Flers () is a commune in the

Orne Orne (; or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019.department in

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

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 ''Flériens'' in French.

Geography

Flers is bordered to the north by the communes of

Saint-Georges-des-Groseillers Saint-Georges-des-Groseillers () is a Communes of France, commune in the Orne Departments of France, department in north-western France. Geography The commune is made up of the following collection of villages and hamlets, La Fosse, La Riptiè ...

and Aubusson, to the north-east by Ronfeugerai, to the west by

La Lande-Patry La Lande-Patry () is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France. The commune is known for its ''Ifs millénaires'' (thousand year old yews), designated as an intangible cultural heritage in France. Transport L'aérodrome Flers- ...

and Saint-Paul, to the south-west by

La Chapelle-Biche La Chapelle-Biche () is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France. See also *Communes of the Orne department The following is a list of the 381 communes of the Orne department of France. The communes cooperate in the follo ...

La Chapelle-au-Moine La Chapelle-au-Moine () is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France. Geography The commune is made up of the following collection of villages and hamlets, Les Petites Noës, La Hélisière, L'Embûche, La Haute Embûche and La ...

and

Messei Messei () is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France. Geography The commune is made up of the following collection of villages and hamlets, La Pacotière, La Bondière, Les Buissons, Les Pasquières, Les Genétés, La Balonni ...

, and to the south-east by La Selle-la-Forge. The commune is situated in the north-west of the Orne département, about ten kilometres from the border of the

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples and/or pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Norman distillation was ma ...

, an hour east of Granville, and two hours by train 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 ...

. It depends on a

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''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 inter ...

located an hour north in

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

. The commune is spread over an area of with a maximum altitude of and minimum of The commune is crossed by a river,

La Vere La Vere is a river in northwestern France, flowing through the department of Orne. It is 24.78 km long. Its source is in Landigou, and it flows into the river Noireau in the commune of Saint-Pierre-du-Regard and through Norman Switzerland, Su ...

, which ends in the river

Noireau The Noireau is a river in northwestern France, crossing the departments of Orne and Calvados (department), Calvados. It is 43.26 km long. Its source is in Saint-Christophe-de-Chaulieu, and it flows into the river Orne (river), Orne on the bor ...

in Pont-Erembourg (commune of

Saint-Denis-de-Méré Saint-Denis-de-Méré () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Geography The commune is part of the area known as Suisse Normande. The commune is made up of the following collection of vill ...

Land distribution

The 2018

CORINE Coordination of Information on the Environment (CORINE) is a European programme initiated in 1985 by the European Commission, aimed at gathering information relating to the environment on certain priority topics for the European Union (air, water ...

Land Cover assesment shows, 33% () of teh land is Grasslands and with 25% being urbanised. The rest of the land is Heterogeneous agricultural land at 18%,

Arable land Arable land (from the , "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the purposes of a ...

at 16%, 8% is industrial or Commercial and the remaining 1% () is artificial green space.

History

The first written mentions of Flers appear at the end of the twelfth century as ''Flers'' (1164–1179) or ''Flex'' (1188–1221). Some authors think that the name of the town derives from the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

toponym ''Hlaeri'', meaning ''wasteland'' or ''common grazing land'', while others suggest an origin in the German ''Fliessen'', from the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

''vliet'' or the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''fluere''

''Fluere'', indicating a waterflow, basin or marsh. Yet another etymology links Flers to the Latin ''flexus'', meaning the bend in a road or river. Finally, the

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...

term ''fler'' or ''flear'' means ''bad smell'', indicating the stench of stagnant water. All etymologies seem to agree however that the town is named for its topography and the water close to it.

Middle Ages

From the tenth century on, the ''de Flers'' family headed a barony. Tradition has it that in the 11th century, the two brothers Foulques d'Aunou and Guillaume de Gasprée married two sisters who were Ladies of Flers. Foulques d'Aunou received as his wedding gift Flers, seat of the barony. The construction of the castle of Flers began in the 12th century as a fortified location of wood and stone surrounded by water. The chronicles of the

Hundred Years War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of England and France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy of Aquitaine and was triggered by a c ...

do not mention a fortified place in Flers, revealing that it didn't present a major strategic interest at the time.

Construction of the castle

In 1790, in the revolutionary period, Flers formed a canton in the district of Domfront, in the Orne département. The countess of Flers, Jacqueline Le Goué de Richemont, wife of Pierre-François de Paule de La Motte-Ango, supported the counter-revolutionary

chouan Chouan (, "the silent one", or "owl") is a French nickname. It was used as a nom de guerre by the Chouan brothers, most notably Jean Cottereau, better known as Jean Chouan, who led a major revolt in Bas-Maine against the French Revolution. Part ...

s. The castle of Flers became the headquarters of count Louis de Frotté, one of the leaders of the Normandic

Chouannerie The Chouannerie (; from the Chouan brothers, two of its leaders) was a House of Bourbon, royalist uprising or counter-revolutionary, counter-revolution in twelve of the western departments of France, ''départements'' of France, particularly in ...

Industrial Revolution

In 1901, Julien Salles, mayor of Flers, bought the castle for the community.

