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Berck (), sometimes referred to as Berck-sur-Mer in French or Berck-su-Mér in
Picard Picard may refer to: Places * Picard, Quebec, Canada * Picard, California, United States * Picard (crater), a lunar impact crater in Mare Crisium People and fictional characters * Picard (name), a list of people and fictional characters with th ...
( ''Berck on Sea''), is a commune in the northern French department of
Pas-de-Calais The Pas-de-Calais (, ' strait of Calais'; ; ) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments of France, with 890, and is the ...
. Situated on the
English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...
immediately north the mouth of the river Authie, Berck boasts over of sandy beaches and grass-topped dunes, and since the middle of the 19th century it has been a destination for convalescents and vacationers.


Toponymy

Various forms of Berck's name were in use by the early 13th century. ''Datum Bergis'' and ''Berc'' appear in documents from 1215, and ''Bierk'' appears in a document from in 1282.Albert Dauzat and Charles Rostaing, 72b. Its specific etymology is unknown and may come from either the Germanic ''berg'' ("hill") or ''birkja'' ("place of the birch trees").


History

By the start of the 14th century, Berck was an established fishing village. In 1301, it was recorded to have 150 homesteads with 800 inhabitants. The oldest parts of Berck are now inland from both river and sea, presumably because of deposition, but at the time of its founding village was on the coast and what is now the church of St-Jean-Baptiste began its existence as a lighthouse (first wooden, then stone). As a result of the retreating coastline, boats were designed with flat bottoms so that they could be drawn up on the beach. A cart was driven out to them in order to bring in the catch (see Eugène Boudin's painting below). Berck was a location of combat for centuries. The chronicler Enguerrand de Monstrelet mentions that during 1414 the English garrison in
Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...
raided south and burned the town. During the second siege of Montreuil in 1544, the English advanced from the south and burned 200 houses, the church and the mill as they passed through Berck. What was left of the place was burned by the French on their way to relieve the siege. In the mid-19th century, Berck was given a therapeutic role in the treatment of
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
. The Maritime hospital was inaugurated in 1869 by
Empress Eugenie The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother/grandmother ( empress dowager/ grand empress dowager), or a woman who rul ...
. Other hospitals and benevolent institutes were soon created to cater for the sick and those in need of rest and recuperation. It was at this time that the medical benefits of sea bathing were being recommended. The town, advertised as just a three-hour journey from Paris, began to build up its tourist trade with the help of the railways. At first passengers had to alight at the nearby town of Verton, on the main line to Calais, but in 1893 a
branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...
was built connecting Berck with other towns in the region. As well as carrying passengers, the train carried goods traffic from the brick-works at Berck Ville. Known locally as ''le Tortillard'' for its wandering route, it was closed in 1955. There was a later
narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curv ...
line running northwards through the dunes from Berck Plage to Paris-Plage, as
Le Touquet Le Touquet-Paris-Plage (, Picard language, Picard: ''Ech Toutchet-Paris-Plache''), commonly referred to as Le Touquet (), is a Communes of France, commune near Étaples, in the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, northern France. ...
was then known. It was built in stages via Merlimont between 1909 and 1912, but gradually it sanded over and closed in 1929. File:Berck poster.jpg, Railway advertising File:Train à Berck-Plage 1.jpg, The beach station (1911) File:Convoi en gare de Merlimont (ligne Berck- Le Touquet).jpg, Merlimont dunes station 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 ...
the sea front was disrupted by the installation of the Nazi
Atlantic Wall The Atlantic Wall () was an extensive system of coastal defence and fortification, coastal defences and fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the coast of continental Europe and Scandinavia as a defense (military), d ...
. The town suffered from bombing during the Allied invasion in 1944. This contributed to the diminishing of the ancient fishing industry, which numbered some 150 boats at the turn of the century. It had all but disappeared by the 1960s. Today, although the hospital sector remains economically important, the town has again promoted itself as a tourist attraction. A seaside bathing station, with an immense beach of fine sand on the Opal Coast, it continues to be a centre for sand yachting and the new sport of
surfboard A surfboard is a narrow plank used in surfing. Surfboards are relatively light, but are strong enough to support an individual standing on them while riding an ocean wave. They were invented in ancient Hawaii, where they were known as ''papa hee ...
ing. The former Berck Plage railway station has been converted into a casino. The town has twinned with
Bad Honnef Bad Honnef () is a spa town in Germany near Bonn in the Rhein-Sieg district, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the border of the neighbouring state Rhineland-Palatinate. To the north it lies on the slopes of the Drachenfels (Siebengebirge), ...
in Germany and with Hythe in England.


