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A History of 3000 years has forged a deep personality in the City of Metz which offers an exceptional heritage remarkably preserved in a green scenery, at the confluence of the rivers Moselle and Seille.

The capital of Lorraine counts no less than 41 listed monuments and 58 monuments as well as 3 sites listed on the national historical monuments inventory.


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The name of the Mediomatrics People, a Celtic tribe which gave its name to the city of Metz, appeared in a document signed from the Roman General Jules Cesar. This tribe established itself in the 3rd century before Jesus Christ on a territory which spread from the Argonne to the Vosgian Moselle. From the Argonne and the valley of la Seille, the territory was occupied by the Leuques which founded the City of Toul. Thev territory located beyond the Vosgian Mountains was left to the Triboques. They built their principal Oppidum or Capital, at the confluence of the rivers Moselle and Seille on the Sainte Croix Hill. This Oppidum was known to be an economical centre gathering workshops of artisans working metals as well as terracotta.


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It is in 58 before Jesus Christ that the Roman first occupied the town and acknowledged its highly strategic position and transformed the rural clity into an administrative and military city. Following the Roman conquest, Metz, designated by the Romans as "Divodorum Mediomatricorum" ( Mediomatrics Opiidum ) was included in the Belgium Gaul of which capital was Durocortorum ( or the City of Reims ). The city became very important and in 27, became one of the sixty capitals of the Gaul.

A long period of peace and the integration to the Roman Empire brought prosperity to the city. It became the busiest and most productive city of the Gallo Roman civilisation in the Lorraine region. Metz was already at the crossing of very important roads to and from Lyon, Reims, Trier, Mainz and Strasbourg - the ancestor of the modern motorways A4 and A31. The drawing of the roads followed a strategic imperative : ensure the defence of the Rhine.

Amongst the actual remains of the Gallo Roman era, is the Gorze aqueduct, 22 miles long and which spread over the Moselle river and of which one can see the archs at the Jouy aux Arches area, brought water to the entire city.

The "Cervoise", ancestor of the actual beer was produced from spelt, was invented at that time.


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From 245, the periods of peace were interrupted by violents épisodes of destructions. The town was invaded and destroyed for the first time in 253 by the Alamans People. In this climate of uncertain security, the city surrounded itself with protective walls 3.5 meters thick and pierced with a few gates in which material taken from the Roman monuments was used.

A new production, the vine, appeared in 283, following an autorisation given by the Emperor Probus. The vineyard spread rapidly in the surroundings of the city in which also appeared the famous Mirabelle plumtree which is synonimous with the region of Lorraine.

From the end of the third century or beginning of the fourth century dates back the construction of the Saint Pierre aux Nonnains Basilic which later became the Church of the Abbaye.

In the 4th century, the name Divodurum Mediomatricorum was not in use anymore, in favour of the derived and simplified Mediomatrix, which became Mettis, recognized for the first time around 400 and of which the name Metz is originated.

At the 5th century, and as the Attila troops walked accross the Rhine river and poured into the Gaul ( ancestor of France ), Livier lead the Metz army in 450. The Huns tried to take the city and then went onto destroying the nearby cities of Toul, Dieuze and Scarpone. When they came back on April 07th 451, the defence of the city was by far inferior and most of the city was burned and pillaged and saw a great deal of its population killed.


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Metz was the capital of the Kingdom of Autrasia during two centuries in the Franc era, from 511 to 751.

In 511 which marks the death of Clovis, unifyer of the Franc People, the kingdom was spread amongs his children. Thierry 1st received the North East region called Autrasia. Thierry 1st made his capital in the city of Reims and then changed his mind and chose the city of Mettis which occupied a more central position. He and his successors rebuilt the city which saw its number of inhabitants rising from 5000 to 10000. He built his palace on the Sainte Croix hill of which tradition has kept the memory as the "Golden Court". It is nowadays the name given to the muséums located at the same place.

At the death of Clotaire in 561, Sigebert 1st received the oriental part of the kingdom and its capital Reims in heritage. But in 566, he celebrated his wedding to Brunehilde, daughter of the King of the Wisigoths which nuptials were sang by the poet Venance Fortunat. He chose the city as his principal residence and made it accordingly the capital of Austrasia. During the reign of Sigibert, the duty of Palace Mayor was for the first time mentioned.


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The Church occupied a prominent place in the heart of the city : chuch buildings multiplied including many necropolis and cult places within the fortified walls of Metz, especially in the Sabon area also called the district of the Basilics. As the capital of Autrasia, the city saw a rise in the Church powers within its 20 parish, 78 churches, 8 Benedictan Abbeys for a pouplation of around 30 000 at that time ) and the spiritual power which along the end of the hereditary counts lineage marked the beginning of a very wealthy Episcopate around the 10th century which brought great wealths to the city.

