Château-Thierry

For the vine training system also known as Château-Thierry, see Chateau-Thierry (vine system).

Château-Thierry (French: [ʃɑto tjeʁi]; Picard: Catieu-Thierry) is a French commune situated in the department of the Aisne, in the administrative region of Hauts-de-France, and in the historic Province of Champagne.

Château-Thierry
Subprefecture
Town hall
Coat of arms
Location of Château-Thierry
Château-Thierry Show map of France Château-Thierry Show map of Hauts-de-France
Coordinates: 49°02′N 3°24′E
Country	France
Region	Hauts-de-France
Department	Aisne
Arrondissement	Château-Thierry
Canton	Château-Thierry
Intercommunality	CA Région de Château-Thierry
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Sébastien Eugène[1] (MRSL)
Area 1	16.55 km2 (6.39 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]	15,068
• Density	910/km2 (2,400/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	02168 /02400
Elevation	59–222 m (194–728 ft) (avg. 63 m or 207 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

The origin of the name of the town is unknown. The local tradition attributes it to Theuderic IV, the penultimate Merovingian king, who was imprisoned by Charles Martel, without a reliable source. Château-Thierry is the birthplace of Jean de La Fontaine and was the location of the First Battle of the Marne and Second Battle of the Marne. The arrondissement of Château-Thierry is called the country of Omois. Château-Thierry is one of 64 French towns to have received the Legion of Honour.

History

Postcard from World War I showing the mounting of the Paris Gun

Battlefield of Chateau-Thierry in 1920.

In the late years of the western Roman empire, a small town called Otmus was settled on a site where the Soissons-Troyes road crossed the Marne river. During the 8th century, Charles Martel kept king Theuderic IV prisoner in the castle of Otmus. At this time, the town took the name of Castrum Theodorici, later transformed in Château-Thierry (Castle of Thierry, Thierry is the French or early Roman language translation of Theuderic).

In 946, the castle of Château-Thierry was the home of Herbert le-Vieux, Count of Omois of the House of Vermandois and Soissons.^[3]

Formerly the capital of the district of Brie Pouilleuse, Château-Thierry was captured by the English in 1421; by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1544; and by the duke of Mayenne in 1591.^[4]

Château-Thierry was the site of two important battles: the Battle of Château-Thierry (1814) in the Napoleonic Wars between France and Prussia, and the Battle of Château-Thierry (1918) in World War I between the United States and Germany.^[5]

In 1918, a mounting for the Paris Gun was found near the castle, though the cannon itself had apparently been moved prior to the emplacement's discovery.^[6]

Geography

Château-Thierry is situated on the river Marne, at 90 kilometres (56 mi) from Paris.

Château-Thierry

Transport

Château-Thierry station is the terminus station of a regional railway line starting from the Gare de l'Est in Paris. Furthermore, it has rail connections to Châlons-en-Champagne, Nancy and Strasbourg. It is also one of the exits of the A4 autoroute that links Paris with the east part of France. Transval operates the local bus routes.^[7]

Personalities

Château-Thierry was the birthplace of:

• Walter of Château-Thierry (died 1249) a French theologian and scholastic philosopher.
• Samuel ben Solomon of Falaise 13th-century rabbi (one of the proponents of the Talmud during the Disputation of Paris).
• Christophe Le Goût (1992-Présent), an important logisticien.
• Jean de La Fontaine (1621–1695), a fabulist and poet, known best for his Fables.^[8]
• Jean-Baptiste Dumangin (1744–1826), French physician who performed the autopsy of Louis XVII.
• Louis Jean-Baptiste Leseur [fr] (1774–1818), army general of the French First Republic and the First French Empire.
• Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745–1799), a French Creole virtuoso violinist and composer
• Antoine Menant [fr] (1762-1829), army general of the French First Republic and the First French Empire, born in Lyon and died in Château-Thierry.
• Charles Martigue [fr] (1777-1825), cavalry colonel of the armies of the French First Republic and the First French Empire.
• Jean Macé (1815–1894), an educator, journalist, active freemason and politician.
• Maurice Holleaux (1861–1932), 19th– to 20th-century French historian, archaeologist and epigrapher.
• Jules Guiart [fr] (1870-1965), parasitologist and medical historian, was born in the city.
• Achille Jacopin [fr] (1874-1958), sculptor.
• François Aman-Jean (1894–1986) physician, surgeon, writer and playwright
• Teddy Roosevelt's son Quentin (1897–1918) was shot down while flying a French Nieuport 28 C.1 plane during WWI.
• Charles Schneider [fr] (1881-1953), glassworker.
• Ba Jin (1904–2005), a Chinese writer and intellectual, stayed here in 1927 and 1928.
• Auguste Jordan (1909-1990), Austrian professional footballer who played on the French national team.^[9]
• Léon Hess, creator of the "Le Castel" gâteau du voyageur, who won a gold medal at the 1912 Exposition Culinaire Internationale in Paris.^[10]
• Nadia Tagrine (1917-2003), pianist.
• Manu Dibango (1933–2020) a Cameroonian musician and songwriter
• Yves Bot (1947–2019), magistrate.
• Pierre Bensusan (born 1957) a French-Algerian acoustic guitarist.
• The novel The Greengage Summer (1958) of Rumer Godden (1907–1998) is set in Château-Thierry.

and

• Sylvain Lévignac [fr], actor and stuntman, died in Château-Thierry.
• Charles Ferton père [fr].
• Edmond de Tillancourt [fr].
• Charles-Armand de Rougé [fr].
• Guillaume-Benoît Houdet [fr].

Population

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 4,080 —     1800 4,160 +0.28% 1806 4,730 +2.16% 1821 4,422 −0.45% 1831 4,697 +0.61% 1836 4,761 +0.27% 1841 4,995 +0.96% 1846 5,413 +1.62% 1851 5,629 +0.79% 1856 5,381 −0.90% 1861 5,761 +1.37% 1866 6,519 +2.50% 1872 6,623 +0.26% 1876 6,902 +1.04% 1881 7,015 +0.33% 1886 7,296 +0.79% 1891 6,863 −1.22% 1896 7,063 +0.58%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 7,083 +0.06% 1906 7,347 +0.73% 1911 7,771 +1.13% 1921 7,751 −0.03% 1926 8,266 +1.29% 1931 8,154 −0.27% 1936 7,928 −0.56% 1946 8,094 +0.21% 1954 8,841 +1.11% 1962 10,006 +1.56% 1968 11,049 +1.67% 1975 13,491 +2.89% 1982 14,557 +1.09% 1990 15,312 +0.63% 1999 14,967 −0.25% 2007 14,794 −0.15% 2012 14,329 −0.64% 2017 15,107 +1.06%
Source: EHESS[11] and INSEE (1968-2017)[12]

Sights

• Castle walls
• Saint-Crépin church (15th century)
• Balhan tower
• Marne River
• World War I Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial (south of the village of Belleau)
• Chateau-Thierry American Monument (overlooking the town)
• Champagne vineyards
• Several churches

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in France

Château-Thierry is twinned with:^[13]

• Cisnădie, Romania (1997)
• Grybów (rural gmina), Poland
• Mosbach, Germany (1974)
• Pößneck, Germany (1989)

See also

• Château de Condé
• Communes of the Aisne department
• US I Corps