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Ouistreham is a common French, located in the department of the Calvados and the area Basse-Normandie.

Its inhabitants is called the Ouistrehamais . Napoleon called “Bedouin” the natives of Ouistreham following the flight of rifles of its soldiers. The inhabitants of Ouistreham who were not born there are called “Racachis”.

Ouistreham belongs to the beaches of the Unloading, under the name of Sword Beach.

Geography

Ouistreham, located at 14 km in the north of Caen, belonged to the Paris basin and is located at the edge of the Manche. More precisely, this commune is located on the Côte of Mother-of-pearl. In the east of the city, one finds the point of the Seat, sandy spur to the estuary of the Orne.

Locality and Natural heritage

Maresquier

With the Locality “Maresquier”, one can find a stone small house, renovated, on the western bank of the Flowering ash, it is the old residence of holidays of Aristide Briand.

The wood of the Whim

Located at the south-west of the city, this glazing bar of 80 ha is classified in “significant natural space” by the General advice of the Apple-brandy. Distributed on 3 communes (Colleville-Montgomery, Saint-Aubin-with Arquenay and Ouistreham-Rivet-Bleated), it shelters rare plant species and Amphibians.

The point of the Seat

In the east of the city, a sandy spur deviates the course of the Flowering ash to its mouth in bay of Sallenelles. A tower allows the observation of the sedentary and migrating birds which nest in bay. This diversity of mediums and species led to a protection of space. The part is point of the seat is under protection of the Conservatoire littoral.

Communes bordering

Ouistreham is bordered in the west by Colleville-Montgomery, in the South by Saint-Aubin-with Arquenay and Bénouville, in the east by Merville-Franceville-Beach and Sallenelles.

Transportation routes

By road

One reaches Ouistreham while coming from Caen by the D515 road with four ways.

Public transport

Ouistreham is served by the Green Buses of the Apple-brandy.

line n° 1: daily services every hour except Sundays and bank holidays between Ouistreham and Caen. Various stops between Ouistreham and Caen.
line n° 75: this line serves all the Mother-of-pearl Coast and part of the beaches of the Unloading in July and August.

Waterways

Ouistreham is connected to the capital Low Norman by the Canal of Caen to the sea.

Ports

Ouistreham is the port of trade of Caen. The commune is served, since 1986, by ferrie S trans Manche towards Portsmouth (the United Kingdom). These ferries is currently exploited by the company Brittany Ferries. Approximately 1.000.000 passengers per annum, 3 daily return tickets and 1 return ticket the weekend in the fast ship from March to September.

The port commercial, like the Marina (650 rings), are managed by the Chamber of commerce and of industry of Caen.

One finds also a small port of sins in front of the locks of the channel.

History

Origins and etymology

It would draw its name of Germanic origin of an establishment of colonists Saxons, established in the area as a Mercenaire S (around the 4th century and 5th century).

The name Ouistreham has two etymological assumptions indeed:

Oistreham or Oystreham for Westerham , i.e. Western village, because it is placed at the west of the mouth of the Orne, the river which leads to Caen.

One can find also there the word Saxon “oyster” and “ham” what would indicate a village then where oysters are fished.

One finds this name written in various ways: Oestreham - Oistreham - Hoistreham - Estrham. The old registers of the registry office which go back to 1652 carry Oyestreham. At the beginning of the 20th century, to simplify or approach more the pronunciation, one made Ouistreham of it.

Ouistreham through the centuries

The Saint-Samson church and the Barn with Said form, at the beginning of the hamlet of Ouistreham, the heart of this city. Its proximity with the sea made that the borough developed towards the strike, in North. Ouistreham was a village of fishermen and peasants where the activity was also related to the maritime trade. Ouistreham made the great strides of its port thanks to the extraction and to the export of brick of Caen. It still remains there some typical houses of fishermen.

In 1866, a first villa is built in the dunes. Its owner, Mr. Longpré, manufacturer of corsets in Caen, gave him the name of Beautiful Bank. A painter had noticed that the sunsets on the strikes of Ouistreham resembled those which it had had the occasion to admire in Italy, of Beautiful Bank made " of it; Bella" rivetted;. Little by little the dunes and marshes disappear to leave room to villas and the first casino is built.