Buildings

The church of Saint Jean Baptiste was restored in 1954. The 15th-century carvings on its corbels were then highlighted in paint. The choir and belfry are listed monuments. The new church of Notre-Dame des Sables was opened in 1886 on the marketplace of the beach quarter. Its seating for 1,500 was to cater principally to holiday makers in season and to the patients from the many medical establishments profiting from the sea air. There are paintings on the choir walls. Beside its medical establishments, the beach quarter catered to the moneyed classes in the second half of the 19th century. It slowly developed with grandiose villas, hotels and amenities. Among these were handsome casinos, of which the principal was the Eden, also known as the Grand Casino de la Plage, with a theatre and music hall. This was destroyed in war in 1944, but it is survived by its equally gorgeous rival, the Kursaal. The ambitious Cottage des Dunes, which tried to unite a luxury hotel and casino, failed commercially in 1913. After a brief spell of use as a hospital, it was adapted for official use. Another official building that survived the bombing was the town hall, which was built in 1893 and has murals painted by Jan Lavezzari. After the stone tower of St John the Baptist fell into disuse as a lighthouse, it was replaced at first by a primitive oil lamp suspended in the dunes to mark the sandbars at the river mouth. Two years later a 10-metre tower was mounted above a keeper's cottage. This became hidden by construction of the maritime hospital in 1861. A new, taller tower was constructed in 1868. The two buildings, referred to locally as father and son (''le père et fils''), stood next to each other until they were dynamited by the Germans in 1944. The current concrete lighthouse, designed by Georges Tourry, was completed in 1951 and is 45 metres high. Its light can be seen from a distance of . Image:Berck - L'église Saint Jean Baptiste.JPG, Church of St John the Baptist File:Berck-halles.jpg, The town hall in 1900 Image:Casino de berck.jpg, The station casino Image:Berck_-_Architecture.JPG, Architecture File:Berck lifeboat.jpg, The lifeboat in front of holiday chalets about 1900 Image:Berck.jpg, Institut Calot


Aeronautical experiments

The steady sea breezes and the updraft created by the neighbouring dunes once made the town the centre of a number of aeronautical experiments. These began in the final decades of the 19th century with early trials of photography from unmanned kites. Among the first working locally was the English meteorologist E.D.Archibald in 1887; he was followed the next year by Arthur Batut and during 1889-91 by Emile Wenz. The experiments continued until 1914 and some of the photos found commercial use on postcards. The town has had an aerodrome since 1917. This was in part because at the start of the 20th century, the area played its part in the race to take to the air. The artist
Jan Lavezzari Jan Lavezzari (January 3, 1876 – May 11, 1947Jan Lavezzari
Mutual Art.) was a gifted painte ...
, who had originally studied engineering, tested a double lateen sail hang glider from the Merlimont sand dunes in February 1904. He was followed there that Easter by
Gabriel Voisin Gabriel Voisin (; 5 February 1880 – 25 December 1973) was a French aviation pioneer and the creator of Europe's first manned, engine-powered, heavier-than-air aircraft capable of a sustained (1 km), circular, controlled flight, which was m ...
, who made a trial flight in a glider plane modelled on that of the
Wright Brothers The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were American aviation List of aviation pioneers, pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flyin ...
and over a few seconds was airborne for 50 metres. His one-time partner
Louis Blériot Louis Charles Joseph Blériot ( , also , ; 1 July 1872 – 1 August 1936) was a French aviator, inventor, and engineer. He developed the first practical headlamp for cars and established a profitable business manufacturing them, using much of t ...
never experimented with flight at Berck. He did develop and test the sand-yacht (''l'aeroplage'') there in 1911 and pioneered the first race over the sands in 1913. Since 1966 a six-hour endurance race has been hosted by the local Eole Club. Since 1986 there has been an annual kite-flying festival each April on the sands, attracting international exhibits of great beauty and inventiveness.


