Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French
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, ...
Aisne
Aisne ( , ; ; pcd, Ainne) is a French department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne. In 2019, it had a population of 531,345.Gauls, Reims became a major city in the Roman Empire. Reims later played a prominent ceremonial role in French monarchical history as the traditional site of the coronation of the
kings of France
France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions.
Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the first ...
Clovis I
Clovis ( la, Chlodovechus; reconstructed Frankish: ; – 27 November 511) was the first king of the Franks to unite all of the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the form of leadership from a group of petty kings to rule by a single kin ...
Before the Roman conquest of northern Gaul, Reims had served as the Remi tribe's capital, founded circa 80 BC. In the course of
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
's conquest of Gaul (58–51 BC), the Remi allied themselves with the Romans, and by their fidelity throughout the various Gallic insurrections secured the special favour of the imperial power. At its height in Roman times the city had a population in the range of 30,000–50,000 or perhaps up to 100,000. Reims was first called in Latin, which is hypothesized to derive from a Gaulish name meaning "Door of Cortoro-". The city later took its name from the Remi tribe ( or ). The modern French name is derived from the
accusative case
The accusative case (abbreviated ) of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb.
In the English language, the only words that occur in the accusative case are pronouns: 'me,' 'him,' 'her,' 'us,' and ‘the ...
of the latter, .
Christianity had become established in the city by 260, at which period Saint Sixtus of Reims founded the
Diocese of Reims
The Archdiocese of Reims (traditionally spelt "Rheims" in English) ( la, Archidiœcesis Remensis; French: ''Archidiocèse de Reims'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastic territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. Erected as a diocese ...
(which would be elevated to an
archdiocese
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
around 750). The consul Jovinus, an influential supporter of the new faith, repelled the
Alamanni
The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes
*
*
*
on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...
Attila the Hun
Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in March 453. He was also the leader of a tribal empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Bulgars, among others, in Central and Ea ...
put Reims to fire and sword.
In 496—ten years after
Clovis
Clovis may refer to:
People
* Clovis (given name), the early medieval (Frankish) form of the name Louis
** Clovis I (c. 466 – 511), the first king of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler
** Clovis II (c. 634 – c. 657), ...
, King of the Salian Franks, won his victory at Soissons (486)— Remigius, the bishop of Reims, baptized him using the oil of the sacred phial–purportedly brought from heaven by a dove for the baptism of Clovis and subsequently preserved in the Abbey of Saint-Remi. For centuries the events at the crowning of Clovis I became a symbol used by the monarchy to claim the divine right to rule.
Meetings of
Pope Stephen II
Pope Stephen II ( la, Stephanus II; 714 – 26 April 757) was born a Roman aristocrat and member of the Orsini family. Stephen was the bishop of Rome from 26 March 752 to his death. Stephen II marks the historical delineation between the Byzant ...
Pope Leo III
Pope Leo III (died 12 June 816) was bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 26 December 795 to his death. Protected by Charlemagne from the supporters of his predecessor, Adrian I, Leo subsequently strengthened Charlemagne's position b ...
Artaldus
Artaldus, also known as Arthaud, was a 13th-century Carthusian Bishop of Belley.
Early life
Born in the castle of Sothonod in Savoy, in 1101. Much of his childhood is not known but at the age of eighteen, Artaldus entered the court of Duke Am ...
in 940. King
Louis VII
Louis VII (1120 – 18 September 1180), called the Younger, or the Young (french: link=no, le Jeune), was King of the Franks from 1137 to 1180. He was the son and successor of King Louis VI (hence the epithet "the Young") and married Duchess ...
(reigned 1137–1180) gave the title of duke and peer to
William of Champagne
William of the White Hands (french: Guillaume aux Blanches Mains; 1135–1202), also called William White Hands, was a French cardinal.
William was born in Brosse, ÃŽle-de-France, France. He was a son of Theobald the Great, Count of Blois ...
, archbishop from 1176 to 1202, and the archbishops of Reims took precedence over the other ecclesiastical peers of the realm.
