File:Basilique_Notre-Dame_de_Brebières.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
OverviewAI-generated
Albert is a commune in France, situated within the Somme department and the arrondissement of Péronne. It serves as the capital of the canton of Albert and is located in the Hauts-de-France region. The town has a population of 10,200, comprising 4,544 males and 5,384 females. Its area is 13.8 square kilometers, and it shares borders with Aveluy, Bécordel-Bécourt, Bouzincourt, and Dernancourt.
The official name of the commune is Albert, and it is named after Charles d'Albert de Luynes. Stéphane Demilly serves as the head of government. The town has received the Croix de guerre 1914–1918 award. It is twinned with Ulverston, Niesky, and Aldenhoven. The postal code for the area is 80300.
Synthesized by Vinony from 51 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, Openweathermap, Open Meteo, OpenStreetMap, GeoNames, Vinony graph, Geo. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Weather now
cached 12h ago7-day forecast
via Open-Meteo
Place details
- Locality
- Albert
- Region
- Hauts-de-France
- Country
- France
- Population
- 10,588
via OpenStreetMap · GeoNames
Wikidata facts
- Named after
- Charles d'Albert de Luynes
- Official name
- Albert
- Country
- France
- Population
- 9521
- Area
- 13.8
- Elevation
- 78
- Time zone
- UTC+02:00
- Head of government
- Stéphane Demilly
- Shares border with
- Ovillers-la-Boisselle
- Official website
- www.ville-albert.fr/fr
- Image
- L'Hôtel-de-ville d'Albert ( Somme), oeuvre d'Alexandre Miniac et Maneval..jpg
Show 12 more facts
- Commons category
- Albert (Somme)
- postal code
- 80300
- twinned administrative body
- Aldenhoven
- topic's main category
- Category:Albert (Somme)
- associated electoral district
- canton of Albert
- male population
- 4544
- female population
- 5384
- P8168
- Almetyevsk
- email address
- mailto:[email protected]
- phone number
- +33-3-22-74-38-38
- fax number
- +33-3-22-74-38-47
Sources (4)
via Wikidata · CC0
Travel guide
Understand
Albert was founded as a Roman outpost called Encre, in about 54 BC. It is remembered today as the site of the Battle of the Somme in World War I.
During World War I, the statue of Mary and the infant Jesus - designed by sculptor Albert Roze and dubbed the "Golden Virgin" - on top of the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Brebières was hit by a shell on January 15, 1915, and was put on a horizontal position and was near falling. The Germans said that whoever made the statue fall would lose the war, and a number of legends surrounding the "Leaning Virgin" developed among German, French, and British soldiers. The Leaning Virgin became an especially familiar image to the thousands of British soldiers who fought at the Battle of the Somme (1916), many of whom passed through Albert, which was situated three miles from the front lines.
The German army recaptured the town in March 1918 during the Spring Offensive; the British, to prevent the Germans from using the church tower as an observation post, directed their bombardment against the basilica. The statue fell in April 1918 and was never recovered. In August 1918 the Germans were again forced to retreat, and the British reoccupied Albert until the end of the war.
Albert was completely reconstructed after the war, including widening and re-orienting the town's main streets. The Basilica, however, was faithfully rebuilt according to its original design by Eduoard Duthoit, the son of the architect who had overseen its construction in…
Get in
The is on the line from Paris to Lille, with a link to Calais.
Eat
Le Corner's Pub on the corner of is a lovely pub / bar which offers free wireless internet.
Sleep
Camping Municipal offers basic camping amenities. The site has hot showers, clean toilets and a very friendly lady owner who speaks good English.
Travel guide from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA 4.0)