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Pont-à-Mousson (Municipality, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France)

Flag of Pont-à-Mousson - Image by Pascal Vagnat, 28 August 2002

Presentation of Pont-à-Mousson
Flag of Pont-à-Mousson

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Presentation of Pont-à-Mousson

The municipality of Pont-à-Mousson (15,053 inhabitants in 2012; 2,160 ha) was founded in 1250 by Theubald II, Count of Bar and Mousson. Its name translates as "Bridge-to-Mousson", referring to the bridge on the river Moselle already mentioned in the 9th century and the hill of Mousson, located 9 km east of the town, on which the Count built a fort.

Pont-à-Mousson became an Imperial Town in 1372. In 1572, the first University of Lorraine was founded by the Jesuits in order to fight against the Reformation. In the late 17th century, Servais of Lairuetz, Premonstrian abbot of Verdun and reformist of the order, founded in Pont-à-Mousson around the church of St. Mary-Major an abbey, whose building started in 1705. The university and the abbey were main centers of the cultural and religious life in Lorraine until 1799, when Lorraine was incorporated to France, from which the Jesuits had been expelled in 1764. Nearly destroyed in 1945 and rebuilt in 1959, the abbey is now a cultural center.

In the 19th century, heavy industry thrived in Pont-à-Mousson, where smelting works were built. The Société Anonyme des Hauts Fourneaux et Fonderies de Pont-à-Mousson merged in 1970 with Saint-Gobain, and was renamed in 2000 Saint-Gobain PAM. The company is one of the world leaders in ductile cast-iron. PAM products 10,000 km of pipes per year for water conveyance and purification, manholes, grates and faucets.

Ivan Sache, 28 August 2002

Flag of Pont-à-Mousson

The flag of Pont-à-Mousson is derived from the municipal coat of arms. On the coat of arms, a bridge with three archs links two towers, which might symbolize the two churches of the town located on each side of the river Moselle, showed in the base of the shield. The escutcheon of the Counts of Bar, featuring two canting basses (bar) in chief, has also been reused on the modern flag.

Ivan Sache, 28 August 2002