Last modified: 2024-12-28 by olivier touzeau
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Caen (108,200 inhabitants in 2021; 2,570 ha) is a commune and the prefecture of the department of Calvados.
Caen remained a minor settlement throughout the Roman period and began to see major development in the 10th century, under the patronage of the Dukes of Normandy. Around 1060, William the Conqueror began construction of the Château de Caen, which became the centre of the ducal court. Duchess Matilda of Flanders also founded the Benedictine Abbey of Sainte-Trinité around the same time. Caen fell to Philip II of France on 21 May 1204, and was incorporated along with the remainder of Normandy into the Kingdom of France.
In 1346, King Edward III of England led his army against the city, and,
although a siege of several weeks was expected, took the city in less than
a day, on 26 July 1346, killing 3,000 of its citizens, and burning much of
the merchants' quarter on the Ile Ste-Jean. A few days later, the English
left, marching to the east and on to their victory at the Battle of Crécy.
It was later captured following a siege by Henry V in 1417 and treated
harshly for being the first town to put up any resistance to his invasion.
In 1450 towards the end of the war, French forces recaptured Caen.
During the Battle of Normandy in the Second World War, Caen was taken back from the Nazis in early July, a month after the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944. British and Canadian troops had intended to capture the town on D-Day. However they were held up north of the city until 9 July, when an intense bombing campaign during Operation Charnwood destroyed 70% of the city and killed 2,000 French civilians. The Allies seized the western quarters, a month later than Field Marshal Montgomery's original plan. During the battle, many of the town's inhabitants sought refuge in the Abbaye aux Hommes ("Men's Abbey"), built by William the Conqueror some 800 years before. The spire of the Church of Saint-Pierre, Caen and the university were destroyed by the British and Canadian bombing. The city has preserved the memory by erecting a memorial and a museum dedicated to peace, the Mémorial de Caen.
Post-Second World War work included the reconstruction of complete districts
of the city and the university campus. It took 15 years (1948–1963) and led
to the current urbanization of Caen.
The arms of Caen are blazoned Gules, a single-towered open castle Or,windowed and masoned sable.
Atfer the Second World War the city's coat of arms was enriched with
the medal of the Resistance (decree of July 17, 1945), the Legion of Honor
and the Croix de Guerre (military distinction received by the City on June
2, 1948).
This coat of arms appeared on official documents before the creation, in the
1980s, of the logo made up of the three points symbolizing: for the first
the steeples of the churches, the second the sails of the boats (in
reference to the marina) and the third, the pruned yews of the Town Hall
(explanations transmitted to me by the town hall, march 2021).
Olivier Touzeau, 19 March 2021
Four flags can be seen in the City Council room (photo, 2012
). Elements about them were given
to me by the Director of Public Relations and Protocol:
- The European flag
- The Canadian flag, which reminds that the Canadians were the very first to
enter the city to liberate it and that they were all volunteers.
- The flag of Poland and the 1989 flag of Romania with a hole in the middle
(the yellow part has faded troughout the years). After the collapse of the
Eastern bloc, the City of Caen provided assistance to Tymbark in Poland and
Reșița in Romania (food, clothing, school aid, etc.). In gratitude, the two
countries offered these flags which have since been displayed in the room
where the deliberative assembly meets - a symbol of democracy.
The flags of France, European Union and Normandy can be seen in front of
the city hall: photo (2017).
Olivier Touzeau, 19 March 2021
![[Flag]](../images/f/fr-14-c44.gif)
First French flag hoisted in Caen in July 1944 - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 19 March 2021
A famous flag in Caen is the first French flag to have been hoisted at the Liberation in July 1944.
While Caen was liberated from the German occupiers on July 9, 1944, a
tricolor flag was hoisted at the Place Monseigneur des Hameaux, to be stolen
only a few hours later. It was then that an inhabitant of Caen, Jeannine
Hardy, decided to make a new flag with her own hands, which was hoisted on
the square the next day, July 10, 1944. Symbol of the Liberation, this flag
was then hoisted every year, on the left bank of the city of Caen. A few
years later, the flag was entrusted to the town hall of Caen. Placed in the
municipal archives, the flag has after that been lost for many years.
At the end of 2014, the flag was found by Christophe Prime, historian
at the Caen Memorial, while he was preparing the exhibition "Caen, 70 years
of international relations", presented at the scriptorium of the Town Hall.
Following the authentication of the flag, the mayor, Joël Bruneau, presented
during the ceremonies of Thursday, July 9, 2015, the flag to the veterans,
but also to André Heintz, a famous Resistance member in Caen, Jeanine Hardy,
and the son of René Duchez (the Reistance member who had stole, a set of
plans which showed the defenses of Hitler's Atlantic Wall), who have
reviewed the tricolor with emotion.
The text in golden letters on the flag reads: "I was the first to fly on Caen set free, on July 9, 1944". A red Cross of Lorraine, symbol of the Free French Forces, is in the center of the white stripe: photo (2015) and article about the story of the flag (source: actu.fr).
Olivier Touzeau, 19 March 2021