émaux'' and often in a manner similar to

cloisonné Cloisonné () is an ancient technology, ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects with colored material held in place or separated by metal strips or wire, normally of gold. In recent centuries, vitreous enamel has been used, but inla ...

, has been produced in Longwy ceramics since 1872. Initially produced under the direction of Amadeo de Carenza, this style reached a peak in the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

style, retailed by the Parisian department store

Printemps Printemps is a French luxury department store chain founded in 1865, which focuses on beauty, lifestyle, fashion and accessories. The flagship store "le Printemps Haussmann" is located on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Pari ...

Transport

Route nationale 52 (part of European route E411) passes through Longwy. Longwy station has rail connections to Luxembourg, Charleville-Mézières and Nancy.

History

Longwy initially belonged to

Lotharingia Lotharingia was a historical region and an early medieval polity that existed during the late Carolingian and early Ottonian era, from the middle of the 9th to the middle of the 10th century. It was established in 855 by the Treaty of Prüm, a ...

. After the division of that kingdom, the town became part of Upper Lorraine and ultimately the

Duchy of Bar The County of Bar, later Duchy of Bar, was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire encompassing the ''Barrois, pays de Barrois'' and centred on the city of Bar-le-Duc. It was held by the County of Montbéliard, House of Montbéliard from the 11t ...

. Longwy was ceded to Wenceslaus I of Luxembourg in 1368, but was returned to Bar in 1378. The Duchy of Bar was then annexed into the

Duchy of Lorraine The Duchy of Lorraine was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire which existed from the 10th century until 1766 when it was annexed by the kingdom of France. It gave its name to the larger present-day region of Lorraine in northeastern France ...

in 1480. From 1648 to 1660 Longwy was part of the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the Middle Ages, medieval and Early modern France, early modern period. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe from th ...

, returning to the Duchy of Lorraine afterwards. It was made part of France again in 1670, a situation which was finalized in the

Treaties of Nijmegen The Treaties or Peace of Nijmegen (; ; ) were a series of treaties signed in the Dutch city of Nijmegen between August 1678 and October 1679. The treaties ended various interconnected wars among France, the Dutch Republic, Spain, Brandenburg, Sw ...

in 1678. Vauban fortified the town during the reign of

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

, having demolished the medieval Château de Longwy, of which one tower remains. After the French defeat in the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

of 1870–71, almost all of the

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...

department, along with

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

and portions of the Meurthe and Vosges departments, was ceded to the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

by the Treaty of Frankfurt on the ground that the population in those areas spoke

German dialects German dialects are the various traditional local varieties of the German language. Though varied by region, those of the southern half of Germany beneath the Benrath line are dominated by the geographical spread of the High German consonant s ...

. Only one fifth of Moselle, including Longwy, was spared annexation.

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (; born ''Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck''; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as ...

later bitterly regretted his decision when it was discovered that the region of Briey and Longwy was rich with iron ore, exploited by the Aciéries de Longwy among other members of the cartel Comptoir Métallurgique de Longwy. After the Battle of the Ardennes in August 1914, Longwy was occupied by the

Imperial German army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the leadership of Kingdom o ...

until the 1918 Armistice. At the start of the war the fort at Longwy was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Natalis Constant Darche. With a force of 3,500 men he was able to hold up the German 5th Army for three weeks.

Population

People

Count Claude Florimond de Mercy Count Claudius Florimund de Mercy (1666 – 29 June 1734) was an Imperial field marshal, born at Longwy in Lorraine, now in France. His grandfather was the Bavarian field marshal Franz Freiherr von Mercy. Mercy entered the Austrian ar ...

(1666–1734),

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

Field Marshal * François Dominique Séraphin (1747–1800), French

puppeteer A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object called a puppet to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the ...

* Jean-Baptiste Fresez (1800–1867),

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

ish painter * Paul Delisse (1817–1888), French trombonist * Geneviève de Fontenay (1932–2023), French businesswoman

References

External links

*
Town council website
{{Authority control Communes of Meurthe-et-Moselle Vauban fortifications in France Three Bishoprics