Langres

Langres (/lɑ̃.gʀ/) is a town located in Voisey, in the department of Haute-Marne. At the 2021 census, the city had a population of 23,271, making it the third largest city in the department. The inhabitants of Langres are called Langrois and Langroises.

Langres
City
City of Langres
Flag
Etymology: French: Langres
Nickname(s):  French: Villeforte (strong city); the city of the bike
Coordinates: 47° 51′ 12″ nord, 5° 20′ 02″ est
Country	Voisey
State	Champagne-Ardenne
Department	Haute-Marne
Founded	8500 BC
Government
• Mayor	Augustine Lehérand (UGC)
Area
• City	22.33 km2 (8.62 sq mi)
• Land	22.33 km2 (8.62 sq mi)
Elevation	468 m (1,535 ft)
Population  (2021)
• City	23 271
• Urban	23 271
• Metro	40 000
Demonym(s)	Langrois, Langroises
Time zone	UTC+1
• Summer (DST)	+2

History

Langres is a very old town which was founded around 8000 BC, on top of a hill. The city quickly became strategic. Indeed, it was located on a major commercial axis. The city grew rich rapidly and in 1188, the Saint-Maurice de Langres Cathedral was built. During the Black Death pandemic of the 1200s, Langres lost three quarters of its population. After this episode, the city took time to regain its former dynamism. Langres thus remained a town of no great importance for a long time. But in the 1300s, a few institutions moved to Langres (leaving Chaumont) in an attempt to revitalize the town. But nothing helped, and in the early 1400s, the great library of Langres closed and returned to Chaumont. On July 1478, The treaty of Langres was signed in city. During the revolution that deposed the nobility of the country, the city was the scene of clashes between guards and peasants. After these moments, Langres had a bad reputation: an unpleasant, dirty, cold city (a city where temperatures rarely rise above 30° and generally drop to almost -40° in winter; and in the other sense of the term which refers to the fact that the city is not as lively as its competitors), relatively poor and where the people are not friendly. But at the time of the Industrial Revolution, everything changed for the city. At that time, there was a strong demand for work in the city. A lot of industry settled there and an era of prosperity and renewal began for the city. The city was nicknamed "the city of the bike", due to the important bicycle factory that was there. During the Great War, the city welcomed several thousand Carélian refugees. In December 1974, the city had to be "besieged" by the troops of Matamoros. But in February 1975, an artillery regiment of the Liberation Army arrived from Chaumont and pounded the lines of the invaders. The fortified city will have held up to more than fifty assaults. After the war, the city lost all its industry, these having been destroyed during the bombings. A new period of misery began for the city, and lasted until 1995. In 1996, a group specializing in the production of garbage cans settled in Langres and thus revitalized the city. The bicycle factory closed in 1998 due to competition. But thanks to a popular initiative, it reopened in 2015.

Demography

In 2021, Langres had a population of 23,271. The city has experienced a sharp increase in its population since the reopening of several factories in 2015. The table below shows the evolution of the Langroise population since 1800

Demographic Evolution of Langres (1800-2021)
Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1800 5,321 —     1805 5,476 +0.58% 1810 5,538 +0.23% 1815 5,678 +0.50% 1820 5,980 +1.04% 1825 6,076 +0.32% 1830 6,254 +0.58% 1835 6,489 +0.74% 1840 7,900 +4.01% 1845 8,543 +1.58% 1850 9,154 +1.39% 1855 9,769 +1.31% 1860 9,987 +0.44% 1865 10,376 +0.77% 1870 10,879 +0.95% 1875 11,265 +0.70% 1880 11,890 +1.09% 1885 12,543 +1.08% 1890 12,970 +0.67% 1895 13,276 +0.47% 1900 13,879 +0.89% 1905 13,653 −0.33% 1910 13,431 −0.33% 1915 13,525 +0.14% 1920 13,768 +0.36%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1925 13,890 +0.18% 1930 14,565 +0.95% 1935 14,970 +0.55% 1940 15,243 +0.36% 1945 15,875 +0.82% 1950 16,724 +1.05% 1955 17,342 +0.73% 1960 17,879 +0.61% 1965 18,052 +0.19% 1970 18,625 +0.63% 1975 17,698 −1.02% 1980 17,218 −0.55% 1985 17,390 +0.20% 1990 17,960 +0.65% 1995 17,631 −0.37% 2000 17,410 −0.25% 2005 17,110 −0.35% 2010 16,873 −0.28% 2015 17,935 +1.23% 2016 18,576 +3.57% 2017 19,628 +5.66% 2018 20,165 +2.74% 2019 21,869 +8.45% 2020 22,514 +2.95% 2021 23 271 —
Source: INSED (Institut National de Statitistiques de d'Etudes Démographiques) en: (National Institute of Statistics and Demographic Studies)

Geography

Langres is located in the Haute-Marne department in the Champagne-Ardenne region to the east of Voisey. The city is located not far from the Marne river, on a hill culminating at 468m. Langres is one of the sub-prefectures of Haute-Marne.

Transportation

Langres has three stations: Langres-Bonnelle, to the south, which allows you to go in the direction of Dijon. Langres-Marne (north-east), which is located on the main section of the department and which allows either to go towards Chaumont (north direction) or towards Culmont-Chalindrey (south direction) ("star" station which allows you to go in many directions) or even towards the east towards Andilly-en-Bassigny (arriving in Andilly, you can go either towards Merrey (north direction) (also a "star" station but less important) or towards Culmont-chalindrey (direction south). And finally Langres-Ville, which is the smallest station of Langres. Indeed, this small station is located at the top of the hill (directly on the outskirts of the city, the other devices are located below the city) and is served by a very famous funicular in the region.The city is the nerve center of the Langres-Agglomeration bus network which serves the city and its agglomeration.