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'Belfort' is a town and commune of northeastern France, ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Territoire de Belfort ''département'' in the Franche-Comté ''région''. Population (1999): 50,417. Approximately 80,000 including suburbs.
It is located on the Savoureuse, on the strategically important natural route between the Rhine and the Rhône - the Belfort Gap (Trouée de Belfort) or Burgundian Gate (Porte de Bourgogne).

Contents

History

Industry

Sights

FIMU

Miscellaneous

Births

Twin towns

External links

History

Belfort's strategic location, in a natural gap between the Vosges and the Jura, on a route linking the Rhine and the Rhône, has attracted human settlement and made it a target for armies.
The site of Belfort was inhabited in Gallo-Roman times and was subsequently recorded in the 13th century as a possession of the counts of Montbéliard, who granted it a charter in 1307.
Previously an Austrian possession, Belfort was transferred to France by the Treaty of Westphalia (1648), that ended the Thirty Years' War. The town's fortifications were extended and developed by the military architect Vauban for Louis XIV.
Until 1871, Belfort was part of the ''département'' of Haut-Rhin, in Alsace. The Siege of Belfort, between November 3, 1870 and February 18, 1871, was successfully resisted until the garrison was ordered to surrender 21 days after the armistice between France and Prussia. As a mark of respect for their tenacity, the area around Belfort was excluded from the annexation of Alsace and Lorraine by the Prussians. It formed, as it still does, the Territoire de Belfort. The siege is commemorated by a huge statue, The Lion of Belfort, by Frédéric Bartholdi.
Alsatians who sought a new French home in Belfort made a significant contribution to its industry.
The town was bombarded by the Germans in World War I and occupied by them in World War II. In November 1944 the retreating German army held the French First Army before the town until French Commandos made a successful night attack on the Salbert Fort. Belfort was liberated on 22 November.

Industry

Belfort is a trading centre for wine and grain and its industries include chemicals, engineering, plastics and textiles. Belfort is also the hometown of Alstom where the first TGVs (Trains Grande Vitesse) were produced. As well as GE Energy Gas turbine devision.

Sights

Belfort is the home of ''The Lion of Belfort'', a sculpture by Frédéric Bartholdi expressing people's resistance against the siege in the Franco-Prussian War (1870).
Belfort Cathedral

FIMU

Belfort is also well known for organizing a large-scale music festival in May each year. The ''Festival International de Musique Universitaire'' (FIMU) is home to nearly 2500 musicians, most of them students, from many different countries. The musicians give more than 250 concerts in the course of the 3-day festival in a wide variety of styles (classical, jazz, traditional, experimental, etc.). All of the concerts are free of charge and are performed at 14 different locations in the old city (the ''vieille ville'') of Belfort. In 2004 more than 60,000 people attended the festival. In 2005 the festival was held on 14–16th May.

Miscellaneous

Births

Belfort was the birthplace of:

★ François Joseph Heim (1787-1865), painter

★ Jules Brunet (1838-1911), a member of the first French Military Mission to Japan in order to help modernize the armies of the shogunate

★ Louis-Gabriel-Charles Vicaire (1848-1900), poet

★ Jean-Pierre Chevènement (born 1939), politician

★ Gérard Grisey (born 1946-1998), composer

Twin towns

Belfort is twinned with:

★ Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine

★ Leonberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

★ Lobenstein, Thuringia, Germany

★ Skikda, Algeria

★ Stafford, UK

★ Delémont, Switzerland

★ New Belgrade, Serbia

External links

★ City council website (in French)

★ Tourist office website

★ FIMU Music festival, Belfort

★ Belfort Tourism Details and maps of tourist attractions in Belfort

★ Belfort Tourism Information

★ Visiting Belfort

★ Webpage about the fortifications