Hazebrouck

Hazebrouck Oazebroeke (West Flemish) Hazebroek (Dutch)
Commune
Town hall
Coat of arms
Location of Hazebrouck
Hazebrouck Show map of France Hazebrouck Show map of Hauts-de-France
Coordinates: 50°43′30″N 2°32′21″E / 50.725°N 2.5392°E / 50.725; 2.5392
Country	France
Region	Hauts-de-France
Department	Nord
Arrondissement	Dunkerque
Canton	Hazebrouck
Intercommunality	CA Cœur de Flandre
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Valentin Belleval[1]
Area 1	26.2 km2 (10.1 sq mi)
Population  (2023)[2]	21,912
• Density	836/km2 (2,170/sq mi)
Demonym	Hazebrouckois
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	59295 /59190
Elevation	17–66 m (56–217 ft) (avg. 23 m or 75 ft)
Website	www.ville-hazebrouck.fr
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Hazebrouck (French pronunciation: [azbʁuk] ^ⓘ; Dutch: Hazebroek, pronounced [ˈɦaːzəbruk]; West Flemish: Oazebroeke) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France.^[3] It was a small market town in Flanders until it became an important railway junction in the 1860s. West Flemish was the usual language until 1880, when French was taught at school by mandate of the French government in an effort to "Frenchify" the people of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais and to extinguish their Flemish roots. The development of the railways linked Hazebrouck to Lille to Calais and Dunkirk.

The incorporation into France of what had previously been a Flemish town was ratified in the 1678 Treaties of Nijmegen.^{[citation needed]}

Hazebrouck's town hall was built in the 19th century and the oldest monument of the town is St Eloi's church. During the two world wars Hazebrouck was an important military target. Many British soldiers are buried in the cemeteries around the town. In the town museum, which was originally a chapel and friary of the Augustines, visitors can see the Hazebrouck's giants: Roland, Tijse-Tajse, Toria and Babe-Tajse; a collection of Flemish and French paintings and a traditional Flemish kitchen.^{[citation needed]}

An attack by the German army was proposed in October 1917 by the Army Group Commander Field Marshal Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria as a large-scale attack either carried by itself or as an attack to relieve pressure on the German Front. Rupprecht's Army Group held the German Front in Flanders and Picardy; his command covered the Belgian coast to Ypres and on to Armentières.^{[citation needed]}

The operation was given the codename of "George" and plans were submitted for an offensive attack between Ypres and Bethune. The breakthrough would be made in the British Front just south of the Belgian-French border in the Lys river area with the intention to get past the Allied Front there and advance to Hazebrouck. This would divide and cut the British Second Army near the Lys river away from the British Army in Artois. The British-held rail centre of Hazebrouck would be captured and the British troops in Belgian Flanders could be forced westwards and stuck on the Belgian coast. The operation would, however, only be possible to start from April.^[4]

During the Battle of the Lys, the German Sixth Army renewed its attack in the south on 12 April 1918, towards the important supply centre of Hazebrouck. The Germans advanced some 2–4 kilometres (1.2–2.5 mi) and captured Merville. On 13 April they were stopped by the First Australian Division, which had been transferred to the area. The British Fourth Division defended Hinges Ridge, the Fifth Division held Nieppe Forest and the 33rd Division was also involved.^[5][6] This became known as the Battle of Hazebrouck.

The arms of Hazebrouck are blazoned : Argent, a lion sable langued gules, holding an inescutcheon Or charged with a 'coney courant bendwise proper.

Historical population
Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 6,304 —     1800 6,611 +0.68% 1806 7,354 +1.79% 1821 7,384 +0.03% 1831 7,522 +0.19% 1836 7,674 +0.40% 1841 7,574 −0.26% 1846 7,570 −0.01% 1851 7,953 +0.99% 1856 7,892 −0.15% 1861 8,273 +0.95% 1866 9,017 +1.74% 1872 9,435 +0.76% 1876 9,857 +1.10% 1881 10,595 +1.45% 1886 11,332 +1.35% 1891 11,672 +0.59% 1896 12,571 +1.50% 1901 13,261 +1.07%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1906 12,819 −0.68% 1911 12,566 −0.40% 1921 14,584 +1.50% 1926 14,845 +0.36% 1931 14,859 +0.02% 1936 15,462 +0.80% 1946 14,391 −0.72% 1954 15,525 +0.95% 1962 17,446 +1.47% 1968 19,037 +1.47% 1975 19,866 +0.61% 1982 20,008 +0.10% 1990 20,567 +0.35% 1999 21,396 +0.44% 2007 21,313 −0.05% 2012 21,866 +0.51% 2017 21,441 −0.39% 2023 21,912 +0.36%
Source: EHESS[7] and INSEE (1968-2023)[8]

Election		Winning candidate	Party	%
	2017[9]	Emmanuel Macron	En Marche!	56.19
	2012	François Hollande	PS	56.18
	2007	Nicolas Sarkozy	UMP	52.69
	2002	Jacques Chirac	RPR	81.70

Hazebrouck is twinned with the market town of Faversham in Kent, United Kingdom.^[10]

A private chapel which is now part of College Saint-Jacques can now be visited. This old College was an English hospital during the First World War.^{[citation needed]}

The town has a railway station, with frequent daily services to Lille and Paris, some via the LGV Nord. There is also a small international airport, concentrating on business flights, at Merville-Calonne just 12 kilometre / 8 miles away. The town is connected to the national Autoroute network, which links Hazebrouck with Dunkirk and Lille and, less directly, Arras, Paris, Calais and Brussels.^{[citation needed]}

• Communes of the Nord department
• French Flanders
• Nicolas Ruyssen

• Becke, A. F. (2007) [1934]. History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 1: The Regular British Divisions (Naval & Military Press, Uckfield ed.). London: HMSO. ISBN 978-1-84734-738-1.
• Edmonds, J. E.; et al. (1995) [1937]. Military Operations France and Belgium: 1918 March–April: Continuation of the German Offensives. History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. Vol. II (Imperial War Museum & Battery Press ed.). London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-89839-223-4.

• Official town website (in French)
• History of St Francis of Assisi college 1854-1973 (in English)
• How to pronounce Hazebrouck (in French)