Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a commune in the

Yvelines Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.department in the

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris. Inhabitants are called ''Saint-Germanois'' or ''Saint-Germinois''. With its elegant tree-lined streets it is one of the more affluent suburbs of Paris, combining both high-end leisure spots and exclusive residential neighborhoods (see the Golden Triangle of the Yvelines). Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a sub-prefecture of the department. Because it includes the National Forest of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, it covers approximately , making it the largest commune in the Yvelines. It occupies a large loop of the

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

. Saint-Germain-en-Laye lies at one of the western termini of Line A of the RER.

History

Saint-Germain-en-Laye was founded in 1020 when King Robert the Pious (ruled 996–1031) founded a

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

on the site of the present Church of Saint-Germain. In 1688,

James II of England James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II of England, Charles II, on 6 February 1 ...

exiled himself to the city after being deposed from the throne in what has become known as the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

. He spent the remainder of his days there, and died on 16 September 1701. Prior to the French Revolution in 1789, it had been a royal town and the Château de Saint-Germain the residence of numerous French monarchs. The old

château A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, 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 re ...

was constructed in 1348 by King Charles V on the foundations of an old

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

(''château-fort'') dating from 1238 in the time of Saint Louis. Francis I was responsible for its subsequent restoration. In 1862, Napoleon III set up the '' Musée des Antiquités Nationales'' in the erstwhile royal château. This museum has exhibits ranging from Paleolithic to Celtic times. The " Dame de Brassempouy" sculpted on a mammoth's ivory tusk around 23,000 years ago is the most famous exhibit in the museum. Kings Henry IV and Louis XIII left their mark on the town.

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

was born in the château (the city's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

consequently shows a cradle and the date of his birth), and established Saint-Germain-en-Laye as his principal residence from 1661 to 1681. Louis XIV turned over the château to James VII & II of Scotland and England after his exile from Britain after the

in 1688. James lived in the Château for 13 years, and his daughter Louisa Maria Stuart was born in exile here in 1692. James II is buried in the parish church. Saint-Germain-en-Laye is famous for its long stone terrace built by

André Le Nôtre André Le Nôtre (; 12 March 1613 – 15 September 1700), originally rendered as André Le Nostre, was a French landscape architect and the principal gardener of King Louis XIV of France. He was the landscape architect who designed Gardens ...

from 1669 to 1673. The terrace provides a view over the valley of the

and, in the distance, Paris. During the French Revolution, the name was changed along with many other places whose names held connotations of religion or royalty. Temporarily, Saint-Germain-en-Laye became Montagne-du-Bon-Air. During his

reign A reign is the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office of monarch of a nation (e.g., King of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia, List of Belgian monarchs, Belgium, Co-princes of Andorra, Andorra), of a people (e.g., List of Frankish kin ...

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

established his cavalry officers training school in the Château-Vieux. Bunker-St-germain-en-laye-009

The Treaty of Saint-Germain was signed in 1919 and was applied on 16 July 1920. The treaty officially registered the breakup of the Habsburg empire, which recognized the independence of Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, and the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (Yugoslavia). During the occupation from 1940 to 1944, the town was the headquarters of the

Oberbefehlshaber West ''Oberbefehlshaber West'' (German language, German: initialism, initials ''OB West'') (German: "Commander-in-Chief n theWest") was the overall commander of the ''Westheer'', the German armed forces on the Western Front (WWII), Western Front dur ...

, the commander of the German armed forces on the Western Front. It has been called "the most occupied city in France." On 1 January 2019, the former commune Fourqueux was merged into Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

Saint-Germain parish church

The parish church, which is dedicated to Germain of Paris, was originally constructed in the eleventh century, and the present building (the fourth on the site) was built in the 1820s in a Neoclassical style, with six Tuscan columns supporting a pediment on the main façade. The church houses the mausoleum of

and was visited by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

in 1855. The organ, originally installed in 1698, was rebuilt by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll in the nineteenth century and refurbished in 1903. The church's organists have included Albert Renaud (1891–1924), Albert Alain (1924–1971) and Marie-Claire Alain (1971–2010).

