Moussey | |
|---|---|
 A general view of Moussey | |
.svg) Coat of arms | |
 Location of Moussey | |
  Moussey  Moussey | |
| Coordinates:48°25′51″N7°01′25″E / 48.4308°N 7.0236°E /48.4308; 7.0236 | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Grand Est |
| Department | Vosges |
| Arrondissement | Saint-Dié-des-Vosges |
| Canton | Raon-l'Étape |
| Intercommunality | CA Saint-Dié-des-Vosges |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2020–2026) | Bertrand Klein[1] |
Area 1 | 29.2 km2 (11.3 sq mi) |
| Population (2022)[2] | 549 |
| • Density | 18.8/km2 (48.7/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 88317 /88210 |
| Elevation | 360–933 m (1,181–3,061 ft) (avg. 380 m or 1,250 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Moussey (French pronunciation:[musɛ]ⓘ) is acommune in theVosgesdepartment inGrand Est in northeasternFrance.
Inhabitants are calledMousséens.
Positioned on the eastern side of Grand Est, the village of Moussey is the last inhabited settlement along the Senones Valley before, eventually, the road crosses thePrayé Pass (Col de Prayé) intoAlsace and on toMont Donon, the highest peak in theNorth Vosges Mountains.
The name 'Moussey' comes from theLatin word 'Monticellus' meaning 'little mountain'. The village is set on a small hill at the foot of which a fast flowing mountain stream fully deserves its name, theRiver Rabondeau (in Latin, 'rapidus aqua' / 'fast water').
Moussey is one of several communes that formerly belonged toSenones Abbey: subsequently it fell within thePrincipality of Salm-Salm until theFrench Revolution, following which the former principality became a part of France. Numerous documents from the 18th century, now archived at themairie testify to the way the princes of Salm-Salm were happy to accommodate the presence of such prominentreligious scholars asDom Calmet.
Fortune arrived Moussey in the 19th century thanks to thetextile industry. The firsttextile mill was constructed in 1836: an adjoiningchateau was built between 1858 and 1863. The business was operated successively by three families, being the Charlot, Lung et Laederich families, but in 1966 the machines fell silent. Since 1988 various surviving elements of the Moussey textile business have enjoyed protectedhistorical monument status.
During theSecond World War Moussey was a supporting town for the joint SAS-SOEOperation Loyton of 1944, designed to use Allied special forces to inspire an insurrection amongst the local Maquis forces and thus prepare the ground for offensive action by the AmericanSeventh Army. The Allied forces were eventually forced to retreat, which in turn led to mass deportation from Moussey with 187 people being sent toNatzweiler-Struthof of whom 144 never returned.[3] Among the deportees was the man who had been mayor since 1917 (Abel Gassman), the director general of the Laederich Business: Jules Py died atDachau on 24 January 1945.
After the Second World War, Moussey was personally delivered a letter of thanks by Major Eric Barksworth and ColonelChristopher Sykes for their services towards the Special Air Service during the war. It praised the "selfless devotion" and "memorable courage" of the inhabitants of Moussey, especially in their collective refusal to expose the SAS unit concealed within the Senones Valley.[4]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
 | ThisArrondissement of Saint-Dié-des-Vosges geographical article is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |
