Rueil-Malmaison () or simply Rueil is a commune in the western suburbs of

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 ...

, in the

Hauts-de-Seine Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a department in the Île-de-France region of France. It covers Paris's western inner suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the east, Val-d'Oise to the north, Yvelines to the west and ...

department,

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

. It is located from the centre of

. It is one of the wealthiest suburbs of Paris.

Name

Rueil-Malmaison was originally called simply Rueil. In medieval times the name Rueil was spelled either , , , , or . This name is made of the Gaulish word (meaning 'clearing, glade' or 'place of') suffixed to a radical meaning 'brook, stream' (, ), or maybe to a radical meaning ' ford' (Celtic ). In 1928, the name of the commune officially became Rueil-Malmaison in reference to its most famous tourist attraction, the

Château de Malmaison The Château de Malmaison () is a French château situated near the left bank of the Seine, about west of the centre of Paris, in the commune of Rueil-Malmaison. Formerly the residence of Empress Joséphine de Beauharnais, along with the Tui ...

, home of

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 first wife

Joséphine de Beauharnais Joséphine Bonaparte (, born Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie; 23 June 1763 – 29 May 1814) was the first wife of Emperor Napoleon I and as such Empress of the French from 18 May 1804 until their marriage was annulled on 10 Janua ...

. The name Malmaison comes from

Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. It was also the administrative language in the former Western Roman Empire, Roman Provinces of Mauretania, Numidi ...

, meaning 'ill-fated domain', 'estate of ill luck'. In the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...

Malmaison was the site of a royal residence which was destroyed by the Vikings in 846.

History

Eglise Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul Rueil-Malmaison

The territory of Rueil has been frequented since very ancient times: during foundation work for the construction of a new neighborhood near the Seine, at the "Closeaux" site, a Mesolithic site of an Azilian people (10,300 to 8,700 BCE) was uncovered. Remains of an Eurasian cave lion, dating back 12,000 years, were also discovered there. The first historical mention of Rueil, or rather of Rotoialum villae, dates back to the 6th century, in the History of the Franks written by Gregory of Tours. The term refers to what was then a Roman-style villa. Also known as Roialum or Rotariolensem villam, it was a place of leisure and hunting for Merovingian kings from the 6th to the 8th century. The Rueil barracks of the

Swiss Guard The Pontifical Swiss Guard,; ; ; ; , %5BCorps of the Pontifical Swiss Guard%5D. ''vatican.va'' (in Italian). Retrieved 19 July 2022. also known as the Papal Swiss Guard or simply Swiss Guard,Swiss Guards , History, Vatican, Uniform, Require ...

were constructed in 1756 under Louis XV by the architect Charles-Axel Guillaumot, and have been classified ''

Monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

'' since 1973. The Guard was formed by Louis XIII in 1616 and massacred at the Tuileries on 10 August 1792 during the French Revolution. Around 870,

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as CharlesII, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), King of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a series of civil wars during t ...

gave this estate to the Abbey of Saint-Denis. At the end of the 12th century, Benedictine monks built a chapel dedicated to Saint Cucufa in the former Béranger woods, which later, after the 18th century, became known as the “Saint-Cucufa woods.” During the Edward III’s Chevauchée in 1346, Rueil was burned and thoroughly devastated by the

Black Prince Edward of Woodstock (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376), known as the Black Prince, was the eldest son and heir apparent of King Edward III of England. He died before his father and so his son, Richard II, succeeded to the throne instead. Edward n ...

, taking a long time to recover from this disaster. In 1584, Antoine of Portugal, exiled in France, lived in Rueil and laid the first stone of a church on the site of the old one, which was in ruins. In 1622, Christophe Perrot, a counselor to the Parliament of Paris, had a château built on the site called Malmaison, an estate that would become, in the following century, the property of the future Empress Joséphine. The monks sold the estate in 1633 to

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu (9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), commonly known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsized influence in civil and religi ...

, who settled at the Château du Val, built for Jean Moisset, a financier under Henri IV. Far from the intrigues and noise of the city, it became his favorite residence. Richelieu also funded the completion of the Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul church by having its façade constructed by his architect Lemercier. In 1691, the

Marquise de Maintenon A marquess (; ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife A wife ...

