Épinal

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (January 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

show This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (July 2014) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the French article. Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary Content in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at [[:fr:Épinal]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated|fr|Épinal}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Épinal
Prefecture and commune
The river Moselle
Coat of arms
show Location of Épinal Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
Épinal Épinal Show map of FranceShow map of Grand EstShow all
Coordinates: 48°10′28″N 6°27′04″E / 48.1744°N 6.4512°E / 48.1744; 6.4512Coordinates: 48°10′28″N 6°27′04″E / 48.1744°N 6.4512°E / 48.1744; 6.4512
Country	France
Region	Grand Est
Department	Vosges
Arrondissement	Épinal
Canton	Épinal-1 and 2
Intercommunality	CA Épinal
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Patrick Nardin[1]
Area 1	59.24 km2 (22.87 sq mi)
Population  (Jan. 2018)[2]	32,223
• Density	540/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
• Metro	93,184
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	88160 /88000
Elevation	315–492 m (1,033–1,614 ft) (avg. 340 m or 1,120 ft)
Website	www.epinal.fr
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Part of a series on
Lorraine
Flag of Lorraine since the 13th century
show History Mediomatrici & Leuci Gallia Belgica Lotharingia Duchy of Lorraine Duchy of Bar Three Bishoprics Lorraine and Barrois German Empire Lorraine department Third Reich Lorraine department Lorraine region Grand Est
show Culture Symbol People Languages Lorrain Lorraine Franconian Low Alemannic Demographics
show Religion Roman Catholicism: Diocese of Metz (Immediately subject to the Holy See) Diocese of Nancy Diocese of Saint-Dié Diocese of Verdun Protestantism: Union of Protestant Churches of Alsace and Lorraine (Moselle) Lutheranism: Church of Augsburg Confession of Alsace and Lorraine (Moselle) Calvinism: Reformed Church of Alsace and Lorraine (Moselle) United Protestant Church of France (rest of Lorraine) Jewish consistories: Metz (Moselle) Nancy (rest of Lorraine)
show Law Local law in Alsace-Moselle Concordat in Alsace-Moselle (1801)
show Administrative divisions Meurthe-et-Moselle (54) Capital: Nancy Arrondissement of Briey Arrondissement of Lunéville Arrondissement of Nancy Arrondissement of Toul Meuse (55) Capital: Bar-le-Duc Arrondissement of Bar-le-Duc Arrondissement of Commercy Arrondissement of Verdun Moselle (Lothringen, 57) Capital: Metz Arrondissement of Forbach-Boulay-Moselle Arrondissement of Metz Arrondissement of Sarrebourg-Château-Salins Arrondissement of Sarreguemines Arrondissement of Thionville Vosges (88) Capital: Épinal Arrondissement of Épinal Arrondissement of Neufchâteau Arrondissement of Saint-Dié
show Lorraine in the EU European Parliament elections Constituency
show Related topics Politics of France Politics of Germany Politics of the European Union
v

Épinal (French pronunciation: ​[epinal]; German: Spinal) is a commune in northeastern France and the capital (prefecture) of the Vosges department. Inhabitants are known as Spinaliens.

Geography[]

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.

Population[]

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 6,688 —     1800 7,321 +1.30% 1806 7,905 +1.29% 1821 7,941 +0.03% 1831 9,070 +1.34% 1836 9,526 +0.99% 1841 10,012 +1.00% 1846 11,485 +2.78% 1856 11,076 −0.36% 1861 11,957 +1.54% 1866 11,870 −0.15% 1872 11,847 −0.03% 1876 14,894 +5.89% 1881 16,445 +2.00% 1886 20,932 +4.94% 1891 23,223 +2.10% 1896 26,525 +2.69% 1901 28,080 +1.15%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1906 29,058 +0.69% 1911 30,042 +0.67% 1921 28,352 −0.58% 1926 26,849 −1.08% 1931 27,350 +0.37% 1936 27,708 +0.26% 1946 23,395 −1.68% 1954 28,688 +2.58% 1962 30,313 +0.69% 1968 36,856 +3.31% 1975 39,604 +1.03% 1982 37,818 −0.66% 1990 36,732 −0.36% 1999 35,794 −0.29% 2007 33,528 −0.81% 2012 32,387 −0.69% 2017 31,740 −0.40%
Source: EHESS[3] and INSEE (1968-2017)[4]

Main sights[]

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.

The Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial on the outskirts of the town where United States service members killed in World War II are buried.

Notable residents[]

• Isabelle Cogitore (born 1964), historian
• Jean-Baptiste Jacopin (1755–1811), general of the armies of the 1st Republic and the First French Empire.
• Victor Magnien (1802–1885), violinist, guitarist and composer
• Émile Durkheim (1858–1917), founder of sociology
• Louis Lapicque (1866–1952), physiologist, specialist of the nervous system and known for his discovery of the chronaxie.
• Marcel Mauss (1872–1950), father of French modern ethnography and nephew of Émile Durkheim.
• Marc Boegner (1881–1970), writer, thinker and pastor, president of the Fédération protestante de France and the World Council of Churches, a member of the Académie française.
• Henry Daniel-Rops (1901–1965), writer and historian
• Jean-Marie Cavada (1940) journalist and politician.
• Léo Valentin (1919–1956), French soldier and adventurer, nicknamed "l'homme-oiseau".
• Marceline Loridan-Ivens (1928), film director
• Philippe Séguin (1943–2010), Mayor of Épinal, French politician, President of the Court of Auditors under the Fifth Republic.
• Ségolène Royal (1953), completed her high school in Charmes, before joining the Lycée Saint-Joseph of Épinal in 1968.
• Laetitia Masson (1966), screenwriter and film director
• Valérie Donzelli (1973), actress and film director
• Jeanne Cressanges,^[5] novelist, essayist
• Nicolas Matthieu (1978),^[6] writer, winner of the Prix Erckmann-Chatrian in 2014.
• Maria Pourchet, (1980), writer, winner of the Prix Erckmann-Chatrian in 2013.
• Marie-Antoinette Gout, Righteous Among the Nations

Sportspeople[]

• Gauthier Klauss (1987), canoeist.
• Matthieu Péché (1987), canoeist
• Aurore Mongel (1982), swimmer
• Damien Nazon (1974), rider
• Jean-Patrick Nazon (1977), rider
• Julien Bontemps (1979), windsurfer
• Maxime Mermoz (1986), rugby player
• Nacer Bouhanni (1990), rider
• Rayane Bouhanni (1996), brother of the former, also a rider
• Grégory Gaultier (1982), 2015 squash world champion

Economy[]

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.

Politics[]

Épinal is contained within Vosges' 1st constituency for elections to the National Assembly.

Sport[]

SAS Épinal is based in the commune.

International relations[]

Épinal is twinned with:^[7]

See also[]

• Communes of the Vosges department

References[]

External links[]

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Épinal.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Épinal.

• Official site
• La place forte d'Épinal 1870 – 1914
• "Épinal" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 9 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 694.
• Épinal-Tribu Information about Épinal (in French)
• Épinal-info (in French)
• City council website (in French)
• HoloGuides: Épinal – photos