Metz
This article is about the French city of Metz. For the personal name see Metz (surname), for other meanings of the same name see Metz (disambiguation).
Metz (French [mɛs] or [mɛːs]; French obsolete, German and Lorraine [mɛts]) is a city of 116,581 inhabitants (French Messins [mɛsɛ̃] or (in the feminine form) Messines [mɛsiːn]; as of 1 January 2018) on the Moselle River in northeastern France. It is the capital of the Moselle department and was previously the capital of the former Lorraine region, which was merged into the Grand Est region in 2016.
Metz was a centre of the Merovingian and Frankish empires and the place of origin of the Carolingians. Between 1180 and 1210 it became an imperial city. In 1552, the French King Henry II occupied the city republic, which also fell de jure to France in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.
Geography
Metz is located at the mouth of the Seille into the Moselle at an altitude between 173 m and 178 m above sea level, about 50 km west of Saarbrücken and 120 km northwest of Strasbourg.
Politics
Mayor
The last mayors of Metz were:
- Raymond Mondon, 1947 to 1970
- Jean-Marie Rausch, 1971 to 2008
- Dominique Gros, since 2008
Twin Cities
- United Kingdom
Gloucester (United Kingdom) (1967) - United States
Kansas City (USA, Missouri) (2004) - Israel
Karmi'el (Israel) (1987) - Czech Republic
Königgrätz (Hradec Králové) (Czech Republic), since 1 December 2001 - Luxembourg
Luxembourg (Luxembourg) (1952) - Reunion
Saint-Denis (Réunion, France) (1986) - Germany
.png)
Trier (Germany), since 13 October 1957; see also: Quattropole - China People's Republic of
Yichang (PRC) (1991) - Congo Republic of
Djambala (Republic of Congo) since May 2012
Coat of arms and flag
Blading: "Split by silver and black."
Motto: " Si nous avons paix dedans, nous aurons paix au-dehors. " - "If we have peace within, we will have peace without." The city motto was originally carved above the tower-flanked gateway of the Barbarator. The inscription, which is currently in the Cour d'Or Metz City Museum after the city gate was demolished in 1904, was created in connection with a medieval popular uprising. Between 1324 and 1326, the patrician city government, the Paraiges, came into conflict with the Count of Luxembourg, John of Bohemia, the Archbishop of Trier, Balduin of Luxembourg, the Count of Bar, Edward I, and the Duke of Lorraine, Frederick IV. Although the so-called "War of the Four Lords" was brought to an end by treaty on March 3, 1326, a popular uprising broke out in August 1326 as a result of the devastating economic situation, during which the patrician upper class of the Free Imperial City of Metz was expelled. The latter then laid siege to the city and were able to force the restitution of the old balance of power through starvation. The demonstrative inscription above the Barbarator was intended to call every citizen of the city to reason and to lead them to accept the balance of power.
A small poem written in French and Latin in 1541 explains the white and black city coat of arms as follows:
Qui les couleurs voudra savoirDe
nos armes? C'est blanc et noir.
C'est que par blanc: "Vita bonis "
Et par le noir: "Mors est malis"
(German translation: Who wants to know the colors of our coat of arms? It is white and black. White stands for: "Life to the good" and the black for: "Death to the bad").