By the 10th century, Reims had become a centre of intellectual culture. Archbishop Adalberon (in office 969 to 988), seconded by the monk Gerbert (afterwards (from 999 to 1003) Pope Silvester II), founded schools which taught the classical " liberal arts". (Adalberon also played a leading role in the dynastic revolution which elevated the
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...
s.)
The archbishops held the important prerogative of the consecration of the kings of France – a privilege which they exercised (except in a few cases) from the time of Philippe II Augustus (anointed 1179, reigned 1180–1223) to that of Charles X (anointed 1825). The Palace of Tau, built between 1498 and 1509 and partly rebuilt in 1675, would later serve as the Archbishop's palace and as the residence of the kings of France on the occasion of their coronations, with royal banquets taking place in the ''Salle du Tau''.
Louis VII
Louis VII (1120 – 18 September 1180), called the Younger, or the Young (french: link=no, le Jeune), was King of the Franks from 1137 to 1180. He was the son and successor of King Louis VI (hence the epithet "the Young") and married Duchess ...
granted the city a communal charter in 1139. The Treaty of Troyes (1420) ceded it to the English, who had made a futile attempt to take it by siege in 1360; but French patriots expelled them on the approach of Joan of Arc, who in 1429 had Charles VII consecrated in the cathedral. Louis XI cruelly suppressed a revolt at Reims, caused in 1461 by the
salt tax
A salt tax refers to the direct taxation of salt, usually levied proportionately to the volume of salt purchased. The taxation of salt dates as far back as 300BC, as salt has been a valuable good used for gifts and religious offerings since 6050B ...
battle of Ivry
The Battle of Ivry was fought on 14 March 1590, during the French Wars of Religion. The battle was a decisive victory for Henry IV of France, leading French royal and English forces against the Catholic League by the Duc de Mayenne and Spanis ...
(1590). At about the same time, the English College had been "at Reims for some years."
The city was stricken with plague in 1635, and again in 1668, followed by an epidemic of typhus in 1693–1694. The construction of the Hôtel de Ville dates back to the same century.
The Place Royale was built in the 18th century. Some of the 1792 September Massacres took place in Reims.
In the invasions of the War of the Sixth Coalition in 1814, anti-Napoleonic allied armies captured and re-captured Reims. "In 1852, the
Eastern Railways
The Eastern Railway (abbreviated ER) is among the 19 zones of the Indian Railways. Its headquarters is at Fairley Place, Kolkata and comprises four divisions: , , , and . Each division is headed by a Divisional Railway Manager (DRM). The name o ...
completed the Paris-Strasbourg main line with branch lines to Reims and Metz." In 1870–1871, during the Franco-Prussian War, the victorious Germans made it the seat of a governor-general and impoverished it with heavy requisitions. In 1874 the construction of a chain of detached forts started in the vicinity, the French Army having selected Reims as one of the chief defences of the northern approaches to Paris. In the meantime, British inventor and manufacturer
Isaac Holden
Sir Isaac Holden, 1st Baronet (7 May 1807 – 13 August 1897) was an inventor and manufacturer, who is known both for his work in developing the Square Motion wool-combing machine and as a Radical Liberal Member of Parliament.
Life
Holden was ...
had opened plants at Reims and
Croix
Croix (French for "cross") may refer to:
Belgium
* Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut
France
* Croix, Nord, in the Nord department
* Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort depa ...
, which "by the 1870s ..were producing almost 12 million kilograms of combed wool a year ..and accounted for 27 percent of all the wool consumed by French industry."
On 30 October 1908, Henri Farman made the first cross-country flight from Châlons to Reims. In August 1909 Reims hosted the first international aviation meet, the '' Grande Semaine d'Aviation de la Champagne''. Major aviation personages such as Glenn Curtiss,
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 ...
bombardment and a subsequent fire in 1914 did severe damage to the cathedral. The ruined cathedral became one of the central images of anti-German
propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
produced in France during the war, which presented it, along with the ruins of the
Ypres Cloth Hall
The Cloth Hall ( nl, Lakenhal/Lakenhalle) is a large cloth hall, a medieval commercial building, in Ypres, Belgium. It was one of the largest commercial buildings of the Middle Ages, when it served as the main market and warehouse for the Flemish ...
and the University Library in Louvain, as evidence that German aggression targeted cultural landmarks of European civilization. Since the end of World War I, an international effort to restore the cathedral from the ruins has continued.
