Fénétrange (; ,

Lorraine Franconian Lorraine Franconian ( native name: or ; or '; ) is an ambiguous designation for dialects of West Central German (), a group of High German dialects spoken in the Moselle department of the former northeastern French region of Lorraine (See ...

: ''Finschtinge'') is a commune in the

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...

department in

Grand Est Grand Est (; ) is an Regions of France, administrative region in northeastern France. It superseded three former administrative regions, Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine, on 1 January 2016 under the provisional name of Alsace-Champagne-A ...

in north-eastern France.

Geography

Fénétrange is located near the border between the Moselle department and the Alsace bossue. The river

Saar Saar or SAAR has several meanings: People Given name * Sarr Boubacar (born 1951), Senegalese professional football player * Saar Ganor, Israeli archaeologist * Saar Klein (born 1967), American film editor Surname * Ain Saar (born 1968), E ...

flows through Fénétrange. The municipality is part of the Lorraine regional natural park.

Etymology

The name refers to "dwellings on the edge of a bend". Its Latin name is Philestangia. It was Germanised into Vinstingen, and francized into Fénétrange.

Previous names

Filestengas (10th century), Filistenges et Vinstringen (1070), Philistingis (1136), Phylestanges (1222), Finstingen (1323), Vinstingen (1328), Vinstinga (1340), Fenestranges (1433), Phinstingen (1558), Vinstringium (1675), Fénétrange (1793), Fénestrange (19th century), Finstingen (1871–1918)

History

The name of Fénétrange was officially mentioned for the first time on 18 September 1070. More precisely in a document authorising the abbesses of Remiremont, who partly owned the domain, to mint coins in Fénétrange, in exchange for the payment of a fee. In 1224, Merbode de Malberg became the first lord of Fénétrange. During the Middle-Age, it used to be a fortified town reputed to be impregnable.

Sights

* The Fénétrange castle, built during the

Middle Age Middle age (or middle adulthood) is the age range of the years halfway between childhood and old age. The exact range is subject to public debate, but the term is commonly used to denote the age range from 45 to 65 years. Overall This time span ...

. It was later renovated during the 18th century. The building contains a medieval kitchen, a well, spiral stairs labelled "

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, ...

". It also contains a catholic gothic chapel constructed in

1584 Events January–March * January 11 – Sir Walter Mildmay is given a royal licence to found Emmanuel College, Cambridge in England. * January 16 – Roman Catholic priest George Haydock, imprisoned in the Tower of London ...

. * The Saint-Rémy gothic

collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons, a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, headed by a dignitary bearing ...

. It was labelled "monument historique" in 1930. * The former synagogue * The Lutheran Church * The remains of the ramparts * The former Bailiff's House * The "Porte de France", an ancient fortified gate * Oriel windows, located 78, rue de l'Hôpital and 35, rue des Juifs are labelled "monuments historiques". * The bridge File:Eglise Fenetrange.JPG, Saint-Remy Church. File:Fénétrange, château.jpg, The castle File:HOPITAL FENETRANGE.JPG, Oriel window located Rue de l'Hôpital File:Fénétrange porte de France.JPG, Porte de France

Cultural events and festivities

Since 1978, an annual music and gastronomy festival takes place in Fénétrange. It is known as "Festival de Fénétrange, musique et gastronomie" Fénétrange is one of the few French localities where a night watchman still exists, thus perpetuating a medieval tradition. From July to September, the visitors can follow the watchman, in his medieval attire, during his night patrol. Every year, from late November to early January, several winter festivities occur in Fénétrange. One of them, is the traditional

Christmas market A Christmas market is a street market associated with the celebration of Christmas during the four weeks of Advent. These markets originated in Germany, but are now held in many countries. Some in the U.S. have Phono-semantic matching, adapted ...

Notable People

Notable people born in Fénétrange

Johann Maria Philipp Frimont Johann Maria Philipp Frimont, ''Count of Palota, Prince of Antrodoco'' (3 February 1759 – 26 December 1831) was an Austrian general. Frimont was born at Fénétrange, in the Duchy of Lorraine. He entered the Austrian cavalry as a trooper i ...

(1759–1831) a general of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

* Charles Hyacinthe Leclerc de Landremont (1739–1818) commander in chief of the

Army of the Rhine An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

during the French Revolution * Ernst Bogislaw von Croÿ (1620–1684) the last

duke of Pomerania This is a list of the duchies and dukes of Pomerania. Dukes of the Slavic Pomeranian tribes (All Pomerania) The lands of Pomerania were firstly ruled by local tribes, who settled in Pomerania around the 10th and 11th centuries. Non-dynastic ...

Notable people related to Fénétrange

* Charles Philippe de Croÿ (1549–1613) a Prince of the Holy Empire and a military as well as a politician from the Southern Netherlands. He became Baron of Fénétrange when he married Diane de Dommartin. *

Marcel Dassault Marcel Dassault (; born Marcel Ferdinand Bloch; 23 January 1892 – 17 April 1986) was a French engineer and industrialist who spent his career in aircraft manufacturing. He was also involved in politics, serving intermittently over more than thr ...

(1892–1986) a French engineer and industrialist, whose family originally came from Fénétrange *

Johann Michael Moscherosch Johann Michael Moscherosch (7 March 1601 – 4 April 1669), German statesman, satirist, and educator, was born at Willstätt, on the Upper Rhine near Strassburg. His bitterly brilliant but partisan writings graphically describe life in a Ge ...

(1601–1669) a German statesman, writer and one of Fénétrange's former bailiffs.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fenetrange Communes of Moselle (department)