Épinal (; ; ) is a commune in 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 ...

and the prefecture of the

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; ; Franconian and ) is a range of medium 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 geomorphological unit and ...

department.

Geography

The commune has a land area of . It is situated on the river

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 ...

, south of Nancy. Épinal station has rail connections to Paris, Remiremont, Strasbourg, Belfort and Nancy.

History

The mythical founding date of Épinal is said to be 983 since celebrations took place for the "Millennium" in June 1983. This date was chosen for political reasons to mark a "starting point" following the election of Philippe Séguin as mayor in March 1983. In 1444, the town of Épinal was still part of the domain of the bishops of Metz. In September, representatives of the town took advantage of King Charles VII's passage through Nancy to offer him the submission of the town and to ask for his protection in return. The act of submission of Épinal is dated September 7, 1444. The king promised never to alienate the city; however,

Louis XI Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revolt known as the ...

handed over the town to the Marshal of Burgundy in 1465. Eventually, Épinal came under the guardianship of the Duke of Lorraine. In 1790, the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

requested the departmental assembly of Vosges to choose between

Mirecourt Mirecourt () is a Communes of France, commune in the Vosges (French department), Vosges Departments of France, department in Grand Est in northeastern France. Mirecourt is known for lace-making and the manufacture of musical instruments, particula ...

and Épinal as the capital of the department. The departmental assembly convened in Épinal on June 1 and, with three hundred and eleven votes against one hundred and twenty-seven, chose the city of Épinal. Mirecourt became a sub-prefecture. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, in January 1944, the Stalag 315

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

was relocated from the German-occupied Netherlands to Épinal, and it housed Indian POWs. At least 40 POWs were killed and 80 were wounded after the camp was hit during a bombing of the town in May 1944.

Population

In 2018, 32,223 people lived in the town proper, while its functional area had a population of 119,955.Comparateur de territoire
INSEE, retrieved 20 June 2022.

Main sights

The old town centre features the Place des Vosges, the Chapitre district, Saint-Maurice's Basilica, medieval castle remains and the Roman House (11th and 13th centuries). It is also known for its parks and gardens, as well as a large communal forest with arboretum (the Arboretum de la Forêt d'Épinal). There are major fortifications, extended and maintained until the early 20th century. There is a legend, among the populace of Épinal, that

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

's ghost strolls the wall ramparts on 9 September of each year at 05:00. It was on this day and at this time that, in 1811, Napoleon gave his first and last oration to the city of Épinal, wherein he addressed the challenges posed by northern expansion. The Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial on the outskirts of the town where United States service members killed in World War II are buried.

Notable residents

* Isabelle Cogitore (born 1964), historian * Jean-Baptiste Jacopin (1755–1811), general of the armies of the 1st Republic and the First French Empire. * Victor Magnien (1802–1885), violinist, guitarist and composer *

Émile Durkheim David Émile Durkheim (; or ; 15 April 1858 – 15 November 1917) was a French Sociology, sociologist. Durkheim formally established the academic discipline of sociology and is commonly cited as one of the principal architects of modern soci ...

(1858–1917), founder of sociology *

Louis Lapicque Louis Édouard Lapicque (1 August 1866 – 6 December 1952) was a French neuroscientist, socialist activist, antiboulangist, dreyfusard and freemason who was very influential in the early 20th century. One of his main contributions was to propos ...

(1866–1952), physiologist, specialist of the nervous system and known for his discovery of the chronaxie. *

Marcel Mauss Marcel Israël Mauss (; 10 May 1872 – 10 February 1950) was a French sociologist and anthropologist known as the "father of French ethnology". The nephew of Émile Durkheim, Mauss, in his academic work, crossed the boundaries between sociolo ...

(1872–1950), father of French modern

ethnography Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

and nephew of

. * Marc Boegner (1881–1970), writer, thinker and pastor, president of the

Fédération protestante de France The Protestant Federation of France (''Fédération protestante de France'') is a religious organisation created on 25 October 1905, which united the main Protestant Christians, Christian groupings in France. In 2023, the current president is Ch ...

and the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, most jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodo ...

