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METZ

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Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 308 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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METZ , a See also:

town, first-class fortress and episcopal see of See also:Germany, in the imperial See also:province of See also:Alsace-See also:Lorraine, See also:capital of (See also:German) Lorraine, on the Moselle, 99 M. N.W. of See also:Strassburg by See also:rail, and at the See also:radiation of lines to See also:Luxemburg, See also:Coblenz and Noveant, on the See also:French frontier (102 m. W.). Pop. (1905), 60,396. The See also:general See also:appearance of the town is See also:quaint and irregular, but there are several handsome See also:modern streets. The Moselle, which is here joined by the Seille, flows through it in several arms, and is crossed by fourteen See also:bridges. In the See also:south-See also:west corner of the town is the esplanade, with an equestrian statue of the See also:emperor See also:William I., and monuments to See also:Prince See also:Frederick See also:Charles and See also:Marshal See also:Ney, commanding a See also:fine view of the " pays messin," a fertile See also:plain lying to the south. Of the ten See also:city See also:gates the most interesting are the See also:Porte d'Allemagne, or Deutsche Tor, on the See also:east, a castellated structure erected in 1445 and still bearing traces of the See also:siege by Charles V.; the Porte Serpenoise, or Romer Tor, on the south, and the Porte Francaise, or Franzosische Tor, on the west. Among its ecclesiastical edifices (nine See also:Roman See also:Catholic and four See also:Protestant churches) the most noteworthy is the Roman Catholic See also:cathedral, with huge pointed windows, slender columns and numerous flying but-tresses, which, begun in the 13th See also:century and consecrated in 1546, belongs to the See also:period of the decadence of the See also:Gothic See also:style. The Gothic churches of St See also:Vincent and St Eucharius, and the handsome Protestant See also:garrison See also:church, completed in 1881, also deserve mention. Among See also:secular buildings the most important are the town-See also:hall, the See also:palace of See also:justice, the See also:theatre, the See also:governor's See also:house, and the various buildings for military purposes.

The public library contains 40,000 volumes, including an extensive collection of See also:

works See also:relating to the See also:history of Lorraine. In the same See also:building is the museum, which contains a picture See also:gallery, a numismatic See also:cabinet, and a collection of specimens of natural history. Metz also possesses several learned See also:societies, charitable institutions and See also:schools, and a military See also:academy. The See also:cemetery of Chambiere contains the See also:graves of 7200 French soldiers who died here in 187o. The See also:chief See also:industries are tanning and the manufacture of weapons, shoes, See also:cloth, hats and artificial See also:flowers. There is a See also:trade in See also:wine, See also:beer, See also:wood and minerals. As a fortress, Metz has always been of the highest importance, and throughout history down to 1870 it had never succumbed to an enemy, thus earning for itself the name of La pucelle. It now ranks with Strassburg as one of the two See also:great bulwarks of the west frontier of Germany. The See also:original town walls were replaced by ramparts in 1550, and the citadel was built a few years later. By 1674 the works had been reconstructed by See also:Vauban. Under See also:Napoleon III. the fortress was strengthened by a circle of detached forts, which, after 187o, were modified and completed by the Germans, who treated the fortress as the See also:principal See also:pivot of offensive operations against See also:France. The plans in FORTIFICATION AND SIEGECRAFT (fig.

43) show Metz as it was about 1900; in the years following a new See also:

outer See also:chain of defences was constructed, which extends as far as Thionville on the See also:north See also:side and has its centre in front of Metz on the See also:Gravelotte battleground. The old See also:enceinte (which includes See also:Cormontaingne's forts—Moselle and Bellevroix) is doomed to demolition, and has in See also:part been already removed. The garrison, chiefly composed of the XVI. See also:Army See also:Corps, See also:numbers about 25,000. (See GERMANY: Army.) History.—Metz, the Roman Divodurum, was the chief town of the Mediomatrici, and was also called by the See also:Romans Mediomatrica, a name from which the See also:present See also:form has been derived by contraction. See also:Caesar describes it as one of the See also:oldest and most important towns in See also:Gaul. The Romans, recognizing its strategical importance, fortified it, and supplied it with See also:water by an imposing See also:aqueduct, the remains of which still exist. Under the Roman emperors Metz was connected by military roads with See also:Toul, See also:Langres, See also:Lyons, Strassburg, See also:Verdun, See also:Reims and See also:Trier. See also:Christianity was introduced in the 3rd century of our era. In the See also:middle of the 5th century the town was plundered by the See also:Huns under See also:Attila; subsequently it came into See also:possession of the See also:Franks, and was made the capital of See also:Austrasia. On the See also:partition of the Carolingian realms in 843 Metz See also:fell to the See also:share of the emperor See also:Lothair I. as the capital of Lorraine. Its bishops, whose creation reaches back to the 4th century, now began to be very powerful.

Metz acquired the privileges of a See also:

free imperial town in the 13th century, and soon attained great commercial prosperity. Having adopted the reformed doctrines in 1552 and 1553, it fell into the hands of the French through treachery, and was heroically and successfully defended against Charles V. by See also:Francis See also:duke of See also:Guise. It now sank to the level of a French provincial town, and its See also:population dwindled from 6o,000 to about 22,000. At the See also:peace of See also:Westphalia in 1648 Metz, with Toul and Verdun, was formally ceded to France, in whose possession it remained for upwards of two centuries. The battles of See also:August 187o, and the investment and See also:capture of the army of Metz which followed, are described below. By the peace of See also:Frankfort on the loth of May 1871 Metz was again See also:united to the German See also:Empire. See See also:Westphal, Geschichte der Stadt Metz (1875-1897); Georg See also:Lang, Metz and See also:seine Umgebungen (1883), the Statistisch-topographisches Handbuch fiir Lothringen; Albers, Geschichte der Stadt Metz (Metz, 1902); G. A. Prost, Etudes sur l'histoire de Metz (1897); and Tauber, See also:Die Schlachtf See also:elder von Metz (See also:Berlin, 1902).

End of Article: METZ

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