Épinal (; german: Spinal) is a commune in northeastern
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 ...
and the prefecture of the
Vosges
The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a singl ...
The commune has a land area of . It is situated on the river Moselle, south of Nancy.
Épinal station
Épinal station ( French: ''Gare d'Épinal'') is a railway station serving the commune of Épinal, Vosges department, France. The station is owned and operated by SNCF, in the TER Grand Est regional rail network and is served by TGV and TER tr ...
has rail connections to Paris, Remiremont, Strasbourg, Belfort and Nancy.
The old town centre features the Place des Vosges, the Chapitre district, Saint-Maurice's Basilica, medieval castle remains and the Roman House (11th and 13th centuries). It is also known for its parks and gardens, as well as a large communal forest with arboretum (the Arboretum de la Forêt d'Épinal).
There are major fortifications, extended and maintained until the early 20th century. There is a legend, among the populace of Épinal, that
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 wh ...
's ghost strolls the wall ramparts on 9 September of each year at 05:00. It was on this day and at this time that, in 1811, Napoleon gave his first and last oration to the city of Épinal, wherein he addressed the challenges posed by northern expansion.
The Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial on the outskirts of the town where United States service members killed in World War II are buried.
Notable residents
* Isabelle Cogitore (born 1964), historian
* Jean-Baptiste Jacopin (1755–1811), general of the armies of the 1st Republic and the First French Empire.
* Victor Magnien (1802–1885), violinist, guitarist and composer
*
Émile Durkheim
David Émile Durkheim ( or ; 15 April 1858 – 15 November 1917) was a French sociologist. Durkheim formally established the academic discipline of sociology and is commonly cited as one of the principal architects of modern social science, al ...
(1858–1917), founder of sociology
*
Louis Lapicque
Louis Édouard Lapicque (1 August 1866 – 6 December 1952) was a French neuroscientist, socialist activist, antiboulangist, dreyfusard and freemason who was very influential in the early 20th century. One of his main contributions was to prop ...
(1866–1952), physiologist, specialist of the nervous system and known for his discovery of the
chronaxie
Chronaxie is the minimum time required for an electric current double the strength of the rheobase to stimulate a muscle or a neuron. Rheobase is the lowest intensity with indefinite pulse duration which just stimulated muscles or nerves. Chrona ...
.
*
Marcel Mauss
Marcel Mauss (; 10 May 1872 – 10 February 1950) was a French sociologist and anthropologist known as the "father of French ethnology". The nephew of Émile Durkheim, Mauss, in his academic work, crossed the boundaries between sociology and ...
(1872–1950), father of French modern
ethnography
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject ...
and nephew of
Émile Durkheim
David Émile Durkheim ( or ; 15 April 1858 – 15 November 1917) was a French sociologist. Durkheim formally established the academic discipline of sociology and is commonly cited as one of the principal architects of modern social science, al ...
.
*
Marc Boegner
Marc Boegner, commonly known as ''pasteur'' Boegner (; 21 February 1881 – 18 December 1970), was a theologian, pastor, essayist, notable member of the French Resistance and a notable voice in the ecumenical movement.
Biography
Marc Boegner ...
World Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most ju ...
, a member of the
Académie française
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...
Jean-Marie Cavada
Jean-Marie Cavada (born 24 February 1940 in Épinal, Vosges) is a French politician and former journalist and media executive who last served as a Member of the European Parliament for Ile de France from 2004 until 2019. Since 3 December 2011 ...
(1940) journalist and politician.
*
Léo Valentin
Léon Alfred Nicolas Valentin (22 March 1919, Épinal (Vosges), France - 21 May 1956, Liverpool, England) was a French adventurer, who attempted to achieve human flight using bird-like wings. Léo Valentin is widely considered to be the most ...
(1919–1956), French soldier and adventurer, nicknamed "l'homme-oiseau".
* Marceline Loridan-Ivens (1928), film director
*
Philippe Séguin
Philippe Séguin (21 April 1943 – 7 January 2010) was a French political figure who was President of the National Assembly from 1993 to 1997 and President of the Cour des Comptes of France from 2004 to 2010.
