Commune of Bitche
Location
Longitude	07° 25' 33" E
Latitude	49° 03' 09" N
Administration
Country	France
Region	Lorraine
Department	Moselle
Arrondissement	Sarreguemines
Canton	Bitche (chief town)
Intercommunality	Communauté de communes de Bitche et environs
Mayor	Edmond Stenger (2001-2008)
Statistics
Altitude	249 m–432 m (avg. 290 m)
Land area¹	41.13 km²
Population² (1999)	5,752
- Density (1999)	139/km²
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	57089/ 57230
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 mi² or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel).

The citadel of Bitche

The citadel above the town

Bitche (German: Bitsch) is a town and commune of the Moselle département, in Lorraine, in northeastern France. Longitude, sometimes denoted by the Greek letter λ (lambda),[1][2] describes the location of a place on Earth east or west of a north-south line called the Prime Meridian. ... Latitude, usually denoted symbolically by the Greek letter phi, , gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the equator. ... This is an alphabetical list of countries of the world, including independent states (both those that are internationally recognised and generally unrecognised), inhabited dependent territories and areas of special sovereignty. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Location Administration Capital Metz Regional President Jean-Pierre Masseret (PS) (since 2004) Départements Meurthe-et-Moselle Meuse Moselle Vosges Arrondissements 19 Cantons 157 Communes 2,337 Statistics Land area1 23,547 km² Population (Ranked 11th)  - January 1, 2005 est. ... Departments (French: départements) are administrative units of France and many former French colonies, roughly analogous to English counties. ... Moselle is a département in the northeast of France named after the Moselle River. ... The 100 French départements are divided into 342 arrondissements. ... The arrondissement of Sarreguemines is an arrondissement of France, located in the Moselle département, in the Lorraine région. ... The cantons of France are administrative divisions subdividing arrondissements and départements. ... The commune is an administrative division of France. ... A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning larger, greater) is the modern title of the highest ranking municipal officer. ... 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... INSEE is the French abbreviation for the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies (French: Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques). ... Postal codes were introduced in France in 1972, when La Poste introduced automated sorting. ... Square kilometre (US spelling: Square kilometer), symbol km², is an SI unit of surface area. ... A square mile is an English unit of area equal to that of a square with sides each 1 statute mile (≈1,609 m) in length. ... Estuaries and coastal waters are among the most productive ecosystems on Earth, providing ecological, economic, cultural, and aesthetic benefits. ... This page lists English translations of several Latin phrases and abbreviations, such as and . ... Image File history File links Flag_of_France. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. ... Moselle is a département in the northeast of France named after the Moselle River. ... The départements (or departments) are administrative units of France and many former French colonies, roughly analogous to English counties. ... Location Administration Capital Metz Regional President Jean-Pierre Masseret (PS) (since 2004) Départements Meurthe-et-Moselle Meuse Moselle Vosges Arrondissements 19 Cantons 157 Communes 2,337 Statistics Land area1 23,547 km² Population (Ranked 11th)  - January 1, 2005 est. ...

It is known for its large citadel. People from Bitche and surrounding areas are commonly called Bitches. The surrounding woods are known as the Bitscher Land. This article is about a type of fortification. ...

Geography

Bitche is located on the Orne, at the foot of the northern slope of the Vosges between Haguenau and Sarreguemines, about 30 km south of Landstuhl, Germany. This site is poor For the river Orne in Normandy see Orne River. ... The Vosges mountains are range of mountains in central-western Europe, stretching along the west side of the Rhine valley in a NNE direction, from Basel to Mainz, for a distance of 250 km (150 miles). ... Haguenau (German: Hagenau) is a commune of northeastern France, in the Bas-Rhin département, of which it is a sous-préfecture. ... Sarreguemines (German Saargemünd) is a town and commune in the Moselle département, in Lorraine, northeastern France. ... Landstuhl is a Verbandsgemeinde (administrative unit) in the district of Kaiserslautern in Germany. ...

