Fourmies () is a
commune in the
Nord department in northern
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 ...
. The inhabitants are called ''Fourmisiens''. It lies on the river
Helpe Mineure (Helpe Minor or Little Helpe). Since 2015, Fourmies has been the seat of the
Canton of Fourmies, an administrative division of the Nord department. The canton was created at the French canton reorganization which came into effect in March 2015.
Geography
Fourmies is situated in the
Euroregion
In European politics, the term Euroregion usually refers to a transnational co-operation structure between two (or more) contiguous territories located in different European countries. Euroregions represent a specific type of cross-border regio ...
of
Thiérache
The Thiérache (; Picard: ''Quiérache'') is a region of France and Belgium united by similar geography and architecture, including the presence of hedgerows, grassland, hilly terrain, scattered settlements, and traditionally-built stone or brick ...
, a region of Northern France and Southern
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
. It is from
Valenciennes
Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France.
It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...
, from
Lille
Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...
, and from
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 ...
. The city is surrounded by forests and ponds.
History
Roman coins have been discovered in Fourmies. In the 11th century, the town was first mentioned under the name "Formeias", which may refer to the swamp area in the valley of the river Helpe Mineure.
[Patrimoine de Fourmies](_blank)
auf den Webseiten der Gemeinde[Eugène Mannier, ''Études étymologiques, historiques et comparatives sur les noms des villes, bourgs et villages du département du Nord''. 1861. S. 355] Since the 12th century, the village has been called ''Formies'', ''Furmies'', ''Formies'', ''Formiis'' and ''Fourmies''.
At one time it was property of the
Avesnes family
The Avesnes family played an important role during the Middle Ages. The family has its roots in the small village Avesnes-sur-Helpe, in the north of France.
One branch produced a number of Counts of Holland during the 13th century. The family d ...
, and the
Liessies Abbey.
[Chronologie](_blank)
auf den Webseiten der Gemeinde
Glassworks
Glass production involves two main methods – the float glass process that produces sheet glass, and glassblowing that produces bottles and other containers. It has been done in a variety of ways during the history of glass.
Glass container p ...
were created in Fourmies in 1599. They were the first established in northern France.
On 1 May 1891 the
Fusillade de Fourmies occurred. It was the first French and international celebration of
International Workers' Day
International Workers' Day, also called Labour Day in some countries and often referred to as May Day, is a celebration of Wage labour, labourers and the working classes that is promoted by the international labour movement and occurs every yea ...
on
May Day
May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the Northern Hemisphere's March equinox, spring equinox and midsummer June solstice, solstice. Festivities ma ...
. In Fourmies, troops shot at peaceful strikers: nine died, including eight demonstrators under 21 years old, among whom a young worker who will remain a symbol, Marie Blondeau. Thirty-five strikers were also wounded.
Fusillade de Fourmies
On May 1, 1891, a shooting occurred in the
French Nord department. Government troops fired upon a peaceful
demonstration of workers claiming "C'est les huit heures qu'il nous faut !" (It's the
eight-hour day
The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses of working time.
The modern movement originated i ...
we need!), killing nine people and injuring 35 others.
The shooting of 1 May in Fourmies evoked strong emotions in France. It is regarded today as one of the founding events of the
French Section of the Workers' International
The French Section of the Workers' International (, SFIO) was a major socialist political party in France which was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the present Socialist Party.
The SFIO was founded in 1905 as the French representativ ...
.
Jean Jaurès
Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès (3 September 185931 July 1914), commonly referred to as Jean Jaurès (; ), was a French socialist leader. Initially a Moderate Republican, he later became a social democrat and one of the first possibi ...
visited Fourmies afterwards to make a speech there while
Georges Clemenceau
Georges Benjamin Clemenceau (28 September 1841 – 24 November 1929) was a French statesman who was Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909 and again from 1917 until 1920. A physician turned journalist, he played a central role in the poli ...
declared in front of the French Parliament that "it is the
Fourth estate which rose" (« c'est le Quatrième état qui s'est levé ». ).
Heraldry
Population
Events
* Every year, since 1928, the city hosts the
Grand Prix de Fourmies
The Grand Prix de Fourmies is a bicycle race held in the Fourmies commune of France. From 2005 to 2019 it was organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour. In 2021, it joined the UCI ProSeries
The UCI ProSeries is the second tier men's ...
, a professional cycle race.
* The music festival (''fête de la musique'')
* The traditional fun fair (traditionnelle fête foraine) attracts many people each summer.
Economy
Medtronic
Medtronic plc is an American-Irish medical device company. The company's legal and executive headquarters are in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, while its operational headquarters are in Minneapolis, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Medtronic rebased to I ...
has an assembly plant in Fourmies.
Transportation
Fourmies is on the rail line between
Lille
Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...
and
Hirson. The
SNCF
The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...
station (Gare de Formies) is served by the
TER Nord-Pas-de-Calais.
It is planned to be crossed by the Trans-European Cycle Route Paris-Moscow knowns as
EV3 The Pilgrims Route.
The Arc-en-Ciel (réseau interurbain du Nord) interurban departmental network in Hauts de France Nord provides bus service to the city of Fourmies in the 4 region (lines 402 express, 402, 433, 438 and 439).
Twin towns – sister cities
Fourmies is
twinned with:
*
Fridley, United States (1978)
*
Bernburg
Bernburg (Saale) () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, capital of the Salzlandkreis district. The former residence of the Anhalt-Bernburg princes is known for its Renaissance castle.
Geography
The town centre is situated in the fertile Magdeb ...
, Germany (1967)
See also
*
Communes of the Nord department
The following is a list of the 647 communes of the Nord department of the French Republic.
The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2025):
References
{{authority control
Communes of Nord (French department)