Saint-Dizier () is a subprefecture of the

Haute-Marne Haute-Marne (; English: Upper Marne) is a department in the Grand Est region of Northeastern France. Named after the river Marne, its prefecture is Chaumont. In 2019, it had a population of 172,512.department in north-eastern

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 ...

.INSEE commune file
/ref> It has a population of 23,382 (2018 figure) and is a

subprefecture A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province. Albania There are twelve Counties of Albania, Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several Districts of Albania, district ...

of the department. Although Saint-Dizier is marginally the most populous commune in Haute-Marne, the ''préfecture'' (capital) resides in the somewhat smaller commune of Chaumont.

Geography

Located approximately east 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 ...

, halfway to

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, it is five miles from Western Europe's largest man-made lake, Lake Der-Chantecoq.

Climate

The climate in Saint-Dizier is

oceanic Oceanic may refer to: *Of or relating to the ocean *Of or relating to Oceania **Oceanic climate **Oceanic languages **Oceanic person or people, also called "Pacific Islander(s)" Places * Oceanic, British Columbia, a settlement on Smith Island, ...

according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

(''Cfb'' code). However, far from any ocean or sea, Saint-Dizier experiences

continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm to hot summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in central and eastern parts of the three northern-tier continents (North America, Europe, and Asia), typi ...

characteristics resulting in cold winters with

freezing Freezing is a phase transition in which a liquid turns into a solid when its temperature is lowered below its freezing point. For most substances, the melting and freezing points are the same temperature; however, certain substances possess dif ...

nights and cool days with temperatures staying in the single digits and warm to hot summers with frequent

thunderstorms A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are som ...

History

Named after an unknown saint (possibly Desiderius of Fontenelle), the town originated as a fortified settlement around a thirteenth-century

château A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking re ...

, eventually becoming a royal fortress to guard the French kingdom's eastern approaches. The town was besieged and captured by

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) ...

, in the summer of 1544. A fire in 1775 destroyed two-thirds of the town center. The château was owned by the Orléans family until the French Revolution, was a base for German troops 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 ...

, and currently houses the Municipal Museum.

Population

Notable people

Saint-Dizier is the birthplace of * Baroque-era musicologist

André Pirro André Gabriel Edmée Pirro (12 February 1869 – 11 November 1943) was a French musicologist and an organist. Born in Saint-Dizier, Pirro learned to play the organ from his father Jean Pirro. In Paris where he became and organist and a choirm ...

* Organist

André Isoir André Jean-Marie Isoir (20 July 1935 – 20 July 2016) was a French organist and pedagogue. Biography André Isoir was born in 1935 in Saint-Dizier in Grand Est, France. Isoir studied with Édouard Souberbielle (organ) and Germaine Mounier (p ...

* Conductor

Jean-Paul Penin Jean-Paul Penin (born 31 December 1949, Saint-Dizier) is a French composer and conductor. Biography Jean-Paul Penin is a graduate of the Strasbourg Conservatory of Music (double bass, chamber music, 1978) and the University of Strasbourg where ...

* Physicist and materials scientist

Christian Janot Christian Alfred Elie Janot (January 4, 1936 – February 23, 2022) was a French physicist and materials scientist known for his work on materials characterization using Mössbauer spectroscopy and his physical metallurgy studies of quasicrysta ...

* Former world middleweight boxing champion

Marcel Thil Marcel Thil (29 May 1904 – 14 August 1968) was a French boxer and middleweight world champion. Statistical boxing website BoxRec rates Thil as the second-best European boxer ever across all weight divisions, after Joe Calzaghe.Communes of the Haute-Marne department The following is a list of the 426 communes in the French department of Haute-Marne. The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2025):Saint-Dizier – Robinson Air Base Saint-Dizier-Robinson Air Base () is a front-line French Air and Space Force (Armée de l'air et de l'espace) fighter aircraft base located approximately west of Saint-Dizier, in the Haute-Marne Departments of France, department of the Champagne- ...

References

External links

Official website

Haute-Marne in Champagne Tourism: Saint-Dizier
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saintdizier Communes of Haute-Marne Subprefectures in France Champagne (province)