Badonviller

Badonviller was the place of birth of Charles Messier in 1730, and at that time part and capital of the Principality of Salm, a small independent small state situated in the Vosges mountains, between the Duchy of Lorraine and the Kingdom of France.

In 1751, that part of present-day France was reorganized. The Princes of Salm retracted from the control of Badonviller, and the city was turned over to the Duchy of Lorraine, which was reigned at that time by Stanislas Leszczinski, the former King of Poland (Duke of Lorraine, 1735-1766). After the death of Stanislas in 1766, Badonviller fell to the Kingdom of France together with the Duchy of Lorraine, while the Principality of Salm did remain independent until it was annexed by the revolutionary French Republic in 1793, following a public vote in favor of this merger.

Badonviller had been founded in Gallo-Roman times, but is first documented in 1124 under the name "Baldovillare."

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  • Badonviller webpage by Bernard Pierre (in French)


    Hartmut Frommert [contact]
    [SEDS]