With the whole beginning of the 20th century, the seaside resort developed around these luxurious villas and of the infrastructures of leisures: thalassotherapy and casino of Ouistreham.

At the time of the second world war, Ouistreham is occupied by the German troops and the casino is used as point of monitoring since overhanging the beach. June 6th, 1944, this station of monitoring becomes a strategic place and its catch makes it possible to ensure the point of unloading on the beach of Sword Beach. The Commando n°4 of the commander Philippe Kieffer comprising the 177 marine fusiliers French (forming integral part of the first special brigade of Lord Lovat) reached then the bridges of Bénouville (Pegasus Bridge) and Ranville and thus operated the junction with the parachutists of the 6th DAP (Airborne British) after street battles in Ouistreham.

Culture and Inheritance

Architectural heritage

Saint-Samson church

In the middle of Ouistreham draws up the parish church Saint-Samson. It was built during the years which precede 1150, under the aegis of the sixth abbess of the Trinité of Caen, Jeanne de Coulonces, it was dedicated to Samson saint in 1180.

The prosperity of the borough, whose harbor traffic was flourishing during all the Anglo-Norman period as well as the patronage of the Abbey to the Ladies conferred the remarkable quality of this monument.

The nave with six spans accompanied by collateral is prolonged by a capped presbytery of a gross tower and a chorus which ends in an apse in hemicycle. Although the construction of origin goes back to 1150, the unit underwent radical restorations at the end of the 19th century, which caused a significant modification of its architectural organization and its sculpture.

The church took care on the borough while filling through the centuries, in addition to its religious vocation, several functions: strengthened at the 14th century she played a part of defense, as the guns deposited on its southern wall testify some, and of protection because the bell-tower was also used as headlight and the pilots supervised the sea of an attic window arranged above the apse.

The interior of the church still preserves interesting statues and a furniture, like two stained glasses commemorating the release of the city at the time of the Second world war. In the south of the church, the War memorial, remarkable rises by the presence of the sailor and the infantryman, the overcome whole of a cock.

Barn with Said

Contiguous to the Saint-Samson church, one finds a whole of old buildings dating from Xe and XIe century entirely renovated at the end of the 20th century, the barn with the Dîme S. Until the Revolution, Ouistreham was a baronnie pertaining to the Abbess of the Holy Trinity of Caen, the population was indebted for him Dîme (tax representing approximately 1/10e harvests and herds) which was stored in these buildings. The architecture of this barn is similar to those built in England during the same period and watch thus the importance of the influence of the Anglo-Norman exchanges at the time.

One can find mention of the barn with said of Ouistreham since 1257 in a censier ordered by the abbess of Caen: “Y had a barn with said. The dixmes of Oystreham, Saint-Aubin, of the Port and Colleville belonged to the abbey”.

Today this barn, which was restored and arranged without losing its original configuration, is transformed into room of reception.

Headlight

Cultural heritage and ludic

Museums

Museum of the Atlantic Wall: installed in an old management position of shooting of the Atlantic Wall, this concrete tower was restored and refitted in order to give again the aspect to him which it had on June 6th, 1944.
Museum N°4 Commando: this museum recalls the epopee of the first commandos who unloaded with Sword Beach on June 6th at dawn with among them, the 4th Franco-British commando of the French commander Philippe Kieffer.

Picture gallery

Located in the gardens of the casino, beside the tourist office, the gallery of the beach shelters temporary exhibitions of local artists.

Cinema

Association law 1901 " Cinema Michel Cabieu" manage the single room of the commune since 1983. This room of approximately 380 places is located in a building at half-timberings, in the Norman traditional style.

Casino

The casino of Ouistreham, on the topic of the sea, is an establishment of the Groupe Lucien Barrière. It has 145 machines with under, 2 tables of black-jack, 2 tables of English caster and 2 tables of balls. The establishment also comprises the brewery " Doris" , restoring it " Croisière" and the discotheque " Cercle".

