Meurthe (river)

The Meurthe (French pronunciation: ​[mœʁt]) is a river in north-eastern France, right tributary to the river Moselle. Its source is in the Vosges mountains, near the Col de la Schlucht in the Vosges département, from where it flows in an overall north-westerly direction. Its name gave rise to the naming of the present French département Meurthe-et-Moselle and the former (before the change in the Franco-German border after the Franco-Prussian war of 1870) département Meurthe.

Channelled during its route through Nancy, the river flows into the Moselle at Pompey on the northern edge of Nancy, a short distance down-stream from the Port of Frouard.

Towns along the river Meurthe include:

Tributaries include:

References

Meurthe

Meurthe may refer to:

Meurthe (department)

Meurthe is a former département of France created in 1790. Its préfecture (capital) was Nancy. It ceased to exist following the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine by Germany in 1871.

General characteristics

The department of Meurthe was created on 4 March 1790, during the French Revolution, out of a part of the former province of Lorraine. It took its name from the Meurthe River flowing through it.

As of 1866, Meurthe had 714 communes. Its area was 6,070 km² (2,344 sq. miles). It was divided into 5 arrondissements: Nancy, Château-Salins, Lunéville, Sarrebourg and Toul.

History

After the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871, the northeastern part of the Meurthe département was annexed to the German Empire by the Treaty of Frankfurt. On 18 May 1871 about one-third of the Meurthe, corresponding approximately to the arrondissements of Château-Salins and Sarrebourg in the northeast of the département, were detached from Meurthe and annexed to the German Department of Lorraine, becoming part of the Reichsland of Alsace-Lorraine.