, the king’s secret wife, rented a house in Rueil to receive poor children and provide them with some education. This was the precursor to the institution she would later establish in Saint-Cyr, closer to Versailles. In 1754, the construction of the barracks, along with those in Courbevoie and Saint-Denis, and the arrival of a Swiss Guards regiment in Rueil significantly increased the population. The Rueil barracks (now the Guynemer barracks, next to the Swiss Guards Museum), built by architect Charles-Axel Guillaumot, is still in use today and is the only one of the three original Swiss Guards barracks that remains. On April 21, 1799, the Château de Malmaison was purchased by General Bonaparte's wife, Marie-Josèphe Tascher de la Pagerie, widow of the Viscount de Beauharnais and wife of General Bonaparte, who, out of jealousy, called her “Josephine.” As the château’s owner, Josephine had it renovated by architects Percier and Fontaine. During the Consulate, Napoleon spent considerable time there, both for leisure and work. Decisions made there included, for example, the Louisiana Purchase and the establishment of the Legion of Honor. After their divorce, the Emperor allowed his former wife to retain her title as Empress and her ownership of Malmaison. Deeply fond of the estate, Josephine had heated greenhouses built to pursue her passion for botany. After his defeat, Napoleon abdicated at Fontainebleau and left for exile on April 20, 1814. It was in Rueil, where she had welcomed Tsar Alexander I of Russia and sought his protection, that the former Empress died on May 29 of that year. Her remains were interred in the Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul Church. The following year, after the Hundred Days, Anglo-Prussian forces took Rueil and looted it. While the British ransacked Malmaison, the Prussians entered Masséna’s property, ravaged the park, stripped the château of all portable items, and smashed the furniture. In 1866, with the Empire restored and the town having grown, it was decided to build a new town hall. It was also during this period that Emperor Napoleon III funded the partial restoration of Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul Church, which contained the tombs of his mother and grandmothers and had fallen into disrepair. Rueil also became home to the Infanta Marie-Isabella of Spain, the eldest daughter of Queen Isabella II of Spain, and her husband, Prince Gaetano of Bourbon-Sicily, when the Spanish royal family was exiled by the revolution of 1868. View of the front of the Stell Hospital, bearing the name of Edward Tuck During the Siege of Paris from 1870 to 1871, in the Franco-Prussian War, Rueil, the surrounding villages, and the Château de Buzenval became battle sites, notably on October 21, 1870, and January 19, 1871, during the first and second battles of Buzenval, where French troops from Paris clashed with Prussian soldiers entrenched on the Garches heights. The commune has three war memorials commemorating this conflict. The first, located on Rue du Général-Colonieu, named after an Algerian rifleman officer distinguished in battle, was designed by architect Charles Chipiez at the request of the Seine department in memory of the second battle. It features a large stone shell adorned with garlands. The second, located in the old cemetery, was created by architect Albert Julien and inaugurated in 1886. It is a massive obelisk made of blue granite. On the four sides of the base are bronze medallions sculpted by Antide Péchiné. Finally, the third is situated on Rue du Commandant-Jacquot, behind a doorway framed by two pilasters, on a small walled plot. This is a column topped with a cross. The inscription “Raoul de Kreuznach, October 21, 1870, De profundis” honors this young man of 19, killed shortly after joining the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr. His father managed to locate his initial resting place, where he lay among the bodies of other soldiers, and purchased this plot from a local farmer to erect the monument, which he later donated to the State. The association Le Souvenir Français continues to maintain it to this day. In 1899, an American philanthropic couple, Mr. and Mrs. Tuck, settled in Rueil at the Vermont estate and did much for the town: they funded the construction of the Stell Hospital (named after Mrs. Tuck's maiden name), built schools, and helped to preserve Bois-Préau and the Château de Malmaison. At that time, Rueil was popular among Parisians for its riverside guinguettes along the Seine, a tradition that dates back to the 1850s, thanks in part to the railway line. Boating on the Seine was also in vogue. Rueil was still a town of market gardening, vineyards, and laundries. During the 1910 Seine flood, Rueil was inundated, like neighboring towns along the river. On January 29, the daily newspaper Le Journal wrote: "In Rueil, three infantry battalions arrived yesterday morning to guard properties abandoned by their residents. Occupied by the Germans in 1940, the town was the site of resistance executions at the Mont-Valérien fort. It was liberated on August 19, 1944. On June 23, 1943, an FTP-MOI commando led by Rino Della Negra attacked the Guynemer barracks. The new Hôtel de Ville (town hall) was completed in 1978.

