PROFILBARU.COM

Vosges
Vosges
Department of France
	Clockwise from top: Épinal seen from the castle ruins, Bussang, Bruyères with Mont Avison in the background, La Bresse
	Flag Coat of arms
	Location of Vosges in France
	Coordinates: 48°10′N 06°25′E / 48.167°N 6.417°E
Country	France
Region	Grand Est
Prefecture	Épinal
Subprefectures	Neufchâteau; Saint-Dié-des-Vosges
Government
• President of the Departmental Council	François Vannson (LR)
Area 1
• Total	5,874 km2 (2,268 sq mi)
Population (2021)
• Total	360,673
• Rank	67th
• Density	61/km2 (160/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Department number	88
Arrondissements	3
Cantons	17
Communes	507
	^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries and lakes, ponds and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Vosges (French pronunciation: [voʒ] ^ⓘ) is a department in the Grand Est region, Northeastern France. It covers part of the Vosges mountain range, after which it is named. Vosges consists of three arrondissements, 17 cantons and 507 communes,^[3] including Domrémy-la-Pucelle, where Joan of Arc was born.^[4] In 2019, it had a population of 364,499 with an area of 5,874 km² (2,268 sq mi);^[5] its prefecture is Épinal.

History

Hundred Years' War

Joan of Arc was born in the village of Domrémy, then in the French part of the Duchy of Bar, or Barrois mouvant, located west of the Meuse. The part of the duchy lying east of the Meuse was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The Duchy of Bar later became part of the province of Lorraine. The village of Domrémy was renamed Domrémy-la-Pucelle in honour of Joan.^[6]

French Revolution

The Vosges department is one of the original 83 departments of France, created on 4 March 1790 during the French Revolution.^[7] It was made of territories that had been part of the province of Lorraine. In German it is referred to as Vogesen.

In 1793, the independent Principality of Salm-Salm (town of Senones and its surroundings), enclosed inside the Vosges department, was annexed to France and incorporated into Vosges. In 1795, the area of Schirmeck was detached from the Bas-Rhin department and incorporated into the Vosges department.^[8] The Vosges department then had an area of 6,127 km² (2,366 sq mi), which it kept until 1871.

In 1794, Vosges was the site of a major battle between the forces of Revolutionary France and the Allied Coalition. The oldest square in Paris, Place Royale, was renamed Place des Vosges in 1800 when the department became the first to pay the new revolutionary taxes.

Franco-Prussian War

After the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, 4% of the Vosges department in the extreme northeast of the department was annexed to the German Empire by the Treaty of Frankfurt on the ground that the people there spoke Germanic dialects. The area annexed on 18 May 1871 corresponded to the canton of Schirmeck and the northern half of the canton of Saales. Schirmeck and Saales had been historically part of Alsace. These territories, along with the rest of Alsace and the annexed territories of Lorraine, became part of the Reichsland of Elsaß-Lothringen. The area of the Vosges department was thus reduced to its current 5,874 km² (2,268 sq mi).

First and Second World Wars

In 1919, with the allied victory in the World War I, Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France by Germany at the Treaty of Versailles. However, Schirmeck and Saales were not returned to the Vosges department, but instead were incorporated into the recreated Bas-Rhin department.

An ill-fated Special Air Service (SAS) mission called Operation Loyton took place in the Vosges forests in 1944.

Various military cemeteries are located in the department, the largest of which is the Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial in Dinozé, near Épinal. It was built by the American 45th Infantry Division in September 1944 and completed in 1959. 5,253 soldiers killed in action during fighting in France, the Vosges, the Rhine valley and Germany are interred there.^[9]

Geography

While the west part of the Vosges is flat sedimentary land (well suited for mineral waters), the east is dominated by the Vosges Mountain range and the Ballons des Vosges Nature Park. The Hohneck at 1363m is the highest peak of the Vosges department.^[10] The Monts Faucilles traverse the south of the department in a broad curve declining on the north into elevated plateaus, on the south encircling the upper basin of the River Saône. This chain, dividing the basins of the Rhône and the Rhine, forms part of the European watershed between the basins of the Mediterranean and Atlantic.^[11] 48% of the department is covered by woodlands and forests (the third highest in France), while 45% of land is in agricultural use.^[12]

The Saône (named after the Celtic goddess Sagona)^[13] rises at Vioménil, in the Vosges. The Anger river also passes through it.

Principal towns

The most populated commune is Épinal, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 9 communes with more than 5,000 inhabitants:^[14]

Commune	Population (2019)
Épinal	32,256
Saint-Dié-des-Vosges	19,576
Golbey	8,798
Thaon-les-Vosges	8,634
Gérardmer	7,807
Remiremont	7,691
Neufchâteau	6,636
Raon-l'Étape	6,205
Rambervillers	5,096

Demographics

Population development since 1801:

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1801	308,920	—
1806	334,169	+1.58%
1831	397,987	+0.70%
1841	419,992	+0.54%
1851	427,409	+0.18%
1861	415,485	−0.28%
1872	392,988	−0.50%
1881	406,862	+0.39%
1891	410,196	+0.08%
1901	421,104	+0.26%
1911	433,914	+0.30%
1921	383,684	−1.22%
1931	377,980	−0.15%

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1936	376,926	−0.06%
1946	342,315	−0.96%
1954	372,523	+1.06%
1962	380,676	+0.27%
1968	388,201	+0.33%
1975	397,957	+0.36%
1982	395,769	−0.08%
1990	386,258	−0.30%
1999	380,952	−0.15%
2006	379,975	−0.04%
2011	378,830	−0.06%
2016	369,641	−0.49%

Sources:^[7]^[15]

Culture

The Roman fortified town of Grand, located 30 km from Toul, has an amphitheatre and a temple to the Cult of Apollo. At La Bure, located a few kilometres from Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, archaeologists have found evidence for human habitation going back to around 2000 BC.^{[citation needed]}

Séré de Rivières forts

As a border area, the Vosges region was a route for possible invasion. As such four important forts were constructed in the department: Bourlémont Fort in Mont-les-Neufchâteau (built between 1878 and 1881); Uxegney Fort (built between 1882 and 1884); Bois l'Abbé Fort (built in 1884 and 1885); and the Le Parmont Fort in Remiremont (built between 1874 and 1876).^[16]

Politics

The president of the Departmental Council is François Vannson, first elected in 2015.

Presidential elections 2nd round

	Winning Candidate	Party	%	2nd Place Candidate	Party	%
2022	Emmanuel Macron	LREM	47.59	Marine Le Pen	RN	52.41
2017^[17]	Emmanuel Macron	LREM	55.26	Marine Le Pen	FN	44.74
2012	Nicolas Sarkozy	UMP	50.94	François Hollande	PS	49.06
2007	Nicolas Sarkozy	UMP	54.72	Ségolène Royal	PS	45.28
2002^[17]	Jacques Chirac	RPR	78.81	Jean-Marie Le Pen	FN	21.19
1995^[18]	Jacques Chirac	RPR	51.44	Lionel Jospin	PS	48.56

Current National Assembly Representatives

	Member^[19]	Party
Vosges's 1st constituency	Stéphane Viry	Miscellaneous right
Vosges's 2nd constituency	Gaëtan Dussausaye	National Rally
Vosges's 3rd constituency	Christophe Naegelen	Miscellaneous right
Vosges's 4th constituency	Sébastien Humbert	National Rally