Méménil () is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...

department in

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 It superseded three former administra ...

in northeastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Geography

Méménil is positioned some ten kilometres (six miles) to the east-north-east of

Épinal Épinal (; german: Spinal) is a commune in northeastern France and the prefecture of the Vosges department. Geography The commune has a land area of . It is situated on the river Moselle, south of Nancy. Épinal station has rail connecti ...

, along one of the routes to

Saint-Dié-des-Vosges Saint-Dié-des-Vosges (; german: Sankt Didel), commonly referred to as just Saint-Dié, is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Geography Saint-Dié is located in th ...

. Surrounding communes are Fontenay to the west,

Girecourt-sur-Durbion Girecourt-sur-Durbion () is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. See also *Communes of the Vosges department The following is a list of the 507 communes of the Vosges department of France. The communes coop ...

to the north and Viménil to the east. The forested hillside to the south of the village is part of the commune of Méménil. The commune is surrounded by forests and is crossed by two little streams, the Rouot and the Grande Roye: these cross the north of the commune through an unusually complex array of little channels before both feed into the little River Durbion, which itself runs through the commune to the east of the village itself.

History

The name ''Memesnil'' dates back at least to 1594 when Méménil was part of the territory belonging to Dompierre under the bailiwick of Bruyere. In 1656 there is a reference to the village as ''Memeny''. The Church, consecrated to the

Assumption of Our Lady The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by Go ...

, was controlled by the parish of nearby Aydoilles. It is recorded that in 1892 the 60 families of the village owned between them 140 head of

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

. On 27 September 1944, towards the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, 70 buildings suffered in a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

bombing attack. Victims included the church windows.

Features

The village is the setting for a

Christmas market A Christmas market, also known as ''Christkindlmarkt'' (literally: ''Christ Child Market'', but the term "Christkind" usually refers to an angel-like "spirit of Christmas" rather than literally the Christ Child), ''Christkindlesmarkt'', ''Chris ...

at the end of each November. The Church of the Assumption of Our Lady retains its dominating position in the heart of the village: villagers are particularly proud of three substantial church bells: Agathe (321 kg), Anne (440 kg) and Marie herself (647 kn).