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The commune has a land area of 59.24 square kilometres (22.87 sq mi). It is situated on the river Moselle, 60 kilometres (37 miles) south of Nancy. Épinal station has rail connections to Paris, Remiremont, Strasbourg, Belfort and Nancy.
History
The mythical founding date of Épinal is said to be 983 since celebrations took place for the "Millennium" in June 1983.[5] This date was chosen for political reasons to mark a "starting point" following the election of Philippe Séguin as mayor in March 1983.[6]
In 1444, the town of Épinal was still part of the domain of the bishops of Metz. In September, representatives of the town took advantage of King Charles VII's passage through Nancy to offer him the submission of the town and to ask for his protection in return. The act of submission of Épinal is dated September 7, 1444.[7] The king promised never to alienate the city; however, Louis XI handed over the town to the Marshal of Burgundy in 1465. Eventually, Épinal came under the guardianship of the Duke of Lorraine.
In 1790, the Constituent Assembly requested the departmental assembly of Vosges to choose between Mirecourt and Épinal as the capital of the department. The departmental assembly convened in Épinal on June 1 and, with three hundred and eleven votes against one hundred and twenty-seven, chose the city of Épinal. Mirecourt became a sub-prefecture.
During World War II, in January 1944, the Stalag 315 prisoner-of-war camp was relocated from the German-occupied Netherlands to Épinal, and it housed Indian POWs.[8] At least 40 POWs were killed and 80 were wounded after the camp was hit during a bombing of the town on May 11th, 1944.[8]
Many of the prisoners took advantage of the chaos to escape. Once free, most of them began marching south towards the region of Porrentruy, the first town in Swiss territory, some 100 kilometers away. By the end of June 1944, the Swiss authorities had recorded the entry into Swiss territory of 500 former prisoners from the Epinal camp. This was the largest escape of prisoners of war during the Second World War. This episode is recounted in the book ‘The Great Epinal Escape’ by British historian Ghee Bowman.[9]
Population
In 2018, 32,223 people lived in the town proper, while its functional area had a population of 119,955.[3]
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'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.
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, precision instruments, and bicycles. There is a school of textile weaving.
^ abMegargee, Geoffrey P.; Overmans, Rüdiger; Vogt, Wolfgang (2022). The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV. Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. pp. 303–304. ISBN978-0-253-06089-1.
^Jeanne Cressanges: installed in Épinal since 1968, novelist, essayist, screenwriter originally from Noyant in the Allier, who dedicated two of his works to his adopted region: "Je vous écris d’Épinal" and "Je vous écris des Vosges" éditions Serge Domini, respectively in 2009 and 2014.
^Nicolas Mathieu a le spleen des Vosges on lemonde.fr.
^"Villes jumelles". epinal.fr (in French). Épinal. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
