Forbach ( , , ; gsw, Fuerboch) is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

French department In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety-s ...

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) 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 jo ...

, northeastern

French region France is divided into eighteen administrative regions (french: régions, 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 collect ...

Grand Est Grand Est (; gsw-FR, Grossa Oschta; Moselle Franconian/ lb, Grouss Osten; Rhine Franconian: ''Groß Oschte''; german: Großer Osten ; en, "Great East") is an administrative region in Northeastern France. It superseded three former administrat ...

. It is located on the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

border approximately 15 minutes from the center of

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...

, Germany, with which it constitutes a cross-border

conurbation A conurbation is a region comprising 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 ca ...

, 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 compr ...

. 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. Until the Franco-Prussian War, 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 o ...

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. The region was returned to France in 1918. 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 agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...

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

TGV The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...

and

ICE Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaq ...

high speed trains connecting

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 ...

and

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

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 six large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. It is located in the 10th arrondissement, not far southeast from the Gar ...

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 air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

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 21st century; and it represents a significant period in the history of Euro ...

, 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 (; ; 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 west by the small river Rossel, whi ...

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 the French inventor of airtight food preservation. Appert, known as the "father of Food Science", was a confectioner. Appert described his invention as a way "of conserving all kinds of food ...

(1749–1841), inventor, notably of the canning technique * Claire Burger, 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-American gymnast, coach and convicted felon. Career Cairon was born in Forbach, France. He competed in eight events at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Cairon was a co-owner and ...

(born 1962), gymnast and coach *

Helmut Fritz Éric Greff (; born 19 July 1975 in Forbach, 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 portrays a German da ...

(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 (, , ; ) 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 Place de l'Étoile—the ''étoile'' ...

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 (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 influential and important writers of ...

's "

Finnegans Wake ''Finnegans Wake'' is a novel by Irish literature, Irish writer James Joyce. It is well known for its experimental style and reputation as one of the most difficult works of fiction in the Western canon. It has been called "a work of fiction whi ...

"). *

Patricia Kaas Patricia 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 has sold over 17 million records worldwide. She h ...

(born 1966), singer from Stiring-Wendel (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 Ho ...

(born 1978),

Debian Debian (), also known as Debian GNU/Linux, is a Linux distribution composed of free and open-source software, developed by the community-supported Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock on August 16, 1993. The first version of D ...

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

Gallery

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

Train station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot 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 ...

Notes

External links

*
Eurodistrict website

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

Population

Notable people from Forbach

See also

Gallery

Notes

External links