Creutzwald | |
|---|---|
 Creutzwald Lake | |
 Flag .svg) Coat of arms | |
 Location of Creutzwald | |
  Creutzwald  Creutzwald | |
| Coordinates:49°12′00″N6°41′00″E / 49.2°N 6.6833°E /49.2; 6.6833 | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Grand Est |
| Department | Moselle |
| Arrondissement | Forbach-Boulay-Moselle |
| Canton | Boulay-Moselle |
| Intercommunality | Warndt |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2020–2026) | Jean-Luc Wozniak[1] |
Area 1 | 26.72 km2 (10.32 sq mi) |
| Population (2022)[2] | 12,389 |
| • Density | 463.7/km2 (1,201/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 57160 /57150 |
| Elevation | 198–334 m (650–1,096 ft) (avg. 219 m or 719 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Creutzwald (French pronunciation:[kʁøtsvald];German:Kreuzwald) is acommune in theMoselle département inGrand Est in north-eastern France, located on the German border, just south ofÜberherrn (with which it is twinned) and west of Lauterbach-Völklingen, both in theSaarland.
With Germany, it manages theWarndt forest.
The town was formed in 1810, by the merging of the three villages ofLa Croix,La Houve, andWilhelmsbronn. It continued to be known as Creutzwald-la-Croix until 1961, when the name was simplified. Until that point, it had been redundant, as the German wordKreuz, and FrenchCroix both mean "cross".
Like the other communes of the present-day Moselle department, Creutzwald was annexed to theGerman Empire from 1871 to 1918.
During theSecond World War, the commune was annexed by theThird Reich. It was not liberated until December 1944.
Creutzwald was the last town in France to have a workingcoal mine, inLa Houve, which closed on 23 April 2004.
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | 14,471 | — |
| 1975 | 15,540 | +1.02% |
| 1982 | 15,060 | −0.45% |
| 1990 | 15,169 | +0.09% |
| 1999 | 14,360 | −0.61% |
| 2007 | 13,468 | −0.80% |
| 2012 | 13,607 | +0.21% |
| 2017 | 13,095 | −0.76% |
| Source: INSEE[3] | ||
Together with the municipalities ofBisten-en-Lorraine,Guerting,Ham-sous-Varsberg andVarsberg, it forms theCommunauté de communes of Warndt, of which it is the seat.[4] Since 2015, it is part of thecanton of Boulay-Moselle.
The first industrial development of the commune was linked to glass, thanks to the abundance of wood in the forests and the presence of silica sand in the soil.[5] The first glass factories were set up between 1602 and 1603 by the Condé family, gentlemen glassmakers from Champagne. Several glass factories operated simultaneously in Creutzwald until the middle of the 17th century, when they gradually declined. The last one, La Houve, was established in 1705 to revive the activity, and was bought by the glass factory ofMeisenthal in 1843.[5]
The iron and steel industry started in the La Houve forest.[6] It was initiated by the Quien family, who installed two blast furnaces initially fuelled by charcoal. The hydraulic power produced by the water of the Bisten enabled the blowers to be put into action to increase the temperature in the furnaces.[6] The iron industry flourished until the revolution, which stopped this activity. In 1814, François Payssé revived the iron and steel production. Then the factory passed into the hands of the Schlincker family.[6] The blast furnaces were shut down and only the cast iron casting remained. The Quinchez family took over the running of the company. Finally, in 1929, the factory was directed by the Schmitt brothers. It was closed after the Second World War.[6]
Since February 1988, Creutzwald has been notable for having its own television channel called 'CVS', currently led by the wider 'ÉNES' electricity board. One of the first local television stations of its kind in France, 'CVS' runs a weekly broadcast of around 30 minutes, which informs the town's inhabitants of current affairs taking place in and around Creutzwald. The channel is available at all hours of the day, and will often run important news and announcements otherwise.[7]
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