It is in Metz that the Carolingian Dynasty appeared, inaugurated by Pepin le Bref in 751, as a descendant of two families of the Autrasia aristocracy : that of Arnoul, bishop of metz and Pepin de Landen, Mayor of the Palace. The city ceased to be a capital but remained one of the most important intellectual center of the Gaul. It was often visited by the Carolingian Court as its Saint Arnould Abbey became the necropolis of the Carolingian in which the Charlemagne first wife's body was laid to rest as well as the Emperor Louis le Pieux.

In 775 the Emperor Charlemagne took a decree, also called "the grand diploma" which is at the origins of the powers of the Bishop of Metz and later established the Church power as an independant state. From that time, the bishop's properties were subject to immunity. His territorial possessions were beyond the power of the royal judges who were not allowed to access them. The Bishop and his subjects then escaped the royal justice and taxes.


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The episcopal city slowy acquired the ights of beeing a "free city" within the Holy Roman German Empire. The middleclass get wealthier, making of Metz in the XIII century an oligarchic republic governed by a college of Aldermens lead by a Master Aldermen elected annually. Like in Nuremberg, the institutions of this republic were lead by the wealthy families, gathered in six "paraiges".

The XIII and XIV centuries marked the most properous era for the city of Metz which counted around 30 000 inhabitant, by far the greatest urban concentration of the Lorraine region. Its fairs were very busy and its currency, the first in the region until 1300 was accepted throughout Europe. We are still amazed that the local middleclass opened their caskets to lend money to greatest figures of the time including Emperors, Dukes, Bishops and Counts.

This wealth made the envy of its neighbours and created many conflicts on a regular basis. In this struggle for influence, even the more insignficant revendication was an excuse to start a conflict.

The plague appeared in Metz and the surrounding area in 1423 killing 16 000 people over 3 years and once again in 1438 making 20 000 further victims.

In 1444, Charles VII and René d'Anjou took the town succeeding into ransoming the inhabitants. The grand son of René d'Anjou, Nicolas de Lorraine attempted too to take the city in 1473, but with less success. The prosperity of the republic of Metz started declining from the XV century onwards. Epidemics, and endless wars with the Dukes of Lorraine, are partially responsible for its decline.

Metz is amongst the 10 first cities in France in which the methods of prining and typography appeared. The first printers recorded were Jean Colini and Gérard de Villeneuve in 1482.


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In 1552, King of France Henry II took the territory known of the Trois Evéchés. After his peaceful entrance in the city freed from the Holy Roman German Empire hold, he promised to keep the local rights and uses. Charles Quint, who desired to take back the city, organized the siege of Metz. The city was victoriously defended by the Duke François de Guise, appointed new governor of the city. The siege was lifted in January 1553.

Metz became a stronghold for the Kingdom of France and continued to develop itself.


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In terms of religion, the Jewish which presence is first recorded from the IX century are allowed to establish themseves again in Metz in 1565.

After the revocation of the "Edict of Nantes", the Hugenots of Metz flown towards Holland and Germany to escape the soldiers of Louis XIV. The migration of the Metz Huguenots towards Berlin in particular, caused a real prejudice to the local economy and resulted for the population of Berlin at that time to double its number.

In terms of politics, the city saw a parliament established within its walls in 1633.

Metz only became juridically under French sovereignty and as the capital of the "Trois Evechés" in 1648.

In terms of the military, the city maintained his highly strategic role throughout the XVIII century. If the Metz area did not escape the misery of the 30 years war described by Jacques Callot, the city of Metz was preserved behind its fortified remparts. Under the reign of Louis XIV, the role of sronghold place was even reinforced. Vauban, military architect, expressed the role given to the cityin these terms " The stronghold places of the French kingdom defend their provinces, Metz défends the State".

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The city embelished itself throughout the XVIII century also known as the century of lights as in enlightenment. The Marechal Charles Louis Auguste Fouquet de Belle Isle, educated to the ideas of the Enlightenment, decide to think of a new urban design for the city of Metz from 1728 onwards. After building a new theatre which later became the opera house on the island of Petit Saulcy, he wished to bring opened spaced to the district located around the cathedral creating a central royal square surrounded by a few public monuments. After 20 years of négociations with local Church authorities and the middleclass, he finally called in the architect Jacques François Blondel to build the City Hall of Metz.

After the election of Pierre Louis Roederer in October 1789, Metz became the main town of the newly named departement of the Moselle in 1790.


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In 1802, the Royal School of Artlillery merged with the Military School of Mézières to become to Military Artillery and Engineering School. In 1808, the Academy of Metz is created with a college and University of Sciences. During the last campaigns of Napoléon 1st, twice is the city occupied by the forces of the coalition in 1814 and 1815. The city will only surrender when Napoleon sign the capitulation, when the news reached Metz.

