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 ...
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 It superseded three former administrat ...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
**Ger ...
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 ...
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
Alsace–Lorraine, now called Alsace–Moselle, is a historical region located in France. It was created in 1871 by the German Empire after it had seized the region from the Second French Empire in the Franco-Prussian War with the Treaty of Fra ...
. The region was returned to France in
1918
This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide.
Events
Below, the events ...
.
Before the Schengen Treaty, 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, 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 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 (1749–1841), inventor, notably of the canning technique
*
Claire Burger
Claire Burger is a French film director, film editor and screenwriter. She received the Camera d'Or award for her debut feature film ''Party Girl'' at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival
The 67th Cannes Film Festival was held from 14 to 25 May 201 ...
, 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 (born 1962), gymnast and coach
* Helmut Fritz (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 (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 ...
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 de Wen ...
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
Hocev ...
(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 Olympic Gymnast
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 ...