Famous people

Jeanne Messenger (1887-1971), musician
Michel Cabieu (1730-1804), militiaman
Edouard Zarifian (1941-2007), psychiatrist, deceased in the commune

Economy

Active population: 3.710
Unemployed: 517
Unemployment rate: 12,6%
Average revenue by household: 16.402 €/year
Rate of owners: 56,5%
Average costs of the real estate (sale): 3.197 €/m ²
Average costs of the real estate (hiring): 12,22 €/m ²/month

The common one divides the commercial port with Caen. It also has into clean a marina.

Demography

natural Balance 90-99: 33 hab
Migratory balance 90-99: 1.970 hab
Annual variation the pop one: 2,9%/year

To live in Ouistreham

The sport

the stage Philippe Kieffer accommodates a football field, a track of athletics, a conventional gymnasium (20m X 40m) as well as Dojo and the gymnasium Gerard Legoupil.
the stage Petit Happiness consists of 6 permanent grounds in order to accommodate the members of the football club each week.
Cosec: like his/her twin brothers in France, this gymnasium was built in the years 1970, for the strong period of development of the physical-activities and sporting.
AJS Ouistreham

Community life

One does not count less than 70 associations present in the middle of Ouistreham, as well at the sporting level (football, tennis shoe, shooting with the arc, veil, yoga, dance etc), cultural (theater, cinema, music, choral society), defense of the inheritance, educational as on the level of the social action.

Cultural life

The cultural life of Ouistreham is very rich. One can quote in particular:

Its inter-commune school of music. The action of the school is supported by Actimusique association.
Its meeting of jazz. These meetings born in 2007 gather professional musicians and amateurs.
Ouistreham counts a jazz band, an orchestra of harmony and a brass band.
Its biennial of sculptures.

The construction of an arts center is committed. Work will start in 2008.

Administration

List mayors

Twinning

The city is twinned with:

Armorial bearings

The blazon of Ouistreham, such as one can see it in top of this page is described as follows: Tiercé of England, Normandy and Flanders, the lion of Flanders charged out of stake with a gold stick, with the chief of azure charged with a money shell, a nave and a star with six of the same branches.

This blazon takes again that of the Abbaye Holy Trinity of Caen whose Ouistreham was a baronnage until the revolution but is different from it by its chief. One thus finds there the weapons of England (three gold leopards on red bottom - known as of mouths ) and of Normandy (two leopards on red bottom), thus pointing out the exchanges very present between the two areas but more especially the weapons of Flandres (black lion - of sand - on bottom gold) in reference to Mathilde de Flandres - woman of William the Conqueror - which is related to the Caen-native Abbey (from where the stick on the lion of Flandres). Lastly, the chief of this blazon, on the topic and the color of the sea, evokes all the coastal side of the village. One finds also this maritime side by the three-pronged fork which decorates the cimier.

Anecdotes

Michel Cabieu pushed back the English who tried to unload in Ouistreham in 1762. It was honoured by convention in 1790 and was called the Cabieu general. The cinema and an avenue bears its name.
Aristide Briand, French politician, had there a house (which exist still, along the channel of Caen to the sea) and a yacht ( Simounelle ). A statue the representative decorates the port. An avenue and a school complex bear its name.
Ouistreham is the principal place of the intrigue of the novel Port of the Fogs of Georges Simenon putting in scene celebrates it police chief Maigret.
Among the 177 men of the Commando Kieffer who unloaded in Ouistreham, Gwenn-Aël Bolloré writes its memories I unloaded on June 6th, 1944 and We were 177 and one can read there the description of the battle of Ouistreham.

Leon Gautier, member of the commando unloads this day. He always lives there.

the esplanade leading to the beach and the casino bears the name of one of the men of the commando n°4: the Commander Alexandre Lofi (1917-1992), Companion of the Release, Officer of the Legion of honor and Commandeur in the National order of the Merit, Military Cross with 3 mentions in dispatches and holder of the Military Cross-country race (high British distinction).
the stage of Ouistreham is named according to the lieutenant commander Philippe Kieffer (1899-1962), Commandeur of the Legion of honor, Compagnon of the Release, Military Cross 1939-1945 (4 quotations) and Military Cross (GB). A commemorative stele with its image was affixed on the beach in 1969.
One can see the explosion of the casino of Ouistreham in the film the longest Day .
Catherine Frot is godmother of the cinema " Cabieu".

Note

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