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

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, in the

Hauts-de-Seine Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a Departments of France, département in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region, Northern France. It covers Paris's western inner Banlieue, suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the e ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Île-de-France , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 = +01:00 , timezone1_DST = CEST , utc_offset1_DST = +02:00 , blank_name_sec1 = Gross regional product , blank_info_sec1 = Ranked 1st , bla ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

. It is located from the centre of

. In 2017, it had a population of 78,152. 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

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

word (meaning 'clearing, glade' or 'place of') suffixed to a radical meaning 'brook, stream' ( la, rivus, fro, rû), 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, home of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

's first wife

Joséphine de Beauharnais Josephine may refer to: People * Josephine (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Josephine (singer), a Greek pop singer Places *Josephine, Texas, United States *Mount Josephine (disambiguation) * Josephine Count ...

. The name Malmaison comes from

Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...

, 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, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

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 Rueil barracks of the Swiss Guard were constructed in 1756 under Louis XV by the architect Axel Guillaumot, and have been classified ''

Monument historique ''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 coll ...

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

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

. Rueil is famous for the Château de Malmaison where

and his first wife

lived. Upon her death in 1814, she was buried at the nearby Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul church, which stands at the centre of the city. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, Rueil was located on the front line. At the end of the 19th century,

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

painters like

Pierre-Auguste Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "R ...

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French 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 to Impressionism. Born ...

and

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...

came to paint the

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

River which crosses the town.

Population

Sights

The Château de Malmaison, the residence of

Napoléon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

's first wife

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

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 d ...

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, located west of the city limits of Paris. It is part of the Paris metropolitan area in the Île-de-France region, located in the department of Hauts-de-Seine in the communes of Courbevoie, ...

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" (the phonetic p ...

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 Rueil-Malmaison station to accommodate these companies. The business district is equipped with a fiber-optic network. Several major French companies have their world headquarters in Rueil-Malmaison, such as Schneider Electric and

VINCI Vinci may refer to: Places *Vinci, Tuscany, a ''comune'' in the Province of Florence, Italy *Vinci (Golubac), a community in Braničevo District, Serbia People * Alessandro Vinci (born 1987), Italian footballer *Alessio Vinci (born 1968), Itali ...

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

ExxonMobil ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...

, AstraZeneca,

American Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...

and

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...

Infrastructure

Transportation

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

Grand Paris Express Grand Paris Express is a group of new rapid transit lines being built in the Île-de-France region of France. The project comprises four new lines for Paris Métro, plus extensions of existing Lines 11 and 14. A total of of new track and 68 n ...

(GPE), which will be located on the border with the commune of Suresnes, as well as a western extension of Île-de-France tramway Line 1.

Healthcare

The Stell Hospital, a

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

of Sorbonne University, is located in Rueil-Malmaison.

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 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 French ...

Notable residents

Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean Louis Marie Le Pen (, born 20 June 1928) is a French far-right politician who served as President of the National Front from 1972 to 2011. He also served as Honorary President of the National Front from 2011 to 2015. Le Pen graduated fro ...

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 club Chelsea and the France national team. Considered by many to be one of the world's best midfielders, Kanté is widely praised ...

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

Twin towns and sister cities

Rueil-Malmaison is twinned with: *

Ávila Ávila (, , ) is a city of Spain 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 abov ...

, Spain * Bad Soden, Germany *

Le Bardo Le Bardo ( ar, الباردو ' also Bārdaw, Bardaw, and Bardois) 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 "prado" meanin ...

, Tunisia *

Bukhara Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...

, Uzbekistan, since 1999 *

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...

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

Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; sv, Helsingör), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a city in eastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 62,686 on 1 January 2018. Helsingør and Helsingborg in Sweden together form the northern ...

, Denmark * Jelgava, Latvia, since 2006 * Kiryat Malakhi, Israel, since 1985 *

Kitzbühel Kitzbühel (, also: ; ) is a medieval town situated in the Kitzbühel Alps along the river Kitzbüheler Ache in Tyrol, Austria, about east of the state capital Innsbruck and is the administrative centre of the Kitzbühel district (). Kitzbühel ...

, Austria, since 1979 * Lynchburg, United States *

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

, Mexico *

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

, Bosnia and Herzegovina *

Sergiyev Posad Sergiyev Posad ( rus, Се́ргиев Поса́д, p=ˈsʲɛrgʲɪ(j)ɪf pɐˈsat) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Sergiyevo-Posadsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia. Population: It was pre ...

, Russia, since 1989 * Timișoara, Romania *

Tōgane is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 57,780 in 26,907 households and a population density of 650 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Tōgane is home to the ''Kurenai-kai'' Scho ...

, Japan, since 1990 * Zouk Mikael, Lebanon, since 2009

References

External links

Rueil-Malmaison Official website

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