Population

Sights

The

, the residence of

Napoléon 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 a series of mi ...

's first wife

, is located in Rueil-Malmaison. It is home to a Napoleonic museum. File:2011 Chateau de Malmaison recto-verso.jpg, The

, recto, verso File:Château de Malmaison - Appartement de Joséphine 001.jpg, Bedroom of

and

File:Château de Malmaison - Salle de billard 001.jpg, Billiard room File:Château de Malmaison - Bibliothèque 001.jpg, Library of

File:Château de Malmaison - Salle à manger 002.jpg, Dining room Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul Church housing notable graves. File:Tombeau de Joséphine Rueil.jpg, Tomb of Empress Josephine and her two children File:Tombeau d'Hortense Rueil.jpg, Monument to Queen Hortense File:Rueil-Malmaison Église Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul 002.JPG, Monumental organ File:Eglise Saint-Pierre Saint-Paul 9.jpg, The church in 2012

In poetry

Lydia Huntley Sigourney's poem was published in her volume 'Pleasant Memories of Pleasant Lands' published in 1842 and follows her visit to Europe in 1840.

Economy

The main campus of the

French Institute of Petroleum The IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEN) also known as French Institute of Petroleum (in French: ''Institut Français du Pétrole, IFP'') is a public research organisation in France founded in 1944 as Institute of Oil, Fuels and Lubricants (''Institut ...

research organisation is in Rueil. The city has also become home to many large companies moving out of

La Défense La Défense () is a major business district in France's Paris metropolitan area, west of the city limits. It is located in Île-de-France region's Departments of France, department of Hauts-de-Seine in the Communes of France, communes of Courbe ...

business district, located only from Rueil, a trend first established by the move of

Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (from the phon ...

headquarters to Rueil. There are about 850 service sector companies located in Rueil, 70 of which employ more than 100 people. A business district called ''Rueil-sur-Seine'' (previously known as "Rueil 2000") was created near the

RER A RER A is one of the five lines in the Réseau Express Régional (English: Regional Express Network), a hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system serving the city and suburbs of Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List o ...

Rueil-Malmaison station Rueil-Malmaison () is a French railway station on the Gare Saint-Lazare, Paris-Saint-Lazare to Saint-Germain-en-Laye line, located in the municipality of Rueil-Malmaison, in the Hauts-de-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine department in the Île-de-France regi ...

to accommodate these companies. The business district is equipped with a

fiber-optic network Fiber-optic communication is a form of optical communication for transmitting information from one place to another by sending pulses of infrared or visible light through an optical fiber. The light is a form of carrier wave that is modulated ...

. Several major French companies have their world headquarters in Rueil-Malmaison, such as

Schneider Electric Schneider Electric SE is a French multinational corporation that specializes in digital automation and energy management. Registered as a Societas Europaea, Schneider Electric is a ''Fortune'' Global 500 company, publicly traded on the Euronex ...

and VINCI. Schneider had its head office in Rueil-Malmaison since 2000; previously the building Schneider occupies housed the Schneider subsidiary Télémécanique.Schneider-Electric s'est installé chez une filiale
"

. Retrieved on 8 July 2010. Several large international companies have also located their French headquarters in Rueil-Malmaison, including as

ExxonMobil Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the Successors of Standard Oil, largest direct s ...

AstraZeneca AstraZeneca plc () (AZ) is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with its headquarters at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridge, UK. It has a portfolio of products for major diseases in areas includi ...