Sites and History

There are a Roman Catholic and a Protestant church, a classical school and an academy of forestry. The town of Bitche, which was formed of the villages of Rohr and Kaltenhausen in the 17th century, derives its name from the old stronghold (mentioned in 1172 as Bytis Castrum) standing on a rock some 80 m. above the town. This had long given its name to the countship of Bitsch, which was originally in the possession of the dukes of Lorraine. In 1297 it passed by marriage to Eberhard I of Zweibrücken, whose line became extinct in 1569, when the countship reverted to Lorraine. It passed with that duchy to France in 1766. (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... Events Duke Richard of Aquitaine becomes Duke of Poitiers. ... The Duchy of Lorraine was an independent state for most of the period of time between 843 to 1739. ... Events 8 January - Monaco gains independence. ... Events January 11 - First recorded lottery in England. ... 1766 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

After that date the town rapidly increased in population. The citadel, which had been constructed by Vauban on the site of the old castle after the capture of Bitche by the French in 1624, had been destroyed when it was restored to Lorraine in 1698. This was restored and strengthened in 1740 into a fortress that proved impregnable in all succeeding wars. The attack upon it by the Prussians in 1793 was repulsed; in 1815 they had to be content with blockading it; and in 1870, though it was closely invested by the Germans after the battle of Worth, it held out until the end of the war. A large part of the fortification is excavated in the red sandstone rock, and was rendered bomb-proof; a supply of water was secured to the garrison by a deep well in the interior. Sébastien Le Prestre, Seigneur de Vauban and later Marquis de Vauban (May 15, 1633 - March 30, 1707), commonly referred to as Vauban, was a Marshal of France and the foremost military engineer of his age, famed for his skill in both designing fortifications and in breaking through them. ... Events January 24 - Alfonso Mendez, appointed by Pope Gregory XV as Prelate of Ethiopia, arrives at Massawa from Goa. ... Events January 4 - Palace of Whitehall in London is destroyed by fire. ... Events May 31 - Friedrich II comes to power in Prussia upon the death of his father, Friedrich Wilhelm I. October 20 - Maria Theresia of Austria inherits the Habsburg hereditary dominions (Austria, Bohemia, Hungary and present-day Belgium). ... Motto: Suum cuique Latin: To each his own Prussia at its peak, as leading state of the German Empire Capital Königsberg, later Berlin Political structure Duchy, Kingdom, Republic Duke1  - 1525–68 Albert I  - 1688–1701 Frederick III King1  - 1701–13 Frederick I  - 1888–1918 William II Prime Minister1,2... 1793 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... April 5-12: Mount Tambora explodes, changing climate. ... 1870 (MDCCCLXX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Combatants Prussia Baden Bavaria Württemberg France Commanders Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Patrice MacMahon Strength 88,000 50,000 Casualties 10,000 dead, wounded, or missing 11,000 dead or wounded 9,000 captured {{{notes}}} The Battle of WÅ“rth, also known as the Battle of Reichshoffen or as the...

The town is near the Maginot Line, into which the citadel was integrated. The Maginot Line (IPA: [maʒino], named after French minister of defence André Maginot) was a line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, machine gun posts and other defenses which France constructed along its borders with Germany and with Italy, in the light of experience from World War I, and...

Miscellaneous

Bitche is twinned since 1979 with Lebach, Saarland, Germany. Lebach is a city in the district Saarlouis in Saarland, Germany. ... Saarland is one of the 16 states of Germany. ...

In March 1945 the U.S. 100th Infantry Division broke through the Maginot Line in the Bitche area and liberated the town, which had been occupied by German troops. Shoulder Sleeve Insignia of the 100th Infantry Division. ...

The town of Bitche was mentioned in BBC comedy panel game QI, in episode 8 of season 2. Bill Bailey commented on the comical nature of seeing a sign "You are now leaving Bitche". QI, standing for Quite Interesting and a play on IQ, is a comedy panel game television show hosted by Stephen Fry and shown on BBC Two and BBC Four. ... Mark Bill Bailey (born 24 February 1964, Bath, Somerset) is an English comedian, actor, and musician known for appearing on Never Mind the Buzzcocks, QI: Quite Interesting and Black Books as well as his stand up comedy. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Bitche

• Official website
• Unofficial website