Forêts

The Département des Forêts ( German Department of the woods ) was the name of a département in the historic France. It was created in 1795 after the annexation of the territory by the French Republic and was the first French Empire of Napoleon I. on.

Before the occupation by France, the area was part of the Duchy of Luxembourg (Austrian Netherlands) and the Duchy of Bouillon.

The area included parts of present-day Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. The capital of the department was Luxembourg. The name comes from the forests of the Ardennes.

After the defeat of Napoleon, the Department was provided by the first under the provisional administration of the General Government Middle Rhine ( March-June 1814), then the General Lower and Middle Rhine. Due to the decisions on the Congress of Vienna ( 1815), the area was divided between the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Prussia.

Administrative divisions

The Department was in 4 arrondissements, 27 cantons and 383 municipalities divided:

• Arrondissement of Luxembourg ( Luxembourg), cantons: Arlon, Bettemburg, Betz village, Grevenmacher, Luxembourg, Mersch, Messancy and Remich ( Arlon and Messancy now belong to Belgium, the other to Luxembourg ).
• District Bitburg ( Bitbourg ), cantons Arzfeld, Bitburg, Dudeldorf, Echternach and New Castle (the western part of the canton of Echternach is now one of Luxembourg, the eastern and the other cantons to Germany ).
• Diekirch District, cantons: Clervaux, Diekirch, Ospern, Vianden and Wiltz (now all belong to Luxembourg, parts of the canton of Vianden Germany )
• Arrondissement Neufchâteau, cantons: Bastogne, Étalle, Fauvillers, Floresville, Houffalize, Neufchâteau, Paliseul, Sibret and Virton ( now belong to all of Belgium).