Châteaubriant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Commune of Châteaubriant |
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| Location | |
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| Administration | |
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| Country | France |
| Region | Pays de la Loire |
| Department | Loire-Atlantique |
| Arrondissement | Châteaubriant |
| Canton | Châteaubriant |
| Intercommunality | Communauté de Communes du Castelbriantais (19 communes) and Syndicat Mixte du Pays de Châteaubriant (33 communes) |
| Mayor | Alain Hunault (2001-2008) |
| Statistics | |
| Elevation | 48 m–107 m (avg. 70 m) |
| Land area¹ | 33.62 km² |
| Population² (1999) |
12 065 |
| - Density | 358/km² (1999) |
| Miscellaneous | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 44036/ 44110 |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
| 2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once. | |
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Châteaubriant is a French commune, located in the Loire-Atlantique département, in the Pays de la Loire région.
The inhabitants are called the Castelbriantais & Castelbriantaise.
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[edit] Geography
- Châteaubriant is 49 km to the north of Ancenis, 68 km to the south of Rennes, 69 km to the north of Nantes et 85 km to the west of Angers.
- The neighboring communes of Châteaubriant are Rougé, Saint-Aubin-des-Châteaux, Louisfert, Erbray et Soudan.
[edit] History
Châteaubriant's history began in the 11th century when Brient (an envoy of the Count of Rennes) constructed a Castle on a moat bording la Chère. He later founded the Priory St Sauveur de Béré. A city developed around the Castle and was called Châteaubriant. The fortress was a part of the Brittany defensive line along with the other townships, Vitré (Ille-et-Vilaine), and Fougères, which formed the first line of defense against the French Kingdom.
After the Revolution, Brutus Hugo, and young Republican lieutenant, met a young Castelbriantaise, Sophie Trébuchet. They had a son: Victor Hugo. The house of Sophie Trébuchet still exists and is located near the Maison de l'Ange which currently houses the Tourist Information Office.
In October 1941, 27 Communist hostages (imprisoned by the Republican government during the run-up to WWII and by the Vichy police in the fall of 1941) in the Châteaubriant Internment Camp were handed over to the Nazis and shot by a firing squad in revenge for the murder of the German lieutenant-colonel Karl Hotz on October 20, 1941 in Nantes. The youngest of the 27 hostages, Guy Môquet, was 17 years old. The place of execution, known as the Carrière des Fusillés is one of the principal memorials to the Nazi occupation in the region.
[edit] Administration
| Period | Name | Party | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2001 | Alain Hunault | UMP | |||||
| June 1995 | Martine Buron | PS | |||||
| March 1989 | Martine Buron | PS | ' | ||||
[edit] Demography
| 1962 | 1968 | 1975 | 1982 | 1990 | 1999 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 852 | 11 986 | 13 231 | 14 023 | 12 783 | 12 065 |
| Population numbers since 1962 | |||||
[edit] Coat of Arms
2 Coats of Arms are attributed :
- First Pale: Blue, three gold fleurs de lys, Pales split in two by a shortened staff with a red hache. (La France illustrée, 1882, de Malte-Brun)
- Red haches, semy of gold fleur-de-lis. (La France illustrée, 1882, de Malte-Brun)
[edit] Economy
[edit] Famous Persons
[edit] Monuments and Sites of Interest
- Château de Châteaubriant.
- Église Saint-Jean de Béré : 10th Century Parish.
- Carrière des Fusillés : Memorial dedicated to those executed by Germans in revenge for the assassination of their Lieutenant-Colonel Karl Holtz in Nantes on October 22, 1941.