, a member of the . * Henry Daniel-Rops (1901–1965), writer and historian * Jean-Marie Cavada (1940) journalist and politician. * Léo Valentin (1919–1956), French soldier and adventurer, nicknamed "l'homme-oiseau". * Léon Schwab (1862-1962), French cloth merchant, lawyer and politician. * Marceline Loridan-Ivens (1928), film director *

Philippe Séguin Philippe Séguin (; 21 April 1943 – 7 January 2010) was a French political figure who was President of the National Assembly from 1993 to 1997 and President of the Cour des Comptes of France from 2004 to 2010. He entered the Court of Financ ...

(1943–2010), Mayor of Épinal, French politician, President of the Court of Auditors under the Fifth Republic. *

Ségolène Royal Ségolène Royal (; born Marie-Ségolène Royal; 22 September 1953) is a French politician who took part in the 2007 French presidential election, losing to Nicolas Sarkozy in the second round. She was the first woman in France's history to r ...

(1953), completed her high school in Charmes, before joining the Lycée Saint-Joseph of Épinal in 1968. * Laetitia Masson (1966), screenwriter and film director *

Valérie Donzelli Valérie Donzelli (born 2 March 1973) is a French actress, filmmaker and screenwriter. She has directed six feature films and two short films since 2008, including the film ''Declaration of War'' (2011). Early life Valérie Donzelli was born in ...

(1973), actress and film director * Jeanne Cressanges, novelist, essayist * Nicolas Matthieu (1978), writer, winner of the Prix Erckmann-Chatrian in 2014. * Maria Pourchet, (1980), writer, winner of the Prix Erckmann-Chatrian in 2013.
Marie-Antoinette Gout

Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( ) is a title used by Yad Vashem to describe people who, for various reasons, made an effort to assist victims, mostly Jews, who were being persecuted and exterminated by Nazi Germany, Fascist Romania, Fascist Italy, ...

Sportspeople

* Gauthier Klauss (1987), canoeist. * Matthieu Péché (1987), canoeist * Aurore Mongel (1982), swimmer * Damien Nazon (1974), rider * Jean-Patrick Nazon (1977), rider * Julien Bontemps (1979), windsurfer * Maxime Mermoz (1986), rugby player *

Nacer Bouhanni Nacer Bouhanni (born 25 July 1990) is a French former professional racing cyclist, who competed as a professional from 2011 to 2023. A sprinter, he was the winner of the 2012 French National Road Race Championships. Although his first Grand To ...

(1990), rider * Rayane Bouhanni (1996), brother of the former, also a rider * Grégory Gaultier (1982), 2015 squash world champion * Pierre Thiriet (1989), racing driver

Economy

Épinal is best known for the " Images d'Épinal" – which is now a common expression in French language – the popular prints created by a local company, the Imagerie d'Épinal, formerly known as the Imagerie Pellerin. These stencil-colored woodcuts of military subjects, Napoleonic history, storybook characters and other folk themes were widely distributed throughout the 19th century. The company still exists today, and still uses its hand-operated presses to produce the antique images. Other local industries include textiles, metals,

morocco leather Morocco leather (also known as Levant, the French Maroquin, Turkey, or German Saffian from Safi, a Moroccan town famous for leather) is a vegetable-tanned leather known for its softness, pliability, and ability to take color. It has been widely ...

, precision instruments, and bicycles. There is a school of textile weaving.

Politics

Épinal is contained within Vosges' 1st constituency for elections to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

Education

The engineering College

École nationale supérieure des technologies et industries du bois École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

dedicated to

wood Industry The wood industry or timber industry (sometimes lumber industry – when referring mainly to sawed boards) is the industry (economics), industry concerned with forestry, logging, timber trade, and the production of primary forest products and woo ...

is located in the city.

Sport

SAS Épinal Stade Athletique Spinalien Épinal is a French football club based in the commune of Épinal. They currently play in Championnat National, the third tier of French football. Their kit colours are yellow and blue. They play their home matches at ...

is based in the commune.

International relations

Épinal is twinned with: *

Bitola Bitola (; ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki border crossing ...

, North Macedonia *

Chieri Chieri (; ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont (Italy), located about southeast of Turin, by rail and by road. It borders the following municipalities: Baldissero Torinese, Pavarolo, Montaldo Torinese, Pino ...

, Italy * Gembloux, Belgium * La Crosse, United States *

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood (borough), Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England; it is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council. At the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a popula ...

, England, United Kingdom *

Nový Jičín Nový Jičín (; ) is a town in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. The historic centre of Nový Jičín is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument reservati ...

, Czech Republic * Schwäbisch Hall, Germany