Population

The population data in the table and graph below refer to the commune of Saint-Germain-en-Laye proper, in its geography at the given years. The population of Fourqueux, absorbed in 2019, is not included.

Transport

Saint-Germain-en-Laye is connected to other communes by the Résalys bus network operated by

Transdev Transdev, formerly Veolia Transdev, is a France-based international private-sector company which operates public transport. It has operations in 17 countries and territories as of November 2020. Transdev was formed on 3 April 2011 via the merg ...

. Saint-Germain-en-Laye is served by Saint-Germain-en-Laye station on Paris RER line A. It was also served by two stations on the Grande Ceinture Ouest branch of the Transilien Paris-Saint-Lazare suburban rail line: Saint-Germain-Bel-Air–Fourqueux and Saint-Germain–Grande Ceinture. The branch was in operation from 12 December 2004 to 28 June 2019. On 6 July 2022 the Île-de-France tramway Line 13 Express opened, serving the two former Grande Ceinture Ouest station, as well as two additional stations within Saint-Germain-en-Laye. The Achères–Grand-Cormier station is also situated within the Saint-Germain-en-Laye commune. It is served by the Paris RER line A and the Transilien Paris – Saint-Lazare suburban rail line. The station is located in the middle of the Forest of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, far from the urbanized part of the commune.

Sport

Football

Saint-Germain-en-Laye has a proud footballing history. From 1904 to 1970, it was represented by Stade Saint-Germain, but following a 1970 merger with Paris FC, became Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). PSG is a top-flight football team that is the most successful team in France in terms of trophies.

Sporting facilities

There is one main sporting facility in Saint-Germain-en-Laye: the Stade Municipal Georges Lefèvre. It covers over 12 hectares and contains: – 5 football pitches – 3 stands – 1 athletic track – 22 tennis courts – 1 clubhouse – 1 multibeach terrain

Economy

Capcom Entertainment France, a

Capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...

subsidiary, has its head office in Saint-Germain-en-Laye.Contact
" Capcom. Retrieved 12 August 2011. "France: Capcom Entertainment France 30 bis, rue du Viel Abreuvoir FR.78100 Saint Germain En Laye"

Education

the schools in this commune had 20,581 students, with 7,300 of them living in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. There is a high ratio of overall students to town inhabitants. The municipal nursery and primary schools have 3,549 students. 1,026 students attend private schools in the commune.

Schools

the municipality operates ten nursery schools and nine primary schools. Public schools include: * Lycée Jeanne d'Albret * Lycée technologique Léonard-de-Vinci * Lycée technologique Jean-Baptiste-Poquelin * * Collège Marcel Roby Private schools include: * Collège et Lycée Notre-Dame * * Institut Saint Thomas de Villeneuve The Lycée International de Saint Germain-en-Laye is a hybrid public/private international school.Children > Presentation
" Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Retrieved 1 September 2016. It teaches children from nursery to high school age, who follow both the public French curriculum and an international program. There are 14 language program options, some of which are public and others private. Saint-Germain-en-Laye is also home to the Institut d'études politiques de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. The

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

grande école A (; ) is a specialized top-level educational institution in France and some other countries such as Morocco and Tunisia. are part of an alternative educational system that operates alongside the mainstream List of public universities in Franc ...

was founded in 2013 and, as of 2023, has a student body of over 800.

Libraries

There are two libraries: * Médiatèque Marc-Ferro * Bibliothèque George-Sand

In art

File:Alfred Sisley - The Terrace at Saint-Germain, Spring - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The Terrace at Saint-Germain, Spring'', 1875 by Alfred Sisley. The Walters Art Museum

Hospital

* Centre hospitalier intercommunal de Poissy-Saint-Germain-en-Laye mainly in Poissy.

Notable people

Entertainment

* Jaque Catelain (1897–1965), actor * Albert Dupontel (born 1964), actor * Mélanie Thierry (born 1981), actress

Literature

* Christian de Boisredon (born 1974), author and social entrepreneur * Virginie Greiner (born 1969), comic book scriptwriter * Jean-Jacques Lafaye (born 1958), writer, essayist * Gérard de Nerval (1808–1855), poet, who lived there during part of his childhood and adolescence * Emmanuelle Polack (born 1965), author and art historian *

Charles Gautier de Vinfrais Charles Gautier de Vinfrais, better known under the name Vinfrais l'ainé, (7 November 1704 – 4 Novembre 1797) was an 18th-century French officer of the Royal venery. Long a huntsman of King Louis XV of France with whom he hunted regularly, Vi ...

