Editing Angers (section)

=== Since 1800 ===

[[File:Hôtel ville Angers 1.jpg|thumb|The [[Hôtel de Ville, Angers|Hôtel de Ville]]]]
[[File:Pont de Segré (1).jpg|thumb|The ''Pont de Segré'', a truss railroad bridge built on the Maine during the second half of the 19th century]]
During the 19th century, the city was deeply influenced by the urban transformations in [[Paris]]. The city traditionally had a somewhat sombre appearance from the quantity of local [[slate]] used in construction but many quarters were gradually destroyed, redeveloped, or rebuilt on the Parisian model.{{sfnp|EB|1878}} The city wall, which formed a square around the old city core, was demolished around 1850 and replaced by wide boulevards. New districts of the city were also opened up on the opposite bank of the river.{{sfnp|EB|1878}}

The [[Hôtel de Ville, Angers|Hôtel de Ville]] (City Hall) was officially opened as a municipal building on 23 September 1823.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.angers.fr/vivre-a-angers/culture/patrimoine/angers-patrimoine/ressources/fiches-patrimoine/laissez-vous-conter-les-hotels-de-ville/index.html   |title=Laissez-vous conter les hôtels de ville|publisher=City of Angers|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706165258/https://www.angers.fr/vivre-a-angers/culture/patrimoine/angers-patrimoine/ressources/fiches-patrimoine/laissez-vous-conter-les-hotels-de-ville/index.html|archive-date=6 July 2022}}</ref>

In 1849, the Angers-[[Saumur]] railway was built; it was extended to [[Nantes]] two years later. When completed, the line connected [[Paris]] to the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic coast]].

In 1850, a [[catastrophic failure]] of the [[Angers Bridge]] suspension bridge caused the deaths of over 200 soldiers. The disaster inhibited the construction of [[suspension bridge]]s in France for two decades. The accident was mainly caused by soldiers' lilting march which created [[resonance]] in the bridge structure.<ref>[http://www.art-et-histoire.com/index4o.php?segreap.php?Angers Base de connaissance Art et Histoire]</ref>

In 1875, a "free faculty" was created. It was soon assimilated to the medieval Angevin University ({{lang|la|Universitas Andegavensis}}), which had been dissolved during the [[French Revolution]]. The new faculty was canonically erected as the Catholic University of Angers ({{lang|fr|[[Catholic University of the West|Université catholique d'Angers]]}}) by [[Pope Pius IX]] in 1879. However, in 1890, a law prohibited private institutions of higher education from calling themselves "universities". The institution was then renamed the "Free Faculty of Angers" ({{lang|fr|Faculté libre d'Angers}}), although it kept its original name on an informal basis. At the beginning of the 20th century, two higher education establishments, specializing in agriculture and commercial sciences, were opened.

[[File:Fontaine du Mail zoomed - Angers - 20080803.JPG|thumb|left|The fountain in ''Jardin du Mail'', built for the [[Exposition Universelle (1900)|1900 Exposition Universelle]] in [[Paris]]]]
During the first half of the 20th century, several [[Art Nouveau]] and [[Art Deco]] buildings were constructed, such as the ''Nouvelles Galeries'', the ''Hotel des Postes'', ''Hotel Continental'', the ''Alcazar'' and the ''Maison bleue''.

In September 1939, when [[Poland]] was invaded by Germany, the [[Polish government-in-exile]] settled in Angers. It left the city on 12 June 1940, after the invasion of France by the ''[[Wehrmacht]]''. Angers fell to the [[Nazi]]s during the same month. The Germans made it the seat of a regional Kommandantur. In 1941, a first [[Resistance during World War II|Resistance]] movement, called ''Honneur et Patrie'', was created in Angers. 60 Resistants were shot at the Belle-Beille range in 1942 and a German bunker factory employed 6000 people in 1943.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lesplantagenets.fr |url=http://lesplantagenets.fr/index.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120707111936/http://lesplantagenets.fr/index.php |archive-date=7 July 2012 |access-date=2 August 2012}}</ref> In July 1942, 853 Jews were arrested and sent to [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz]].<ref name="culture.cg49.fr">{{Cite web |editor-last=Conseil general de Maine-et-Loire |title=L'Anjou dans la seconde guerre mondiale |url=http://culture.cg49.fr/le-patrimoine/histoire/dhier-a-aujourdhui/}}</ref>

On the night of 28 May 1944, the first Allied bombing occurred over the Saint-Laud quarter. 243 people died and many others were wounded. Successive attacks on 29 and 30 May destroyed the train station and its surroundings<ref name="culture.cg49.fr" /> which were reconstructed in the 1950s.

After liberating [[Avranches]] and [[Rennes]], [[General Patton]] and his 5th infantry division arrived in [[Duchy of Anjou|Anjou]] on 5 August. To seize Angers, they decided to enter the city by its eastern side to surprise the Nazis. On 9 August, they crossed the Maine and started the fight. Helped by the local [[French Forces of the Interior]], they progressively moved forward to the city center. The fight was nevertheless difficult and Angers was liberated the day after, at around 5 p.m.<ref>{{Cite web |editor-last=City website |title=Août 1944. Angers est libérée |url=http://www.angers.fr/decouvrir-angers/histoire-d-angers/chroniques-historiques/pour-s-informer/aout-1944-angers-est-liberee/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130213142103/http://www.angers.fr/decouvrir-angers/histoire-d-angers/chroniques-historiques/pour-s-informer/aout-1944-angers-est-liberee/index.html |archive-date=13 February 2013 |access-date=2 August 2012}}</ref>

After the end of the war, the city experienced quick development and demographic growth. In 1971, a decision was made to reestablish a public university, and the Université catholique d'Angers was split between the [[Catholic University of the West|Université catholique de l'Ouest]] (private) and the [[University of Angers|Université d'Angers]] (public). Angers continues to have two different universities.

Until the 1980s, Angers experienced several massive urban development plans, such as the construction of the Lac de Maine, and several vast council estates and shopping malls, as well as the construction of a highway which crossed the city through its center, a project that forced the destruction of many old buildings and destroyed the original quays on the Maine. Later, other urban plans were drawn up, with a new emphasis on nature and heritage protection, as well as on social mixing. During the 1990s, the redevelopment of the Saint-Serge quarter, located just north of the historical center, produced a new business center, gardens and university buildings.
[[File:View of Angers on the Maine river from the castle.jpg|thumb|center|550px|View of Angers and the Maine river]]