During World War II, the city suffered additional damage. On the morning of 7 May 1945, at 2:41, General Eisenhower and the Allies received the unconditional surrender of the German Wehrmacht in Reims. General
Alfred Jodl
Alfred Josef Ferdinand Jodl (; 10 May 1890 – 16 October 1946) was a German ''Generaloberst'' who served as the chief of the Operations Staff of the '' Oberkommando der Wehrmacht'' – the German Armed Forces High Command – throughout World ...
, German Chief-of-Staff, signed the surrender at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force ( SHAEF) as the representative for German President
Karl Dönitz
Karl Dönitz (sometimes spelled Doenitz; ; 16 September 1891 24 December 1980) was a German admiral who briefly succeeded Adolf Hitler as head of state in May 1945, holding the position until the dissolution of the Flensburg Government follo ...
)
File:Clovis crop.jpg, alt=, Master of Saint Giles, ''The Baptism of Clovis'' (detail), c. 1500 (
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...
)
File:Douai-Rheims New Testament (1582).jpg, alt=, The New Testament of the Douay–Rheims Bible was printed in Reims in 1582.
File:Statue de Louis XV Place Royale Reims 03.jpg, alt=, Monument to King Louis XV of France, at the center of Place Royale
File:(Top) - German officers sign unconditional surrender in Reims, France. (Bottom) - Allied force leaders at the signing. - NARA - 195337.jpg, alt=, German surrender of 7 May 1945 in Reims. Top: German officers sign unconditional surrender in Reims. Bottom: Allied force leaders at the signing.
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, ...
prefecture
A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...
St. Remi
Remigius (french: Remi or ; – January 13, 533), was the Bishop of Reims and "Apostle of the Franks". On 25 December 496, he baptised Clovis I, King of the Franks. The baptism, leading to about 3000 additional converts, was an important event ...
, now buried within its walls) also draw tourists.
The Protestant Church of Reims, built in 1921–1923 over designs by
Charles Letrosne
Charles Antoine Letrosne (5 April 1868 – 9 August 1939) was a French architect and writer known as the author of the influential three-volume ''Murs et toits pour le pays de chez nous'' (1923.
Life
Charles Antoine Letrosne was born on 5 April ...
, is an example of flamboyant neo-Gothic architecture.
The Hôtel de Ville, erected in the 17th century and enlarged in the 19th, features a pediment with an equestrian statue of Louis XIII (reigned 1610 to 1643).
Narcisse Brunette
Narcisse Brunette (15 August 1808 – 8 October 1895) was a French architect.
A student of François Debret, Brunette began his career as an inspector and architect engaged in the work on the courthouse of Reims. In 1837, he was appointed archit ...
was the architect of the city for nearly 50 years in the 19th century. He designed the Reims Manège and Circus, which "combines stone and brick in a fairly sober classical composition."
Examples of Art Deco in Reims include the Carnegie library.
The Foujita Chapel, built in 1965–1966 over designs and with frescos by Japanese–French artist Tsuguharu Foujita, has been listed as a ''
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 1992.
Culture
Museums
The Palace of Tau contains such exhibits as statues formerly displayed by the cathedral, treasures of the cathedral from past centuries, and royal attire from coronations of French kings.
The
, formerly the Abbey of Saint-Remi, contains tapestries from the 16th century donated by the archbishop Robert de Lenoncourt (uncle of the cardinal of the same name), marble capitals from the fourth century AD, furniture, jewellery, pottery, weapons and glasswork from the sixth to eighth centuries, medieval sculpture, the façade of the 13th-century musicians' House, remnants from an earlier abbey building, and also exhibits of Gallo-Roman arts and crafts and a room of pottery, jewellery and weapons from Gallic civilization, as well as an exhibit of items from the Palaeolithic to the Neolithic periods. Another section of the museum features a permanent military exhibition.