He entered the Court of Financi ...
(1943–2010), Mayor of Épinal, French politician, President of the Court of Auditors under the Fifth Republic.
* Ségolène Royal (1953), completed her high school in Charmes, before joining the Lycée Saint-Joseph of Épinal in 1968.
* Laetitia Masson (1966), screenwriter and film director
*
Valérie Donzelli
Valérie Donzelli (born 2 March 1973) is a French actress, filmmaker and screenwriter. She has directed five feature films and two short films since 2008, including the film ''Declaration of War'' (2011).
Early life
Valérie Donzelli was born i ...
(1973), actress and film director
*
Jeanne Cressanges
Jeanne Cressanges, real name Jeanne Mouchonnier (born 6 May 1929 in Noyant-d'Allier (Allier) is a French screenwriter, dialoguist, essayist, and novelist.
Biography
Jeanne Cressanges was born in a modest family of the Bourbonnais. Her paternal ...
Gauthier Klauss
Gauthier Klauss (born 17 December 1987) is former French Canoe slalom, slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level since 2003. His career ended in 2018 after C2 category was removed from the World cup and World championship.
He wo ...
Jean-Patrick Nazon
Jean-Patrick Nazon (born 18 January 1977, in Épinal) is a French former professional road bicycle racer who turned professional in 1997. He is the brother of former racing cyclist Damien Nazon.
Major results
;1998
: 6th Overall Circuit de L ...
Grégory Gaultier
Grégory Gaultier (born 23 December 1982, in Épinal, France) is a former professional squash player from France. He has won the 2015 World Open Squash Championship, the British Open three times, in 2007, 2014 and 2017, the Qatar Classic in 20 ...
Épinal is best known for the " Images d'Épinal" – which is now a common expression in French language – the popular prints created by a local company, the Imagerie d'Épinal, formerly known as the Imagerie Pellerin. These stencil-colored woodcuts of military subjects, Napoleonic history, storybook characters and other folk themes were widely distributed throughout the 19th century. The company still exists today, and still uses its hand-operated presses to produce the antique images. Other local industries include textiles, metals,
morocco leather
Morocco leather (also known as Levant, the French Maroquin, or German Saffian from Safi, a Moroccan town famous for leather) is a vegetable-tanned leather known for its softness, pliability, and ability to take color. It has been widely used in ...
, precision instruments, and bicycles. There is a school of textile weaving.
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...
.
Education
The engineering College
École nationale supérieure des technologies et industries du bois
The École nationale supérieure des technologies et industries du bois (ENSTIB, formerly ESSTIB) is a French engineering College created in 1985.
The school's teaching is based on the needs of the wood sector, drawing on research. Four sectors o ...
dedicated to
wood Industry
The wood industry or timber industry (sometimes lumber industry -- when referring mainly to sawed boards) is the industry concerned with forestry, logging, timber trade, and the production of primary forest products and wood products (e.g. furnitu ...
is located in the city.
Sport
SAS Épinal
Stade Athletique Spinalien Épinal is a French football club based in the commune of Épinal.
They currently play in the Championnat National 2. Their kit colours are yellow and blue. They play their home matches at the Stade de la Colombière in ...
Bitola
Bitola (; mk, Битола ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki ...
, North Macedonia
*
Chieri
Chieri (; pms, Cher) is a town and '' comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont ( Italy), located about southeast of Turin, by rail and by road. It borders the following municipalities: Baldissero Torinese, Pavarolo, Montaldo Tor ...
La Crosse
La Crosse is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's population as of the 2020 census ...
Schwäbisch Hall
Schwäbisch Hall (; "Swabian Hall"; from 1802 until 1934 and colloquially: ''Hall'' ) is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg located in the valley of the Kocher river, the longest tributary (together with its headwater Lein) of the ...
, Germany
See also
*
Communes of the Vosges department
The following is a list of the 507 communes of the Vosges department of France.
The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2022):