Fénétrange (; ,

Lorraine Franconian Lorraine Franconian (Lorraine Franconian: ''Plàtt'' or ''lottrìnger Plàtt''; french: francique lorrain or ''platt lorrain''; german: Lothringisch) is an ambiguous designation for dialects of West Central German (german: Westmitteldeutsch), ...

: ''Finschtinge'') is a commune in the

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) 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 jo ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Grand Est Grand Est (; gsw-FR, Grossa Oschta; Moselle Franconian/ lb, Grouss Osten; Rhine Franconian: ''Groß Oschte''; german: Großer Osten ; en, "Great East") is an administrative region in Northeastern France. It superseded three former administrat ...

in north-eastern France.

Geography

Fénétrange is located near the border between the Moselle department and the

Alsace bossue The Alsace bossue (Alsatian dialect, Alemannic and Lorraine Franconian, Frankish: ''S'Gromme/S'Krumme Elsass'', German: ''das krumme Elsass/ Krummes Elsass''), is a territory of Bas-Rhin in Alsace, which includes the three former cantons of Sarre-U ...

. The river

Saar Saar or SAAR has several meanings: People Given name *Saar Boubacar (born 1951), Senegalese professional football player * Saar Ganor, Israeli archaeologist *Saar Klein (born 1967), American film editor Surname * Ain Saar (born 1968), Est ...

flows through Fénétrange. The municipality is part of the

Lorraine regional natural park Lorraine Regional Natural Park (French language, French: ''Parc naturel régional de Lorraine'') is a protected area of pastoral countryside in the Grand Est Regions of France, region of northeastern France, in the historic region of Lorraine. Th ...

Etymology

Fénétrange means "dwellings on the edge of a bend". Its Latin name is Philestangia. It was Germanised into Vinstingen.

Previous names

Filestengas (Xth century), Filistenges et Vinstringen (1070), Philistingis (1136), Phylestanges (1222), Finstingen (1323), Vinstingen (1328), Vinstinga (1340), Fenestranges (1433), Phinstingen (1558), Vinstringium (1675), Fénétrange (1793), Fénestrange (XIXth century), Finstingen (1871-1918)

History

The name of Fénétrange was officially mentioned for the first time on 18 September 1070. More precisely in a document authorising the abbesses of

Remiremont Remiremont (; german: Romberg or ) is a town and commune in the Vosges department, northeastern France, situated in southern Grand Est. The town has been an abbatial centre since the 7th century, is an economic crossroads of the Moselle and Mosel ...

, who partly owned the domain, to mint coins in Fénétrange, in exchange for the payment of a fee. In 1224, Merbode de Malberg became the first lord of Fénétrange. During the Middle-Age, it used to be a fortified town reputed to be impregnable.

Sights

* The Fénétrange castle, built during the

Middle Age In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. It was later renovated during the 18th century. The building contains a meddieval kitchen, a well, spiral stairs labelled "

monument historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...

". It also contains a catholic gothic chapel constructed in

1584 __NOTOC__ Events January–June * January–March – Archangelsk is founded as ''New Kholmogory'' in northern Russia, by Ivan the Terrible. * January 11 – Sir Walter Mildmay is given a royal licence to found Emman ...

. * The Saint-Rémy gothic collegiate church. It was labelled "monument historique" in 1930. * The former synagogue * The Lutheran Church * The remains of the ramparts * The former Bailiff's House * The "Porte de France", an ancient fortified gate * Oriel windows, located 78, rue de l'Hôpital and 35, rue des Juifs are labelled "monuments historiques". * The bridge File:Eglise Fenetrange.JPG, Saint-Remy Church. File:Fénétrange, château.jpg, The castle File:HOPITAL FENETRANGE.JPG, Oriel window located Rue de l'Hôpital File:Fénétrange porte de France.JPG, Porte de France

Cultural events and festivities

* Since 1978, an annual music and gastronomy festival takes place in Fénétrange. It is known as "Festival de Fénétrange, musique et gastronomie" * Fénétrange is one of the few French localities where a night watchman still exists, thus perpetuating a medieval tradition. From July to September, the visitors can follow the watchman, in his medieval attire, during his night patrol. * Every year, from late November to early January, several winter festivities occur in Fénétrange. One of them, is the traditional Christmas market.

Notable People

Notable people born in Fénétrange

Johann Maria Philipp Frimont Johann Maria Philipp Frimont, ''Count of Palota, Prince of Antrodoco'' (3 February 1759 – 26 December 1831) was an Austrian general. Frimont was born at Fénétrange, in what is now French Lorraine. He entered the Austrian cavalry as a trooper ...

(1759-1831) an general of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...

* Charles Hyacinthe Leclerc de Landremont (1739-1818) commander in chief of the Army of the Rhine during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

Ernst Bogislaw von Croÿ Ernst Bogislaw von Croÿ (26 August 1620, in Finstingen (Fénétrange) – 7 February 1684, in Königsberg) was a Lutheran Administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Cammin and official in the service of Brandenburg-Prussia. Family Ernst Bogisl ...

(1620-1684) the last duke of Pomerania

Notable people related to Fénétrange

* Charles Philippe de Croÿ (1549-1613) a Prince of the Holy Empire and a military as well as a politician from the Southern Netherlands. He became Baron of Fénétrange when he married Diane de Dommartin. * Marcel Dassault (1892-1986) a French engineer and industrialist, whose family originally came from Fénétrange * Johann Michael Moscherosch (1601-1669) a German statesman, writer and one of Fénétrange's former bailiffs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fenetrange Communes of Moselle (department) Duchy of Lorraine