The
Philippe Charbonneaux
Philippe Charbonneaux (18 February 1917 – 4 June 1998) was a French industrial designer, best known for automobile and truck design, but also known for other products such as television sets. Many of his works are now exhibited in places s ...
Libraries in Reims include a Carnegie library which was built in the 1920s.
Festivals and events
Every year in June, the ''Fêtes Johanniques'' commemorate the entrance of Joan of Arc into Reims in 1429 and the coronation of Charles VII of France in the cathedral.
A Christmas market is held on the parvis of Reims Cathedral (Place du Cardinal-Luçon).
Wine and food
Restaurants and bars are concentrated around Place Drouet d'Erlon in the city centre.
Reims, along with
Épernay
Épernay () is a commune in the Marne department of northern France, 130 km north-east of Paris on the mainline railway to Strasbourg. The town sits on the left bank of the Marne at the extremity of the Cubry valley which crosses it.
Éperna ...
and Ay, functions as one of the centres of champagne production. Many of the largest champagne-producing houses, known as ''les grandes marques'', have their headquarters in Reims, and most open for tasting and tours. Champagne ages in the many caves and tunnels under Reims, which form a sort of maze below the city. Carved from chalk, some of these passages date back to Roman times.
The ''
biscuit rose de Reims
Biscuit rose de Reims (french: biscuits roses de Reims), is a pink biscuit found in French cuisine, made pink by the addition of carmine.
Background
Originating in Reims, Biscuit rose de Reims is a product of the Biscuits Fossier company. It is ...
automobile race
Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition.
Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organi ...
at the circuit of
Reims-Gueux
The circuit Reims-Gueux was a Grand Prix motor racing road course, located in Gueux, Marne, Gueux, 7.5 km (5 miles) west of Reims in the Champagne (historical province), Champagne region of north-eastern France, established in 1926 as the sec ...
. The French Grand Prix took place here 14 times between 1938 and 1966.
, the football club '' Stade Reims'', based in the city, competed in the
Ligue 1
Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...
, the highest tier of French football. ''Stade Reims'' became the outstanding team of France in the 1950s and early 1960s and reached the final of the
European Cup of Champions
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competiti ...
twice in that era.
In October 2018, the city hosted the second
Teqball
Teqball is a ball sport that is played on a curved table, combining elements of sepak takraw and table tennis. Back and forth, the players hit a football with any part of the body except arms and hands. Teqball can be played between two players ...
World Cup.
The city has hosted the
Reims Marathon
Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne.
Founded by ...
since 1984.
Transport
Reims is served by two main railway stations:
Gare de Reims
Reims station ( French: ''Gare de Reims'') is the main railway station in the city of Reims, Marne department, northern France.
Since 16 September 2011, the train shed is labelled "20th century heritage".
The station was opened in 1858 by the ...
in the city centre, the hub for regional transport, and the new
Gare de Champagne-Ardenne TGV
Champagne-Ardenne TGV station ( French: ''Gare de Champagne-Ardenne TGV'') is a railway station located in Bezannes, France that opened in 2007 along with the first phase of the LGV Est, a high-speed rail line running from Paris to Strasbourg. I ...
southwest of the city with high-speed rail connections to Paris, Metz, Nancy and Strasbourg. There are two other railway stations for local services in the southern suburbs: Franchet d'Esperey and Reims-Maison-Blanche. The motorways A4 (Paris-Strasbourg), A26 (Calais-Langres) and A34 intersect near Reims.Public transport within the city consists of buses and a tramway, the latter opened in 2011.
The Canal de l'Aisne à la Marne is a waterway. There is also an airport, Reims – Prunay Aerodrome, but it had, as of 2020, no commercial airline flights.
Parks and gardens
Among the parks and gardens of Reims are the Parc de Champagne, where a
URCA
Urca is a traditional and wealthy residential neighborhood with nearly 7,000 inhabitants (2000 census) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Although most of the neighborhood dates from the 1920s, parts of it are much older. What is now called the Forte Sã ...
