Montbeliard

Montbeliard (Ger. Mömpelgard), a town in the French department of Doubs, 48 miles NE. of Besançon. It lies in a valley between the Vosges and Jura Mountains, is surmounted by an old château (now a prison), and carries on manufactures of watch-springs, watchmaking tools, and cotton. A possession of the House of Württemberg from 1397, it was a Protestant centre from 1525, was formally ceded to France in 1801, and suffered much in the Franco-German war. Cuvier was a native; and there is a statue of him, as also of Colonel Denfert, the heroic defender of Belfort. Pop. (1872) 5865; (1886) 9055, mostly Lutherans.