Commercy

Commercy
Subprefecture and commune
The castle
Coat of arms
Country	France
Region	Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine
Department	Meuse
Arrondissement	Commercy
Canton	Commercy
Intercommunality	Commercy - Void - Vaucouleurs
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Jérôme Lefèvre
Area1	35.37 km2 (13.66 sq mi)
Population (Jan. 2018)2
INSEE/Postal code	55122 / 55200
Elevation	227–280 m (745–919 ft) (avg. 232 m or 761 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Commercy (French pronunciation: [kɔmɛʁsi]) is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. The 18th-century Lorraine historian Nicolas Luton Durival (1713–1795) was born in Commercy.

History

Commercy dates back to the 9th century, and at that time its lords were dependent on the bishop of Metz. In 1544 it was besieged by Charles V in person. For some time the lordship was in the hands of Jean François Paul de Gondi, cardinal de Retz, who lived in the town for a number of years, and there composed his memoirs. From him it was purchased by Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine. In 1744 it became the residence of Stanisław Leszczyński, king of Poland, who spent a great deal of care on the embellishment of the town, castle and neighbourhood.

Commercy is the home of the Madeleines referred to by Marcel Proust in À la recherche du temps perdu.

Population

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1968	7,164	—
1975	6,989	−0.35%
1982	6,792	−0.41%
1990	6,404	−0.73%
1999	6,324	−0.14%
2007	6,498	+0.34%
2012	6,262	−0.74%
2017	5,536	−2.43%
Source: INSEE

People from Commercy

• Nicolas Durival (1723–1795), historian
• Nicolas Alaidon (1738–1827), curé de Toul, emigrated during the French Revolution, author of the Journal d'un prêtre pendant la Révolution (24 October 1738 – 1827).
• Henri Braconnot (1780–1855), chemist
• Henri Brocard (1845–1922), mathematician
• Georges Mangin (1873–1908), officer and explorer
• Benno Vigny (1889-1965), German-French scriptwriter and director
• Maurice Cloche (1907-1990), movie director
• Roger Lévy (1914-2006), Compagnon de la Libération
• Élisabeth de Miribel (1915-2005), Française libre
• Dominique Desseigne (1944), entrepreneur
• Pascal Vigneron (born 23 June 1963), organist, trumpeter, conductor, director of the Toul Bach Festival.
• Olivier Bluche (born 6 September 1958), French industrialist, philanthropist, landowner

In fiction

Commercy is the key location for action in the 1964 film The Train although this did not use the town for filming purposes.

Twin towns

It is twinned with the German town of Hockenheim.

See also

• Communes of the Meuse department

External links

• Office de Tourisme du Pays de Commercy (France)
• Office de Tourisme du Pays de Commercy (European Union)