In 1852, the railway arrived in Metz, bringing with it profound changes after the creation of the railway line linking Devant les Ponts in the Sablon area and the building of a new railway station outside the city walls. The city is Metz is from this time onwards linked to the neighbour towns of Reding, Lerouville and Zoufftgen. In 1861, a Universal Exhibition is hold on the Esplanade celebrating industry, agriculture, horticulture and Fine Arts.


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1870 marks a very painful year for the inhabitants of the city of Metz. During the Franco Prussian war in 1870, the imperial army lead by the French Marechal Bazin seeks refuge in Metz. After the battle of Borny Colombey on the 14th of August in the east part of the city, then the battle of Saint Privat Gravelotte in the west part of the town on August 18th, Metz is taken on August 20th and surrender to the enemy on October 28th. The German troops entered the town on the following day. Abandoned by the majority of its MP's including those of the greater Lorraine area who all signed its surrending to the German authority, becomes a part of the new German Empire on May 10th 1871 according to the Francfort treaty. Metz then became the prinipal town of the Bezirk Lothringen region, and the Lorraine region became part of the Reichsland Elsass Lothringen ( Alsace Lorraine ) and will remain as such until 1918.


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Though a great majority of its elite as well as 10 000 to 15 000 people departed for France, the city of Metz continued to develop and transform, dominated by the personality of its French Bishop Paul Dupont des Loges who was appointed Deputy at the Reichstag of which he soon became one of the "protesting deputies". The migration of the Mosellans - former inhabitants of Metz nd its region - towards France, especially towards Nancy and Paris, started as soon as the Armistice was signed and has continued over the 20 years that followed. The germanisation of the city and its inhabitants unovoidable in the renewal of générations and the installation of a great number of German migrants took place progressively. The late Germans migrants formed the majority of the population in Metz from 1890 onwards.

As for the rest of the Moselle region, the teaching of French was cancelled in all primary schools, where the teachers provided their teaching in German only. The French was tolerated though, but as a "foreign language3, in the secondary schools and a few bilingual schools. But the Metz French inhabitants continued to speak French when in private, by tradition and attachment to the French culture.

Under the German authority, Metz urban scenery was transformed to become a showcase window of the Wilhemian Empire. In 1898, Baron von Kramer, Mayor of Mezt, asked the Emperor Wilhelm II permission to extend the city, to the detriment of the military grounds.

The architectural ecclectism of the era was soon translated in some of the most iconic buildings of the city such as the Central Post Ofice, the Protestant Temple, the new Railway Station celebrated today for its magnificent neo gothic style.

In 1910, Mayor Paul Bohmer wrote " a walk through the City will convince everyone that next to the old picturesque Metz dating from the French era, a modern Metz has risen which owes its creativity to the initiative and working force of the Germans"

For this highly strategic point of defense of the Empire - Metz was still at the crossing of the most important roads and railway tracks - the head of the German military power continued the fortification works started under Napoleon III throughout the German Second Reich.

Each year, the Emperor or Kaiser Wilhelm II would visit the Lorraine City to inspect to the urbans developments as well as the military fortifications of Metz. His visits were each time accompanied by parades and célébrations worth of an imperial host. During of his visits, he declared that "Metz and its military corp were the cornerstone in the German military power, aiming not only to protect Germany but also to keep the peace in Germany and by extension throughout Europe". In 1914, Metz became the first stronghold in the world.


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When the first world war started, the Mosellans loyally Under the German colours. Very rare were those who deserted and amongst those who thought many fell on the battlefield wearing the German uniform, on the East front but also on the West front. As soon as the war started, 15 OOO civilians were evacuated from Mezt to the Hesse region. With so many wounded, Metz soon became a hospital city with no less than 32 hospitals.

Despite the protection of its fortified walls, the city of Metz was the ground of battlefields. As the conflict worsens, the French bombardments became more and more intense, reaching 6 in 1914, 79 in 1915, 140 in 1916, 171 in 1917 and finally 308 i 1918. Despite their attachment to the German Empire, the inhabitants of Metz saluted with great joy the end of the hostilities and the new found peace.

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After the Armistice signed in 1918 and the return to France, the Moselle region remained traumatised by the wounds resulted from war and the collateral damages to nationalism. The Mosellan intellectuals reacted to the return of the region to France in different ways. Some became pro French nationalists seeking revenge. Others became pro German nationalist as vindictive and rebellious as the former.

This fight for identity often lead by idealistic intellectuals, reflects the spirit of the era, throughout Europe and especially in the Lorraine and Alsace régions.

The population had become bilingual after 48 years of annexation and the German culture was still very much alive in the everyday life of the citizens of Metz. So quite paradoxically, the golden age of the German press coincides with the in between wars period. Many générations of children were forced not only to learn but speak German at school or were sanctioned accordingly. Finally many dignitaries from Metz born during the annexation period like Gabriel Hocquard or Robert Schuman followed a complete German scholarship from primary school to university. The majority of the citzens of Metz had therefore a strong double Franco German culture at the eve of the second world war.


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