Forbach ( , , ; ) is a commune in the

French department In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

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 ...

, northeastern

French region France is divided into eighteen administrative regions (, singular ), of which thirteen are located in metropolitan France (in Europe), while the other five are overseas regions (not to be confused with the overseas collectivities, which hav ...

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 It superseded three former administrative regions, Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine, on 1 January 2016 under the provisional name of Alsace-Champagne-A ...

. It is located on the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

border approximately 15 minutes from the center of

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...

, Germany, with which it constitutes a cross-border

conurbation A conurbation is a region consisting of a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which, through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ...

, and is part of the Saar-Moselle

Eurodistrict A eurodistrict is a European administrative entity that contains urban agglomerations which lie across the border between two or more states. A eurodistrict offers a program for cooperation and integration of the towns or communes which it com ...

. In 2017, Forbach had a population of 21,552 inhabitants,Téléchargement du fichier d'ensemble des populations légales en 2017
INSEE which, including its greater urban area, makes it the largest town in the eastern Moselle area.

History

Forbach is located in an area inhabited for a long time. Remains of the Celtic and especially Roman eras have been found in Forbach.

Medieval era

A castle was built on the Schlossberg hill at the end of the 12th century. It was gradually enlarged and, around 1550, connected to the city by an enclosure wall. Between the 10th century and 1793, many seigneurs owned the seigneury of Forbach. Johann Fischart, a prolific satirical writer, worked as a bailiff at Forbach Castle where he stayed from 1583 to 1590. The chapel of the Holy Cross of Forbach was mentioned in a letter from 1338 by the Bishop of Metz, Adhémar of Monteil, under the name of capella sancta crucis juxta Forbachum. It was probably built in the 13th century. It was extensively renovated in the 14th and 15th centuries. It was probably the property of the Hombourg-Haut congregations since 1257. It was badly damaged during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

War of 1870, German annexation and WW1

Until the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

, Forbach was in the French orbit. However, after the nearby

Battle of Spicheren The Battle of Spicheren, also known as the ''Battle of Forbach'', was a battle during the Franco-Prussian War. The German victory compelled the French to withdraw to the defenses of Metz. The Battle of Spicheren, on 6 August, was the second of ...

in August 1870, the town was occupied by German troops, and at the conclusion of the war annexed to Germany, forming part of the imperial province of

Alsace–Lorraine Alsace–Lorraine (German language, German: ''Elsaß–Lothringen''), officially the Imperial Territory of Alsace–Lorraine (), was a territory of the German Empire, located in modern-day France. It was established in 1871 by the German Empire ...

. The region was returned to France in

1918 The ceasefire that effectively ended the World War I, First World War took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of this year. Also in this year, the Spanish flu pandemic killed 50–100 million people wor ...

Post-WW2 period

Before the

Schengen Treaty The Schengen Agreement ( , ) is a treaty which led to the creation of Europe's Schengen Area, in which internal border checks have largely been abolished. It was signed on 14 June 1985, near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, by five of the t ...

, Forbach was a major border crossing at which

customs Customs is an authority or Government agency, agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling International trade, the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out ...

procedures were carried out, both for road and for rail transport and travel. Since 2007, the

TGV The TGV (; , , 'high-speed train') is France's intercity high-speed rail service. With commercial operating speeds of up to on the newer lines, the TGV was conceived at the same period as other technological projects such as the Ariane 1 rocke ...

and

ICE Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally oc ...

high speed trains connecting

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

have stopped at the station in Forbach, and passengers can now travel to Paris

Gare de l'Est The Gare de l'Est (; English: "Station of the East" or "East station"), officially Paris Est, is one of the seven large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. It is located in the 10th arrondissement, not far southeast from the Ga ...

in 1 hour and 45 minutes and to the German financial center and

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

in the Frankfurt and Rhine-Main metropolis in 2 hours. Its location in the

Saar-Warndt coal mining basin Saar-Warndt coal mining basin is an area of Germany and France. It has been shaped by two centuries of coal extraction from the start of the 19th century to the start of the 21st century; and it represents a significant period in the history of ...

, which extends into eastern Moselle, made Forbach an important mining town, with offices of the Houillères du Bassin de Lorraine (Lorraine coal mining board), a section of the French Coal Board. When the mining operations were permanently shut down in 2004, Forbach turned to activities in the tourism, service, energy and other industries to rebuild the local economy. The "Musée des Mineurs - Wendel" in the neighboring village of

Petite-Rosselle Petite-Rosselle (, , in contrast to " Big Rosselle"; ; Palatine German: ''Klänrossle'') is a commune in the Moselle department of the Grand Est region in north-eastern France. The commune is separated from neighbouring Großrosseln to its we ...

is a coal mining museum which preserves the industrial and cultural heritage from the coal mining era in the Forbach region. It was awarded the "Musées de France" quality label in 2002.

