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 left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A ...
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 It superseded three former administr ...
region in north-eastern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. The commune is separated from neighbouring Großrosseln to its west by the small river Rossel, which forms the border between France and Germany. It has 6,322 inhabitants (2018).
History
From the year's 843 signing of the
Treaty of Verdun
The Treaty of Verdun (), agreed in , divided the Frankish Empire into three kingdoms among the surviving sons of the emperor Louis I, the son and successor of Charlemagne. The treaty was concluded following almost three years of civil war and ...
, the location of the present commune fell within the territory of Middle Francia. Between 925–1542, it was part of the
Duchy of Lorraine
The Duchy of Lorraine (french: Lorraine ; german: Lothringen ), originally Upper Lorraine, was a duchy now included in the larger present-day region of Lorraine in northeastern France. Its capital was Nancy.
It was founded in 959 following th ...
, within the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...
. From 1542-1766 it was in the independent Duchy of Lorraine. Between 1766-1871 it was incorporated into France.
Periodic wars between France and Germany led to the establishment of the frontier along the river Moselle. Between 1871–1918 the Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine, including Petite-Rosselle, was annexed by the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
.
Following the
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1 ...
, Petite-Rosselle returned to French control and remained so until
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
again annexed the Moselle on 25 July 1940, incorporating it as CdZ-Gebiet Lothringen into the Gau Westmark.
Petite-Roselle shares most of its history with Großrosseln (). The united commune of Rosselle was founded in 1290, and the lesser and greater parts of the commune on either side of the river were legally separated in 1326. The river Rosselle marks the border between France and Germany.
Mining
Coal was discovered in the vicinity of the town in 1856 by the de Wendel family. Mining became the principal economic activity in the commune. Today all mining operations have closed, though several mines have been conserved for historical purposes as part of the Carreau Wendel Museum.The history of the Explor Wendel Park Parc Explor Wendel
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
)
See also
*
Communes of the Moselle department
The following is a list of the 725 communes of the Moselle department of France.
The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2020):Petiterosselle