(1704–1797), encyclopédiste

Military

* John Patrick O'Gara (born 1692), soldier in the Spanish Army of Jacobite Irish descent * Louis-Michel Letort de Lorville (1773–1815), French general of the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

Music

* Albert Renaud (1855–1924), organist *

Claude Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

(1862–1918), composer * Albert Alain (1880–1971), composer and organist * Jehan Alain (1911–1940), composer * Marie-Claire Alain (1926–2013), organist and organ teacher * Ludovic Navarre (born 1955), electronic musician * Benoît Delbecq (born 1966), jazz pianist and composer

Nobility

* Henry II (1519–1559),

King 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, king of the Fra ...

, king who lived there in exile and is buried there * Marie of France (1344–1404), Duchess of Bar * Jeanne d'Albret (1528–1572),

Queen Regnant A queen regnant (: queens regnant) is a female monarch, equivalent in rank, title and position to a king. She reigns ''suo jure'' (in her own right) over a realm known as a kingdom; as opposed to a queen consort, who is married to a reigning ...

of Navarre * Charles IX (1550–1574), King of France *

Louis de Buade de Frontenac Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS Louis, HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy Se ...

(1622–1698), French courtier and Governor of New France *

(1638–1715), King of France * Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, (1640–1701), younger brother of Louis XIV * Louisa Maria Teresa Stuart (1692–1712), daughter of

, known to Jacobites as the Princess Royal * Charles O'Gara (1699–1777), a courtier and official of the Holy Roman Empire of Jacobite Irish descent

Politics

* Pierre Appell (1887–1957), French politician * Marion Maréchal-Le Pen (born 1989), French politician

Religion

* Jacques Fesch (1930–1957), Christian mystic * Pierre de Porcaro (1904–1945), priest and prisoner-of-war during the Second World War

Science and engineering

* Jean Albert Gaudry (1827–1908), geologist and palaeontologist * Gabriel de Mortillet (1821–1898) archeologist and anthropologist, mayor of the town from 1882 to1888 * Charles-Hippolyte de Paravey, engineer who died in the city * Salomon Reinach (1858–1932),

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

* Sylvie Vauclair (born 1946), astrophysicist

Sports

* Mohamed Haddadou (born 1974), footballer * Amélie Mauresmo (born 1979), tennis player * Bruno Besson (born 1979), racing driver * Ismael Gace (born 1986), footballer * Christopher Oualembo (born 1987), footballer *

Jonathan Eysseric Jonathan Eysseric (born 27 May 1990) is a French professional tennis player, who specializes in doubles and competes on the ATP Challenger Tour. He has a career-high doubles ranking of No. 72 achieved on 2 July 2018. Tennis career Juniors In 200 ...

(born 1990), tennis player * Frédéric Vieillot (born 1990), footballer * Caroline Garcia (born 1991), tennis player * Rashad Muhammed (born 1993), footballer * David Aubry (born 1996), swimmer * Gabriel Aubry (born 1998), racing driver

Twin towns – sister cities

Saint-Germain-en-Laye is twinned with: *

Aschaffenburg Aschaffenburg (; Hessian: ''Aschebersch'', ) is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg, despite being its administrative seat, is not part of the district of Aschaffenburg. Aschaffenburg belonged to the Archbishopric ...

, Germany, since 1975 * Schwelm, Germany * Ayr, South Ayrshire, Scotland, since 1984 *

Winchester, Massachusetts Winchester is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located 8.2 miles (13.2 km) north of downtown Boston as part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. It is also one of the List of Massachusetts locations by per capit ...

, United States, since 1990 * Konstancin-Jeziorna, Poland, since 1992

References

External links

Saint-Germain-en-Laye

{{Authority control 1020 establishments in Europe 1020s establishments in France Populated places established in the 11th century Cities in Île-de-France Communes of Yvelines Communes nouvelles of Yvelines Subprefectures in France