Flers (Orne)

Flers is a commune with 15,077 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2011 ) in the department of Orne in Basse-Normandie region.

Geography

Flers is situated 51 kilometers south-west of Caen.

History

At the beginning of the 19th century Flers was a small town. 1806, the place had just 2,800 residents. But by the industrial revolution, the population grew and Flers became a commercial center in Normandy.

Originally Flers a small medieval village, whose center was his church. Its history dates back to the 12th century. At that time it belonged to the Aunou family, who built a castle. In the 13th and 14th centuries Flers went into the possession of the house Harcourt. The village grew and eventually became a barony. Between 1527 and 1541 the Baron de Flers was built at the former location Flers Castle. The castle was again rebuilt, especially in the 18th century, when the Corps de Logis has been added. During the uprising of the royalist Chouans in the wake of the French Revolution the castle was originally the seat of the Chouans. It was later occupied by the Republicans in 1800 and set on fire. 1820 was initially acquired by a family, in 1901 it became the property of the municipality. In 1820, many textile mills emerged in Flers. In June 1944, the Allies decided to bomb the city to stop the German reinforcement. Seventy percent of the city were destroyed. Flers was built up in the 1960s again. Since the 1970s, was next to the textile industry in Flers also an important food industry.

Twinning

  • Warminster, UK, since 1973
  • Poundou, Burkina Faso, since 1977
  • Wunstorf, Lower Saxony, since 1994

Demography

Demographics

Age structure

24 percent of the population are 19 years old or younger. Nine percent of the population 75 years of age or older.

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