Compiègne | |
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Subprefecture and commune | |
Town hall
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Coordinates: 49°24′54″N 2°49′23″E / 49.4149°N 2.8231°ECoordinates: 49°24′54″N 2°49′23″E / 49.4149°N 2.8231°E | |
Country | France |
Region | Hauts-de-France |
Department | Oise |
Arrondissement | Compiègne |
Canton | Compiègne-1 and 2 |
Intercommunality | Région de Compiègne |
Area1 | 53.1 km2 (20.5 sq mi) |
Population (2012)2 | 40,028 |
• Density | 750/km2 (2,000/sq mi) |
Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
• Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) |
INSEE/Postal code | 60159 /60200 |
Elevation | 31–134 m (102–440 ft) (avg. 41 m or 135 ft) |
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once. |
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
Compiègne (French pronunciation: [kɔ̃pjɛɲ]) is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. It is located on the Oise River. Its inhabitants are called Compiégnois.
Compiègne is the seat of two cantons:
The Glade of the Armistice in the Compiègne Forest was the site of the signing of two armistices; the 1918 Armistice with Germany and the 1940 Armistice with France. Hitler specifically chose the location, and had the original signing carriage moved from Paris to Compiègne, as an irony for the defeated French. The site still houses several memorials to the 1918 armistice, including a copy of the original railway carriage. The original, after use in the 1940 armistice was moved to Berlin as a trophy of Nazi triumph. The railway carriage, Marshal Foch's Carriage was later taken to Germany. Various rumors about what happened with this railway-carriage thereafter, has flourished ever since. Some mean it was destroyed by the SS in Thuringia in April 1945, others say this happened in Berlin, but most likely was it destroyed during an allied air-raid on Berlin. The latter version seems most plausible, since Ferdinand Foch's carriage actually was displayed at a Berlin museum.