Hazebrouck

Hazebrouck (French pronunciation: [azbʁuk], Dutch: Hazebroek, pronounced [ˈɦaːzəbruk], West Flemish: Oazebroeke) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France.[3] It was a small market town in Flanders until it became an important railway junction in the 1860s. West Flemish was the usual language until 1880, when French was taught at school by mandate of the French government in an effort to "Frenchify" the people of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais and to extinguish their Flemish roots. The development of the railways linked Hazebrouck to Lille to Calais and Dunkirk.

Hazebrouck
Hazebroek
Commune
Town hall
Town hall
Coat of arms of Hazebrouck
Coat of arms
Location of Hazebrouck
Hazebrouck is located in France
Hazebrouck
Hazebrouck
Hazebrouck is located in Hauts-de-France
Hazebrouck
Hazebrouck
Coordinates: 50°43′30″N 2°32′21″E
CountryFrance
RegionHauts-de-France
DepartmentNord
ArrondissementDunkerque
CantonHazebrouck
IntercommunalityFlandre Intérieure
Government
 • Mayor (2020–2026) Valentin Belleval[1]
Area
1
26.2 km2 (10.1 sq mi)
Population
 (Jan. 2020)[2]
21,464
 • Density820/km2 (2,100/sq mi)
DemonymHazebrouckois
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
59295 /59190
Elevation17–66 m (56–217 ft)
(avg. 23 m or 75 ft)
Websitewww.ville-hazebrouck.fr
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

History

The incorporation into France of what had previously been a Flemish town was ratified in the 1678 Treaties of Nijmegen.

Hazebrouck's town hall was built in the 19th century and the oldest monument of the town is St Eloi's church. During the two world wars Hazebrouck was an important military target. Many British soldiers are buried in the cemeteries around the town. In the town museum, which was originally a chapel and friary of the Augustines, visitors can see the Hazebrouck's giants: Roland, Tijse-Tajse, Toria and Babe-Tajse; a collection of Flemish and French paintings and a traditional Flemish kitchen.

World War I: Fourth Battle of Ypres and Hazebrouck

An attack by the German army was proposed in October 1917 by the Army Group Commander Field Marshal Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria as a large-scale attack either carried by itself or as an attack to relieve pressure on the German Front. Rupprecht's Army Group held the German Front in Flanders and Picardy; his command covered the Belgian coast to Ypres and on to Armentières.

The operation was given the codename of "George" and plans were submitted for an offensive attack between Ypres and Bethune. The breakthrough would be made in the British Front just south of the Belgian-French border in the Lys river area with the intention to get past the Allied Front there and advance to Hazebrouck. This would divide and cut the British Second Army near the Lys river away from the British Army in Artois. The British-held rail centre of Hazebrouck would be captured and the British troops in Belgian Flanders could be forced westwards and stuck on the Belgian coast. The operation would, however, only be possible to start from April.[4]

Heraldry
Arms of Hazebrouck
Arms of Hazebrouck
 The arms of Hazebrouck are blazoned :
Argent, a lion sable langued gules, holding an inescutcheon Or charged with a 'coney courant bendwise proper.



Population
Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1793 6,304—    
1800 6,611+0.68%
1806 7,354+1.79%
1821 7,384+0.03%
1831 7,522+0.19%
1836 7,674+0.40%
1841 7,574−0.26%
1846 7,570−0.01%
1851 7,953+0.99%
1856 7,892−0.15%
1861 8,273+0.95%
1866 9,017+1.74%
1872 9,435+0.76%
1876 9,857+1.10%
1881 10,595+1.45%
1886 11,332+1.35%
1891 11,672+0.59%
1896 12,571+1.50%
YearPop.±% p.a.
1901 13,261+1.07%
1906 12,819−0.68%
1911 12,566−0.40%
1921 14,584+1.50%
1926 14,845+0.36%
1931 14,859+0.02%
1936 15,462+0.80%
1946 14,391−0.72%
1954 15,525+0.95%
1962 17,446+1.47%
1968 19,037+1.47%
1975 19,866+0.61%
1982 20,008+0.10%
1990 20,567+0.35%
1999 21,396+0.44%
2007 21,313−0.05%
2012 21,866+0.51%
2017 21,441−0.39%
Source: EHESS[5] and INSEE (1968-2017)[6]

Politics

Presidential Elections 2nd Round
ElectionWinning CandidateParty%
2017[7] Emmanuel Macron En Marche! 56.19
2012 François Hollande PS 56.18
2007 Nicolas Sarkozy UMP 52.69
2002 Jacques Chirac RPR 81.70

Town twinning

Hazebrouck is twinned with the market town of Faversham in Kent, United Kingdom.[8]

College Saint-Jacques private chapel
The entrance of the chapel

A private chapel which is now part of College Saint-Jacques can now be visited. This old College was an English hospital during the First World War.

Transportation

The town has a railway station, with frequent daily services to Lille and Paris, some via the LGV Nord. There is also a small international airport, concentrating on business flights, at Merville-Calonne just 12 kilometre / 8 miles away. The town is connected to the national Autoroute network, which links Hazebrouck with Dunkirk and Lille and, less directly, Arras, Paris, Calais and Brussels.

See also

References
  1. "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 2 December 2020.
  2. "Populations légales 2020". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 29 December 2022.
  3. INSEE commune file
  4. Ypres Salient Battles 1918, greatwar.co.uk
  5. Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Hazebrouck, EHESS (in French).
  6. Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
  7. "Résultats élections: Hazebrouck". Le Monde.
  8. "Town Twinning". Faversham Town Council. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
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