Population

The inhabitants are called ''Berckois''. Over the past two centuries there has been a steady growth in the population of the town, which in the 1793 census was 983, only a little more than the 800 recorded in 1301. In 1851 this had more than doubled to 2,216 and after the commercial development during the second half of that century had climbed to 7,799 by 1901. It more than doubled again by 1936 (16,700) but fell to 11,529 by 1946. As of 2017 it has increased to 14,189. Image:Berck - Station balnéaire.JPG, Berck – The sea front File:Aeroplage1913-3.jpg, A sand-yacht on the beach in 1913 Image:Berck_-_La_plage.JPG, The sands Image:Berck_-_Les_dunes.JPG, The dunes


The 'Berck School' of painters

Painters joined the 19th century Parisian visitors to the town and passed on news of their discovery to fellow artists in the capital. One of the most notable was
Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French Modernism, modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism (art movement), R ...
, who passed a summer there with his family in 1873. Among the twenty paintings he made were depictions of boats at sea and the beachscape; some are now held by the
Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) () is a museum in Paris, France, on the Rive Gauche, Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts railway station built from 1898 to 1900. The museum holds mai ...
.
Eugène Boudin Eugène Louis Boudin (; 12 July 1824 – 8 August 1898) was one of the first French landscape painters to paint outdoors. Boudin was a marine painter, and expert in the rendering of all that goes upon the sea and along its shores. His pastels, ...
first visited in 1874; over the next twenty years, he made Berck the subject of some 120 paintings. He was followed in 1876 by Ludovic-Napoléon Lepic, who was so taken with the place that he set up a studio there. Until 1885 he devoted some six months of the year there, painting the area and the lives of fishermen. Following in their footsteps came the sons of local families who, until about 1914, constituted what has been called 'the Berck School'. These included Francis Tattegrain, who was encouraged to take up art by Lepic;
Jan Lavezzari Jan Lavezzari (January 3, 1876 – May 11, 1947Jan Lavezzari
Mutual Art.) was a gifted painte ...
, son of the town architect who was also a friend of Lepic; Charles Roussel (1861–1936), who settled in the town in 1886; and Eugène Trigoulet (1864–1910). After
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
the town and its inhabitants continued to be represented artistically by Roussel and by Louis Montaigu (1905–1988). Fishermen in interiors were a specialty of the latter. A collection of these and other Opal Coast painters was opened in 1979 in the Municipal Museum, sited in Berck's old Gendarmerie. This was built at the end of the 19th century by Emile Lavezzari.


