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'Montbéliard' is a ''commune'' in the Doubs ''département'' of the Franche-Comté ''région'', in eastern France. It is one of the two ''sous-préfectures'' of the ''département''.
Population (1999): 27,570. Internal agglomeration: 123,000. External agglomeration: 302,000 (with the city of Belfort).

Contents

History

Economy

Miscellaneous

Births

External links

History

Mentioned first in 985 as ''Mons Beliardae'', it became a county of the Holy Roman Empire in the 11th century. In 1397 the town, known in archaic German as ''Mömpelgard'', passed by marriage to the counts (later dukes) of the House of Württemberg. In 1524, 10 years earlier than in Württemberg, Count Ulrich and reformer William Farel made Mömpelgard Protestant (specifically Lutheran). From 1598 to 1608, the architect Heinrich Schickhardt build several landmarks of the city, like St. Martin, a castle, a bridge, a college and several hotels.
After the French Revolution, it was briefly incorporated into the Rauracian Republic, and in 1793 the town was annexed to France, which was confirmed in 1796 and by the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1806, when Württemberg was compensated with other areas and became a kingdom.
As a consequence of the former rule under the dukes of Württemberg, it has been for centuries one of the few Protestant (specifically Lutheran) enclaves in France.

Economy

The main manufacturing plant of Peugeot is partly located in Montbéliard and the industrialist Peugeot family is a Protestant family from the vicinity of Montbéliard.

Miscellaneous

Montbéliard is twinned with Greensboro, North Carolina and Ludwigsburg, Germany, the site of the castles of Württemberg.
The FCSM (Football Club Sochaux-Montbéliard) football team is currently playing in Ligue 1, and is the club that has played the most seasons in the highest league out of all teams in France.

Births

Montbéliard was the birthplace of:

★ Georges Cuvier (1769-1832), naturalist and zoologist

★ Nicolas Tournier (1590-ca. 1638), painter

★ René Thom (1923–2002), mathematician

★ Pierre-Alain Frau (1980-present), football (soccer) player

★ Nicolaus Taurellus (1547-1606), German philosopher and theologian

External links

★ City website

★ History

★ Atelier du patrimoine

★ http://www.agglo-montbeliard.fr/