Population

Notable people from Forbach

Nicolas Appert Nicolas Appert (17 November 1749 – 1 June 1841) was a French confectioner and inventor who, in the early 19th century, invented airtight food preservation. Appert, known as the " father of food science", described his invention as a way "of c ...

(1749–1841), inventor, notably of the canning technique *

Claire Burger Claire Burger (born 1978) is a French film director, film editor and screenwriter. She received the Camera d'Or A camera is an instrument used to capture and store images and videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor, or che ...

(born 1978), journalist, screenwriter and film director. Her 2008 short film, ''Forbach'', was awarded by the Cinéfoundation in 2008 and she received the "Ensemble Prize" along with Marie Amachoukeli and Samuel Theis in the category "A Certain Regard" ''(Un Certain Regard)'' for their first feature film, ''Party Girl'', at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. *

Jean-Luc Cairon Jean-Luc Cairon (14 February 1962 – 26 February 2022) was a French gymnast, coach and convicted felon. Cairon was born in Forbach, France. He competed for his native France in eight events at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Cairon was a co-owner ...

(born 1962), gymnast and coach *

Helmut Fritz Éric Greff (; born 19 July 1975 in Forbach, Moselle (department), Moselle), better known by his aliases Helmut Fritz and Géronimo, is a French singer-songwriter and record producer. Greff is known for his 2009 single "Ça m'énerve", in which he ...

(born 1975), singer * Jean-Nicolas Houchard (1740–1793), French General, whose name appears on the

Arc de Triomphe The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, often called simply the Arc de Triomphe, is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Plac ...

in Paris *

Sophie Huber Sophie Huber (born 26 November 1985 in Forbach, France)Eugene Jolas John George Eugène Jolas (October 26, 1894 – May 26, 1952) was a writer, translator and literary critic. Early life John George Eugène Jolas was born October 26, 1894, in Union Hill, New Jersey (what is today Union City, New Jersey). His p ...

(1894–1952), journalist, poet and translator, best known for founding the modernist Parisian journal '' transition'' (which published, notably,

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

's ''

Finnegans Wake ''Finnegans Wake'' is a novel by Irish literature, Irish writer James Joyce. It was published in instalments starting in 1924, under the title "fragments from ''Work in Progress''". The final title was only revealed when the book was publishe ...

''). *

Patricia Kaas Patricia Noëlle Kaas (; born 5 December 1966) is a French singer. Her music is a mix of pop, cabaret, jazz, and chanson. Since the appearance of her 1988 debut album '' Mademoiselle chante...,'' Kaas won 6 Victoires de la Musique awards and ...

(born 1966), singer from

Stiring-Wendel Stiring-Wendel (; Lorraine Franconian: ''Stiringe''; German ''Stieringen-Wendel'') is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France, wedged between Forbach, Schœneck, Spicheren and Saarbrücken. History Charles d ...

(near Forbach) * Christian von Zweibrücken (1782–1859), Bavarian general *

Sam Hocevar Samuel Hocevar (born 5 August 1978) is a French software and video game developer. He was the project leader of the Debian operating system from 17 April 2007 to 16 April 2008, and one of the founding members of Goatse Security. Biography Hoce ...

(born 1978),

Debian Debian () is a free and open-source software, free and open source Linux distribution, developed by the Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock in August 1993. Debian is one of the oldest operating systems based on the Linux kerne ...

project leader from 17 April 2007 to 16 April 2008 *

Loris Frasca Loris Frasca (born 3 July 1995) is a French artistic gymnast. He competed at both the 2018 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and 2019 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. He qualified to represent France at the 2020 Summer Olympics in T ...

Olympic Gymnast

Climate

Gallery

File:InnenstadtForbach2.JPG, Town centre File:Eglise St-Rémi Forbach.jpg, Catholic Church File:Bahnhof Forbach.JPG,

Train station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing suc ...

Forbach HotelDeVille.jpg, town hall Forbach Mineurs Barrabino.jpg, Monument to miners, Barrabino palace

Notes

External links

*
Eurodistrict website

English website for the Musée les Mineurs-Wendel
{{Authority control Communes of Moselle (department) Subprefectures in France