Flers, Orne

French commune
nomcommune=Flers
région=Basse-Normandie
département=Orne
arrondissement=Argentan
canton= chief town of Flers-Nord
and of Flers-Sud
insee=61169
cp=61100
maire=Yves Goasdoué
mandat=2001-2008
intercomm=Communauté d'agglomération du Pays de Flers
longitude= -0.560474
latitude= 48.751832
alt moy=189 m
alt mini=182 m
alt maxi=276 m
hectares=2115
km²=21,15
sans=16 947
date-sans=1999
dens=801
nomhab=Flérien(ne)s
siteweb=http://www.agglo-paysdeflers.fr/|
caption=Château de Flers|

Flers is a French commune, located in the Orne département and the Basse-Normandie region. The inhabitants are called Flériens.

Geography

Flers is bordered to the north by the communes of Saint-Georges-des-Groseillers and Aubusson, to the north-east by Ronfeugerai, to the west by La Lande-Patry and Saint-Paul, to the south-west by La Chapelle-Biche, La Chapelle-au-Moine and Messei, and to the south-east by La Selle-la-Forge.

The commune is situated in the north-west of the Orne departement, about ten kilometres from the border of the Calvados.

The commune is crossed by the river Vère which ends in the river Noireau in Pont-Erembourg (commune of Saint-Denis-de-Méré).

Climate

Flers is part of the region that stretches from the Bocage to the Écouves forest, the wettest part of the Orne departement, with relatively mild temperatures thanks to its proximity to La Manche and the effect of the sea. It benefits from an oceanic climate with mild winters and temperate summers. [ [http://www.meteofrance.com/FR/climat/dpt_tempsdumois.jsp?LIEUID=DEPT61 Climate of Orne] on the site Météo France fr] .

History

The first written mentions of Flers appear at the end of the twelfth century as "Flers" (1164-1179) or "Flex" (1188-1221). Some authors think that the name of the town derives from the German toponym "Hlaeri", meaning "wasteland" or "common grazing land", while others suggest an origin in the German "Fliessen", from the Flemish "vliet" or the Latin "fluere" latin "Fluere", indicating a waterflow, basin or marsh. Yet another etymology links Flers to the Latin "flexus", meaning the bend in a road or river. Finally, the Breton term "fler" or "flear" means "bad smell", indicating the stench of stagnant water. All etymologies seem to agree however that the town is named for its topography and the water close to it. ["Flers", Flers promotion, 1991 p. 9]

The first establishment in the Middle Ages

From the 10th century on, the "de Flers" family headed a barony. Tradition has it that in the 11th century, the two brothers Foulques d'Aunou and Guillaume de Gasprée married two sisters who were Ladies of Flers. Foulques d'Aunou received as his wedding gift Flers, seat of the barony [À la découverte de Flers - Le château p84] .

The construction of the castle of Flers began in the 12th century as a fortified location of wood and stone surrounded by water. The chronicles of the Hundred Years War do not mention a fortified place in Flers, revealing that it didn't present a major strategic interest at the time.

Construction of the Renaissance style castle

A centre of Normandic chouannery

In 1790, in the revolutionary period, Flers formed a canton in the district of Domfront, in the Orne département. [Source : http://cassini.ehess.fr/cassini/fr/html/index.htm - Flers] . The countess of Flers, Jacqueline Le Goué de Richemont, wife of Pierre-François de Paule de La Motte-Ango, supported the counter-revolutionary chouans. The castle of Flers became the headquarters of count Louis de Frotté, one of the leaders of the Normandic Chouannerie [À la découverte de Flers - Le château p. 24-25] .

The Industrial Revolution

In 1901, Julien Salles, mayor of Flers, bought the castle for the community.

A town murdered by the bombardments

Demographics

Population evolution in the 20th century
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Transport

Flers has a train station on the line Paris - Granville. It has a local bus system for Flers and the surrounding communities, and departmental lines connecting it with other major towns in Orne and Calvados. Flers also has a small airstrip [ [http://aeroclub-flers.com Site of the Flers airstrip] ]

Monuments and interesting places

The castle, dating back to the 16th and 18th century, houses a museum of ancient and 19th century paintings and sculptures, applied art (furniture and decoration) and local history. Other interesting visits are the early 20th century neo-gothic Saint-Germain church and the 19th century neo-Romanesque Saint-Jean church, and the covered market hall from 19851.

Famous inhabitants

* Paulette Duhalde (1921-1945), heroine of the resistance, died when deported to Ravensbrück

Born in Flers

* Guy Mollet, politician
* Jean-Pierre Brard, politician
* Gérard Larcher, former Secretary
* Patrice Lecornu, former professional soccer player
* François Morel, comedian, writer, singer
* Tony Chapron, international soccer referee

Twin cities

*Warminster, United Kingdom, since 1973
*Poundou, Burkina Faso, since 1977
*Wunstorf, Germany, since 1994

Notes

External links

Official local sites

* [http://www.agglo-paysdeflers.fr/ Official site of the agglomeration]
* [http://www.flers-tourisme.com/pages/accueil.htm Tourist Office]
* [http://www.agglo-paysdeflers.fr/decouvrir-agglo/museeduchateau/ Castle of Flers Museum]

Maps

* [http://www.ign.fr/affiche_rubrique.asp?rbr_id=1087&CommuneId=57693 National geographic institute]
* [http://www.lion1906.com/Pages/ResultatLocalisation.php?InseeVille=610169 Communes close to Flers]
* [http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?latlongtype=decimal&latitude=48.7491666666667&longitude=-.568333333333333&zoom=8 Flers on Mapquest]
* [http://www.viamichelin.fr/viamichelin/fra/dyn/controller/mapPerformPage?strCountry=1424&strAddress=&strMerged=61100+Flers&x=0&y=0 Flers on Viamichelin]