World War II

Like other towns near the D-Day landing, Flers was one of the targets of strategic bombing of Normandy on 6 and 7 June 1944, aimed at reducing the advance of German reinforcements. 80% of the town was destroyed. What remained of the town was liberated on 16 August by the British

11th Armoured Division The 11th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army which was created in March 1941 during the Second World War. The division was formed in response to the unanticipated success of the German panzer divisions. The 11th Armour ...

and the memorial to the division is at Pont de Vère, north of Flers.

Heraldry

Demographics

Transport

Flers station is served by

TER Normandie Nomad Train, before 2020 known as TER Normandie is the network of the regional train services organised by the region of Normandy (northwestern France) and operated by the French national railway company SNCF. The brand name refers to the more ge ...

trains between

and Granville. It has a local bus system for Flers and the surrounding communities, and departmental lines connecting it with other major towns in Orne and Calvados. L'aérodrome Flers-Saint-Paul is an aerodrome bordering Flers in the neighbouring commune of

that opened in 1937. Its

ICAO airport code The ICAO airport code or location indicator is a four-letter code designating aerodromes around the world. These codes, as defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization and published quarterly in ICAO Document 7910: ''Location Indic ...

is LFOG. It has a 742 meter paved runway.

Monuments and interesting places

The castle, dating back to the 16th and 18th century, houses a museum of ancient and 19th century paintings and sculptures, applied art (furniture and decoration) and local history. The castle was registered as a

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 collection of buildings, ...

in 1907. Flers has another building registered as a monument, the Chapel of Remembrance (Also known as the chapel of the minor seminary), which was built between from 1926 to 1932 to commemorate those fallen from the First World War. It features work by

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

winning artist, Emile Beaume and stained glass artist

Louis Barillet Louis Barillet (1880 – 1948) was a French artist, known for his work in stained glass. Among those with whom he collaborated were Théodore-Gérard Hanssen and Jacques Le Chevallier. His windows may be seen in the church of Notre-Dame-des- ...

. It was registered as a monument in 2006. Other interesting visits are the early 20th century neo-gothic Saint-Germain church and the 19th century neo-Romanesque Saint-Jean church, and the covered market built in 1883 on a former cemetery. Image:Chateau-Flers-2.jpg, Flers castle Image:Chateau_Flers_4.jpg, Flers castle File:FranceNormandieFlersMarcheCouvert.jpg, The covered market Image:Eglise_St_Germain_Flers_Orne.jpg, Saint-Germain church

Sport

Flers has a football club Football Club Flérien who play at the Stade du Hazé.

Notable people

Louis Barrabé Louis Barrabé (15 March 1895 – 13 February 1961) was a French economic field geologist and professor who contributed to studies of the geology of Madagascar and the Caribbean Islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe. Barrabé was born in Bonneval ...

(1895–1961), geologist, buried here * Paulette Duhalde (1921–1945), heroine of the resistance, died when deported to Ravensbrück

Born in Flers

Jean-Pierre Brard Jean-Pierre Brard (born 7 February 1948), is a French politician. He was formerly the deputy mayor of the city of Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis, later being elected mayor in 1984. A former member of the French Communist Party (until 1996), he ...

, politician * Henri Brière, politician *

Tony Chapron Tony Chapron (born 23 April 1972) is a French former football referee. Born in Flers, Orne, Chapron took up refereeing in 1996 in conjunction with his job as an educational advisor. He became a full-time referee in 1998 and an international refe ...

, international football (soccer) referee *

Gérard Larcher Gérard Philippe René André Larcher (; born 14 September 1949) is a French politician serving as president of the Senate since 2014, previously holding the office from 2008 to 2011. A member of The Republicans, he has been a Senator for the Yv ...

, President of the Senate of France * Patrice Lecornu (1958–2023), professional football (soccer) player * Alain Lemercier, racewalker *

Guy Mollet Guy Alcide Mollet (; 31 December 1905 – 3 October 1975) was a French politician. He led the socialist French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) from 1946 to 1969 and was the French Prime Minister from 1956 to 1957. As Prime Ministe ...

, politician * François Morel, comedian, writer and singer * Thibault Moulin, footballer who plays for

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning a record 15 champions titles, a record 2 ...

Twin towns

Flers is twinned with: *

Warminster Warminster () is a historic market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in south-west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of 18,173 in 2021. The name ''Warminster'' occurs first i ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, since 1973 *

Poundou Poundou is a town in the Ouarkoye Department of Mouhoun Province in southern Burkina Faso. The town has a total population of 3,499. Twin towns – sister cities Poundou is twinned with: * Flers, France References Populated places in the B ...

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

, since 1977 *

Wunstorf Wunstorf () is a town in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately west of Hanover. The following localities belong to the town of Wunstorf: Blumenau (with Liethe), Bokeloh, Großenheidorn, Idensen (with Id ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, since 1994 *

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

, since 2022

Climate

Flers is part of the region that stretches from the

Bocage Bocage (, ) is a terrain of mixed woodland and pasture characteristic of parts of northern France, southern England, Ireland, the Netherlands, northern Spain and northern Germany, in regions where pastoral farming is the dominant land use. ' ...

to the Écouves forest, the wettest part of the Orne département, with relatively mild temperatures thanks to its proximity to the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

and the effect of the sea. It benefits from an oceanic climate with mild winters and temperate summers.Climate of Orne
on the site Météo France

References

External links

;Official local sites
Official site of the agglomeration

Castle of Flers Museum
;Maps
National geographic institute
{{authority control Communes of Orne Museums in Orne Monuments historiques of Orne