Le Mans — city in Sarthe, France

The foundation of the city of Le Mans can be traced back to an oppidum of the Celtic Cenomani. The settlement was conquered in 56 BC by the Romans, who called it Suindinum. In the 3rd century a city wall was built, which is still partly visible today. In late Roman times, the bishopric of Le Mans was created (the first bishop is considered to be Saint Julianus), which was later subordinated to the archbishopric of Tours. Initially belonging to the rule of Syagrius, Le Mans was conquered by the Franks in 486. Later, Le Mans became the centre of the County of Maine, which was repeatedly contested between the Dukes of Normandy and the Counts of Anjou, especially in the 11th and early 12th centuries. In 1110 Anjou was finally able to secure suzerainty over the land, which became part of the Angevin Empire in 1154 with the rise of the Plantagenets to kings of England. John Ohneland, however, lost the mainland possession north of the Loire again to the French crown, which thus also brought Le Mans back under its rule in 1204. In the course of the Hundred YearsWar, Maine was again fought over between the English and the French, which also affected the population of Le Mans, who had to retreat behind their city walls and abandon the suburbs that had been built in the meantime. In 1443, the English could finally be driven out of Maine. After an own dynasty of counts ruled here again in the meantime, Maine was added to the crown estate in 1480. After the Reformation, Maine belonged to the Huguenot provinces, so that there were again bloody conflicts; only in 1589, Henry IV was able to ensure peace here, which should prove to be quite durable.

In the age of absolutism the local handicraft experienced a boom, especially the production of textiles and wax. In 1740, two thirds of the town's textile production was exported. The improvement of transport routes further boosted the economic boom at the time of industrialization: in 1844, Le Mans received a railway connection on the Paris-Rennes line. The activities of the Bollée family were also of great importance to the town, initially producing steam engines here in the 1840s and then, from 1887, mainly manufacturing automobiles. From 10 to 12 January 1871, the Battle of Le Mans took place here between the French Loire Army and the Second Army of Crown Prince Frederick during the Franco-PrussianWar. This ended in a German victory. In 1893 Le Mans was also connected to the telephone network. The tradition as an automobile racing city was established by a first Grand Prix in 1911. In 1936, the Renault company settled in Le Mans, which is still the city's largest employer, but large insurance companies also chose Le Mans as their location. Between 1940 and 1944 Le Mans was occupied by the Germans, but the destruction caused by the war was limited. Higher education, which had been rather neglected for a long time, received increased support in 1960 with the establishment of a university, although this first university was initially dependent on the University of Caen. The technical university, founded in 1969, became more important.

The École Nationale Supérieure d'Ingénieurs du Mans was founded in 1995.