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 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, ...

in north-eastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

.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 Chaumont can refer to: Places Belgium * Chaumont-Gistoux, a municipality in the province of Walloon Brabant France * Chaumont-Porcien, in the Ardennes ''département'' * Chaumont, Cher, in the Cher ''département'' * Chaumont-le-Bois, in the C� ...

Geography

Located approximately east of

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 ...

, halfway to

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

, it is five miles from Western Europe's largest man-made lake,

Lake Der-Chantecoq Lake Der-Chantecoq (French: ''Lac du Der-Chantecoq'') is situated close to the commune of Saint-Dizier in the departments of Marne and Haute-Marne. It is the largest artificial lake in France, covering with 350 million m³ of water. The lake is n ...

Climate

History

Named after an unknown saint (possibly

Desiderius of Fontenelle Waningus (also Vaneng) (born in Rouen, died c. 683) was a Merovingian count and royal official under Clotaire III. He assisted Wandrille in establishing Fontenelle Abbey, and later founded Fécamp Abbey. He is recognized as a Christian saint. L ...

), the town originated as a fortified settlement around a thirteenth-century

château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house 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 regions. Nowaday ...

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

besieged Besieged may refer to: * the state of being under siege * ''Besieged'' (film), a 1998 film by Bernardo Bertolucci {{disambiguation ...

and captured by

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (Crown of Castile, Castil ...

, 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 The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, was a base for German troops during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, 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 choirmas ...

* 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 is a French 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 he obtained a PhD. in biophysics in 1974 and a Maste ...

* 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 2020):Saint-Dizier – Robinson Air Base Saint-Dizier-Robinson Air Base (french: Base aérienne 113 Saint-Dizier) 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 department o ...

References

External links

Official website

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