Schœneck

Schœneck
Commune
Coat of arms
Schœneck
Location within Grand Est region  Schœneck
Coordinates: 49°13′14″N 6°55′29″E / 49.2206°N 6.9247°E / 49.2206; 6.9247Coordinates: 49°13′14″N 6°55′29″E / 49.2206°N 6.9247°E / 49.2206; 6.9247
Country	France
Region	Grand Est
Department	Moselle
Arrondissement	Forbach-Boulay-Moselle
Canton	Forbach
Intercommunality	Communauté d'agglomération de Forbach Porte de France
Government
• Mayor (2008–2014)	Paul Fellinger
Area1	4.06 km2 (1.57 sq mi)
Population (2009)2	2,790
• Density	690/km2 (1,800/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
INSEE/Postal code	57638 /57350
Elevation	207–281 m (679–922 ft) (avg. 200 m or 660 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.

Schœneck (French pronunciation: ​[ʃœnɛk]; German: Schöneck) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is located in the Warndt Basin, and is a border town with Germany, wedged between Stiring-Wendel and Saarbrücken.

In 1846 Charles de Wendel and the Parisian businessman Georges Hainguerlot bought the coal mining concession of Schœneck. Surveys proved positive, and in 1851 Wendel, Hainguerlot, the engineer Kind and the surveyor d'Hausens formed a limited company to exploit the concession, authorized in 1853 as the Compagnie des houillères de Stiring (Stiring Coal Company). The first two shafts were sunk using an innovative system designed by Kind, but ran into problems with water. A third shaft, sunk with more conventional techniques, was started in 1854 and entered production in 1856. Other shafts were sunk, and production grew steadily.