Metz
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Metz. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
mets, a fortified city of Alsace-Lorraine, Germany. It is situated on the Moselle, about eighty miles northwest of Strasburg. The river here flows through the town in several channels. A series of forts on the surrounding hills makes the city one of the strongest military posts in Europe. It is a city of ancient history. It was originally a Roman camp. It was plundered in the fifth century by the Vandals and later by the Huns. It has changed owners repeatedly. It was a city of the Franks, then became a free city of the German Empire . It was taken by the French in 1552, and was formally ceded to them in 1648. In August of 1870 it was besieged by the Germans. October 28th the French marshal, Bazaine, capitulated, surrendering the city and a force of 180,000 officers and men. The city itself is a place of commercial importance. There are manufactures of woolen, cotton, hosiery, hats, and leather. The pride of the city is the cathedral, a beautiful Gothic edifice dating from the thirteenth century. The masonry is of a particularly light, pointed, graceful style, giving rise to the remark that it is merely a framework for magnificent stained windows. The nave is 370 feet in length and 140 feet in height. The population of the city is about 60,000. See Alsace-Lorraine ; Strasburg
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the strongest fortress of the former German imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine, and the capital of the district of Lorraine; before 1871 the main bulwark of France in her N. E. frontier, and capital of the department of Moselle. In August, 1870, Bazaine was compelled to retire into Metz with his army; and after an investment of 70 days, during which no attempt was made to take the city by force, Europe was startled to hear of the capitulation of Metz, by which 180,000 men and immense military stores fell into German hands (Oct. 27, 1870). By the treaty of Frankfort Metz was annexed to Germany as part of Lorraine and by the Treaty of Versailles it was restored to France. Metz was bombarded in November, 1918, and a general attack on the city was prevented only by an armistice of Nov. 11. Known to the Romans as Divodurum; it was afterward called Mettis. Pop. about 75,000.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's caught Metz at the moment of handover, noting that after the Treaty of Frankfort had made it German it was "restored to France" by the Treaty of Versailles; Aiton's in 1910 still listed it as a German city of about 60,000 and "one of the strongest military posts in Europe." That fortress role was tested once more: Nazi Germany annexed the city in 1940, and the American Third Army under Patton fought from September to December 1944 to take it, the surrounding forts holding out for weeks. Metz has been French ever since, its ring of forts now heritage ground rather than defence, and the population has roughly doubled to around 120,000. The Gothic cathedral Aiton's praised as "merely a framework for magnificent stained windows" survived, and gained new ones designed by Marc Chagall in the 1950s and 1960s; the city added a branch of the Centre Pompidou in 2010.
Written for this edition, 2026.