Bliesbruck (; ) is a commune in the

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 ...

department in

Grand Est Grand Est (; ) is an Regions of France, administrative region in northeastern France. It superseded three former administrative regions, Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine, on 1 January 2016 under the provisional name of Alsace-Champagne-A ...

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 ...

History

According to carved stone objects found in the village area, the valley of the Blies was inhabited by people since before the region belonged to the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

. Later, new peoples settled in the region, such as the

Celts The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

Belgians Belgians ( ; ; ) are people identified with the Kingdom of Belgium, a federal state in Western Europe. As Belgium is a multinational state, this connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural rather than ethnic. The majority ...

and Ligurians. Before the conquest of the Gauls in 52 B.C. the area was apparently populated by the

Mediomatrici The Mediomatrici (Gaulish: ''*Medio-māteres'') were according to Caesar a Gaulish tribe at the frontier to the Belgicae dwelling in the present-day regions Lorraine, Upper Moselle during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are ...

. Under the Roman Republic and Roman Empire, the region experienced phenomenal growth. It can be noted that the town of Steinfelder, corresponds to the current location of the archaeological excavations of Bliesbruck-Reinheim. The only testimony of the Merovingian era in the commune, is the discovery of four merovingian warriors' tombs.

Toponymy

The name Bliesbruck, is a reduction of the German-speaking name of the village, which is Bliesbrücken. This means "bridges over the

Blies The Blies (; ) is a right tributary of the Saar in southwestern Germany ( Saarland) and northeastern France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and ...

", in fact, Brücke means "bridge" in German and takes -en in the plural. It must refer to the fact that the bridge connecting the two main parts of the village was often rebuilt, the first being a simple wooden bridge, then replaced by a vaulted bridge, destroyed during 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 ...

, then replaced by a wooden bridge by the French and the Americans. It was only in the 1970s that the current bridge was built.

Population

Twin Towns and sister cities

Bliesbruck is twinned with : * Millery,

Cultural heritage and architecture

Historical heritage

The European Archaeological Park of Bliesbruck-Reinheim

This archaeological park is located in Bliesbruck but also in a German town named Gersheim. It is a cross-border project which combines excavations and reconstructions of

Celt The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

ic and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

finds with exhibition and educational facilities.

Roman thermae

It is a Roman thermal complex that operated from the end of the 1st to the middle of the 3rd century File:The furnace of the caldarium, European Archaeological Park of Bliesbruck-Reinheim, Germany France (35119303310).jpg, The furnace of the caldarium in the thermae File:The recreated garden of the pars urbana, Roman villa in Reinheim, European Archaeological Park of Bliesbruck-Reinheim, Germany France (35330752851).jpg, The recreated garden of the pars urbana in the Archaeological Park

References

External links

* Communes of Moselle (department) Mediomatrici {{Sarreguemines-geo-stub