Berck in the arts

File:Manet-Swallows.jpg,
Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French Modernism, modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism (art movement), R ...
, ''The Swallows'' (Berck meadows). 1873, E.G. Bührle Collection, Zürich File:Lille PdBA lepic plage de berck.JPG, Ludovic-Napoléon Lepic, ''The beach at Berck''. 1876, Palais des beaux-arts de Lille File:Francis-tattegrain-1878-au-large-132x8-cm-1600x0.jpg, Francis Tattegrain, ''Fishing boats off Berck''. 1878, Musée de Berck sur Mer File:Boudin The Fish-cart.jpg,
Eugène Boudin Eugène Louis Boudin (; 12 July 1824 – 8 August 1898) was one of the first French landscape painters to paint outdoors. Boudin was a marine painter, and expert in the rendering of all that goes upon the sea and along its shores. His pastels, ...
, ''The fish-cart''. 1880, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge File:Berck Laronze.jpg, Jean Laronze, ''Berck foreshore''. 1904, Musée des Ursulines, Mâcon File:Sarahcolegrave-Back_Garden,_Berck.jpg, Patty Townsend-Johnson, ''Berck back garden''. Watercolour, 1904 File:Iwill Berck.jpg, Marie-Joseph Iwill, ''The flooded road to Berck''. 1909, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen File:Roussel-Dunes_on_the_outskirts_of_Berck.jpg, Charles Roussel, ''Dune on the outskirts of Berck''. Oil on wood, 1920
Among minor artists who have made Berck a subject in their work are Paul Laugée (1853–1937);
Eugène Chigot Eugène Henri Alexandre Chigot (; 22 November 1860 – 14 July 1923) was a post impressionist French painter. A pupil of his father, the military painter Alphonse Chigot, in 1881 he entered the internationally renowned École Nationale Supérie ...
(1860–1923), who had a studio there in 1893; and Georges Maroniez, a judge who painted and photographed in the area during holidays. Two others stayed in the town because of its medical facilities. Albert Besnard was there in 1895 on account of his tubercular son. As a thanks offering for his cure, Besnard and his wife Charlotte decorated the walls of the chapel in the Cazin-Perrochaud Institute between the years 1898–1901. While he was there, he also executed oil paintings and etchings. Jean Laronze (see above) was also there in 1904 for the same reason and painted several canvases during his stay. The town figures unfavourably in the long poem "Berck-Plage" by
Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath (; October 27, 1932 â€“ February 11, 1963) was an American poet and author. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for '' The Colossus and Other Poems'' (1960), '' Ariel'' (1965), a ...
. She had visited it in 1961 and wrote the poem a year later, mixing memories of maimed war veterans at the Berck hospital with impressions of the recent death and funeral of a neighbour. In
Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...
's ''Le Sursis'' ( The Reprieve), the character of Charles is evacuated from the military hospital at Berck just before the outbreak of the
Second World War 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 ...
. The town also figured in the novel ''Une année à Berck'' by Christian Morel de Sarcus (Paris, 1997).


Language

The language originally spoken by the inhabitants was
Picard Picard may refer to: Places * Picard, Quebec, Canada * Picard, California, United States * Picard (crater), a lunar impact crater in Mare Crisium People and fictional characters * Picard (name), a list of people and fictional characters with th ...
, from which originated several expressions used by fishermen. Although it has now retreated before standard French, there are still those who seek to preserve it. Berck has a language association, ''T'yn souvyin tu?'' and there have been linguistic studies of the local dialect. These include the poet Edouard Grandel's ''Lexique du patois berckois'' (Université de Picardie, Amiens, 1980), Lucien Tétu's ''Glossaire du parler de Berck'' (Société de linguistique picarde, 1981) and his ''À l'écoute des Berckois : Dictons et proverbes, sobriquets'' (Société de linguistique picarde, 1988). The Picard dialect poet Ivar Ch'Vavar was born in the town in 1951 and, though he now lives in Amiens, has often written about it, most notably in ''Berck (un poème)'', published in 1997.


Personalities

*
Annette Messager Annette Messager (born 30 November 1943) is a French visual artist. She is known for championing the techniques and materials of outsider art. In 2005, she won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Biennale for her artwork at the French pavilion, F ...
, conceptual artist. *
Jean-Dominique Bauby Jean-Dominique Bauby (; 23 April 1952 – 9 March 1997) was a French journalist, author and editor of the French fashion magazine ''Elle''. Early life and career Bauby was born in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, and grew up in the 1st arrondi ...
, author of the French best seller '' Le scaphandre et le papillon'', the
film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...
of which was also shot in the town.


See also

*
Communes of Pas-de-Calais The following is a list of the 887 communes of the Pas-de-Calais department of France. The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2025):


References


External links


Town GuideRencontres Internationales des Cerfs Volants de Berck sur Mer


{{authority control Communes of Pas-de-Calais Seaside resorts in France