NEOMA Business School
NEOMA Business School is a French business and management school founded in 2013, following the merger of Reims Management School (founded in 1928) and Rouen Business School (founded in 1871).
NEOMA BS offers a wide range of educational progra ...
Nicolas Bergier
thumb
Nicolas Bergier (), (1 March 1567 – 18 August 1623) was a lawyer at the Presidential Seat of Rheims, lived in 17th-century Rheims and became interested in Roman roads there. Mentioning by chance his interest in the funding of Roman roa ...
Roger Caillois
Roger Caillois (; 3 March 1913 – 21 December 1978) was a French intellectual whose idiosyncratic work brought together literary criticism, sociology, ludology and philosophy by focusing on diverse subjects such as games and play as well as the ...
(1913–1978), intellectual
*
Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Jean-Baptiste Colbert (; 29 August 1619 – 6 September 1683) was a French statesman who served as First Minister of State from 1661 until his death in 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His lasting impact on the organization of the countr ...
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 ...
Kyan Khojandi
Kyan Khojandi (born 29 August 1982) is a French comedian, actor and screenwriter born to a French mother and an Iranian father. He is best known for playing the main character in the television series ''Bref'', which was broadcast on Canal+ fro ...
Marie-Claire Jamet
Marie-Claire Jamet (born 27 November 1933 in Reims) is a French classical harpist.
Biography
Marie-Claire Jamet is the daughter of Pierre Jamet, also a harpist.
After winning the 1st prize of harp and the 1st prize of chamber music at the Con ...
(born 1933), classical harpist
*
Guillaume de Machaut
Guillaume de Machaut (, ; also Machau and Machault; – April 1377) was a French composer and poet who was the central figure of the style in late medieval music. His dominance of the genre is such that modern musicologists use his death to ...
(1300–1377), composer and poet (Machaut was most likely born in Reims or nearby; he spent most of his adult life there)
* Henri Marteau (1874–1934), violinist and composer
*
Merolilan of Rheims Merolilan of Rheims was an Irish people, Irish Christianity, Christian martyr and saint who lived in the 8th century.
Background
Merolilian was an Irish people, Irish preacher who is commemorated on May 18 and/or 31st. He was killed at Rheims, Fra ...
Robert Pires
Robert Emmanuel Pires (born 29 October 1973) is a French association football, football coach and former professional Football player, player.
Pires played for French clubs FC Metz, Metz and Olympique de Marseille, Marseille prior to his time wi ...
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
Émile Senart
Émile Charles Marie Senart (26 March 1847 – 21 February 1928) was a French Indologist.Buswell, Robert Jr; Lopez, Donald S. Jr., eds. (2013). "Senard, Emile", in: Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN ...
Yuksek
Pierre-Alexandre Busson (born 3 June 1977), better known as Yuksek, is a French electronic music producer, remixer, singer and DJ from Reims. Yüksek means "high" in Turkish.
Biography
Yuksek was born in Reims, France. Yuksek played the piano a ...
(born 1977), electronic music producer, remixer, singer and DJ
Climate
Reims has an
oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
( Köppen ''Cfb''), influenced by its inland position. This renders that although the maritime influence moderates averages, it nevertheless is prone to hot and cold extremes in certain instances. Reims has a relatively gloomy climate due to the said maritime influence and the dominance of low-pressure systems for much of the year. In spite of this, the amount of precipitation is fairly limited.
Brazzaville
Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLI ...
, Congo (1961)
* Canterbury, England, United Kingdom (1962)
* Salzburg, Austria (1964)
*
Aachen
Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...
Biscuit rose de Reims
Biscuit rose de Reims (french: biscuits roses de Reims), is a pink biscuit found in French cuisine, made pink by the addition of carmine.
Background
Originating in Reims, Biscuit rose de Reims is a product of the Biscuits Fossier company. It is ...
Champagne Riots
The Champagne Riots of 1910 and 1911 resulted from a series of problems faced by grape growers in the Champagne area of France. These included four years of disastrous crop losses, the infestation of the phylloxera louse (which destroyed of viney ...