American Express American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment card industry, payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Expr ...

and

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

Infrastructure

Transportation

Rueil-Malmaison is served by

. In the future, the commune will be served by Rueil – Suresnes – Mont Valérien station on Line 15 of the

Grand Paris Express The Grand Paris Express (; GPE) is a project consisting of new rapid transit lines and the extension of existing lines being built in the Île-de-France region of France. The project comprises four new lines for the Paris Métro, plus extensions ...

(GPE), which will be located on the border with the commune of

Suresnes Suresnes () is a commune in the western inner suburbs of Paris, France. Located in Hauts-de-Seine, from the centre of Paris, it had a population of 49,482 as of 2020. Suresnes borders the Bois de Boulogne in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, ...

, as well as a western extension of

Île-de-France tramway Line 1 Île-de-France tramway Line 1 (usually called simply T1) is part of the modern tram network of the Île-de-France region of France. Line T1 connects Noisy-le-Sec station and Asnières-sur-Seine with a suburban alignment running in parallel to ...

Healthcare

The Stell Hospital, a

teaching hospital A teaching hospital or university hospital is a hospital or medical center that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities a ...

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University () is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to the Middle Ages in 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon as a constituent college of the Unive ...

, is located in Rueil-Malmaison.

Museums

The area has a local history museum, the Musée d'histoire locale de Rueil-Malmaison. Since 21 May 2016 it has been home to the

Ancient Egyptian Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

mummy of a five-year-old called Ta-Iset.

Education

Public schools: * 15 preschools * 15 elementary schools * Six junior high schools: Les Bons-Raisins, Henri-Dunant, La Malmaison, Les Martinets, Marcel-Pagnol, Jules-Verne * Two senior high schools: Lycée Richelieu, Lycée polyvalent Gustave-Eiffel Private schools: * Collège et lycée Madeleine-Daniélou * Collège et lycée Passy-Buzenval * Collège Notre-Dame * École maternelle et élémentaire Saint-Charles-Notre Dame * Ecole maternelle élémentaire Charles-Peguy * Ecole Montessori Bilingue de Rueil-Malmaison There are tertiary educational institutions in the area. Engineering college: *

IFP School The IFP School ( French: ''ENSPM - École Nationale Supérieure du Pétrole et des Moteurs'') is a graduate engineering school located in Rueil-Malmaison, France. Founded in 1954, IFP School is part of the IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEN), a Frenc ...

Notable residents

Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean Louis Marie Le Pen (20 June 1928 – 7 January 2025), commonly known as Jean-Marie Le Pen (), was a French politician, lawyer and activist. He founded the far-right National Front (now National Rally) party and served as the party's presi ...

and his wife, Jany Le Pen, used to live in a two-story house on Rue Hortense. *

N'Golo Kanté N'Golo Kanté (born 29 March 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad and the France national team. He is known for his work rate and defensive acumen. Kanté is widely ...

grew up in a small flat with his family in Rueil-Malmaison.

Twin towns – sister cities

Rueil-Malmaison is twinned with: *

Ávila Ávila ( , , ) is a Spanish city located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Ávila. It lies on the right bank of the Adaja river. Located more than 1,130 m a ...

, Spain *

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, Germany *

Le Bardo Le Bardo ( ') is a Tunisian city west of Tunis. As of 2004, the population is 73,953. Built by the Hafsid dynasty in the 14th century, the name Bardo comes from the Spanish word "wikt:prado#Spanish , prado" meaning "meadow". Bardo became a resid ...

, Tunisia *

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, Uzbekistan, since 1999 *

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, Croatia, since 2011 * Elmbridge, England, United Kingdom *

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, Switzerland *

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, Denmark *

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, Latvia, since 2006 *

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, Israel, since 1 June 1985 *

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, Austria, since 1979 * Lynchburg, United States *

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, United States *

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, Mexico *

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, Bosnia and Herzegovina *

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, Russia, since 1989 *

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, Romania *

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, Japan, since 1990 *

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, Lebanon, since 2009 *

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, Ukraine, since 2024

References

External links

Rueil-Malmaison official website

official Tourist Board of Rueil Malmaison
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rueilmalmaison Communes of Hauts-de-Seine