Châteaubriant

Administration
Commune of Châteaubriant
Location
Coordinates	47° 43' 04" N 01° 22' 30" W
Country	France
Region	Pays de la Loire
Department	Loire-Atlantique
Arrondissement	Châteaubriant
Canton	Châteaubriant
Intercommunality	Communauté de Communes du Castelbriantais (19 communes) and Syndicat Mixte du Pays de Châteaubriant (33 communes)
Mayor	Alain Hunault (2001-2008)
Statistics
Altitude	48 m–107 m (avg. 70 m)
Land area^¹	33.62 km²
Population^² (1999)	12 065
- Density	358/km² (1999)
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	44036/ 44110
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel).

Châteaubriant is a French commune, located in the Loire-Atlantique département, in the Pays de la Loire région.

The inhabitants are called the Castelbriantais & Castelbriantaise.

Geography

Location of Châteaubriant in the Department Loire-Atlantique

Châteaubriant is 49 km to the north of Ancenis, 68 km to the south of Rennes, 69 km to the north of Nantes et 85 km to the west of Angers.

The neighboring communes of Châteaubriant are Rougé, Saint-Aubin-des-Châteaux, Louisfert, Erbray et Soudan.

History

Châteaubriant's history began in the 11th century when Brient (an envoy of the Count of Rennes) constructed a Castle on a moat bording la Chère. He later founded the Priory St Sauveur de Béré. A city developed around the Castle and was called Châteaubriant. The fortress was a part of the Brittany defensive line along with the other townships, Vitré (Ille-et-Vilaine), and Fougères, which formed the first line of defense against the French Kingdom.

After the Revolution, Brutus Hugo, and young Republican lieutenant, met a young Castelbriantaise, Sophie Trébuchet. They had a son: Victor Hugo. The house of Sophie Trébuchet still exists and is located near the Maison de l'Ange which currently houses the Tourist Information Office.

In October 1941, 27 Communist hostages (imprisoned by the Republican government during the run-up to WWII and by the Vichy police in the fall of 1941) in the Châteaubriant Internment Camp were handed over to the Nazis and shot by a firing squad in revenge for the murder of the German lieutenant-colonel Karl Hotz on October 20, 1941 in Nantes. The youngest of the 27 hostages, Guy Môquet, was 17 years old. The place of execution, known as the Carrière des Fusillés is one of the principal memorials to the Nazi occupation in the region.

Administration

List of successive mayors
Period	Name	Party
March 2001	Alain Hunault	UMP
June 1995	Martine Buron	PS
March 1989	Martine Buron	PS	'

Demography

Population numbers by year
1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999
10 852	11 986	13 231	14 023	12 783	12 065
Population numbers since 1962

Coat of Arms

2 Coats of Arms are attributed :

First Pale: Blue, three gold fleurs de lys, Pales split in two by a shortened staff with a red hache. (La France illustrée, 1882, de Malte-Brun)

Red haches, semy of gold fleur-de-lis. (La France illustrée, 1882, de Malte-Brun)

Economy

Famous Persons

Monuments and Sites of Interest

Château de Châteaubriant.
Église Saint-Jean de Béré : 10th Century Parish.
Carrière des Fusillés : Memorial dedicated to those executed by Nazis in revenge for the assassination of Karl Hotz in Nantes on October 22, 1941.

Sister Cities

External links

see the French Wikipedia site for external links in French
Châteaubriant on the French Map
Map of Châteaubriant
Châteaubriant Current

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