The commerce and industry of Metz have not yet entirely recovered from the blow inflicted by the withdrawal of French capital in 1871. The principal articles of manufacture are leather, coarse cloth and canvas, gunpowder, arms, needles, billiard tables, hats, and artificial flowers. There are several large iron-works in the neighbourhood. The trade of Metz is chiefly carried on in leather, timber, wine, brandy, liqueurs, beer, preserved fruits, and hardwares. A large annual fair is held here. The civil population of Metz, which in 1869 amounted to 48,066, sank in 1872 to 33,134. Since then it has steadily increased, and in 1881 was 43,275, about half of whom were Germans. The garrison of Metz consists of 10,000 men, or including the surrounding forts nearly 16,000. The total of 58,813 includes 17,000 Protestants and 1600 Jews.

History. — Metz, the Gallic Divodurum, was the chief town of the Mediomatrici, and was also called by the Romans Mediomatrica, a name from which the present form has been derived by contraction. Caesar describes it as one of the oldest and most important towns in Gaul. The Romans, recognizing its strategical importance, fortified it and supplied it with water by an imposing aqueduct, the remains of which still exist. Under the Roman emperors Metz was connected by military roads with Toul, Langres, Lyons, Strasburg, Verdun, Rheims, and Treves. Christianity was introduced in the 3d century of our era. In the middle of the 5th century the town was plundered by the Huns under Attila; subsequently it came into the possession of the Franks; and in 512 it was made the capital of Austrasia. On the partition of the Carolingian realms in 843 Metz fell to the share of the western kingdom as the capital of Lorraine. Its bishops, whose creation reaches back to the 4th century, now began to be very powerful. Metz acquired the privileges of a free imperial town in the 12th century, and attained great commercial prosperity. In 1552 it fell into the hands of the French through treachery, and was heroically and successfully defended against Charles V. by the young duke of Guise. It now sank to the level of a French provincial town, and its population dwindled from 60,000 to 22,000 (1698). At the peace of Westphalia Metz, with Toul and Verdun, was formally ceded to France, in whose possession it remained for upwards of two centuries. In August 1870 the successes of the German troops compelled Marshal Bazaine and the French army of the Rhine to seek shelter behind the fortifications of Metz, which was forthwith subjected by the Germans to a rigorous blockade. After an investment of ten weeks, during which not a single shot was fired at the town, Bazaine capitulated, surrendering to the victors an army of nearly 180,000 men, several hundred cannon, and an immense quantity of military stores of all kinds. By the peace of Frankfort in 1871 Metz was again united to the German empire. Marshal Fabert and Generals Custine and Kellermann were natives of Metz.

As a fortress Metz has always been of the highest importance, and it now ranks with Strasburg as one of the two great bulwarks of the west frontier of Germany. The original town-walls were replaced by ramparts in 1550, and the citadel was built in 1566. In 1674 the works were reconstructed by the celebrated military engineer Vauban. Under Napoleon III. the fortress was strengthened to meet the demands of modern warfare, and since 1871 the Germans have spared neither time nor money in completing and supplementing his plans. The present fortifications of Metz consist of two lines—an inner circle of bastions and ramparts enclosing the city itself, and an outer circle of large detached forts on the surrounding hills. The inner line is strengthened by two citadels, one of which is advanced as a tête-de-pont on the left bank of the Moselle. The outer circle consists of nine or ten large forts, connected with each other by smaller fortifications and commanding all the approaches to the city. They form a large fortified camp with a circumference of 15 miles, within which are twelve villages and numerous country-houses and farms. The most distant of the outlying forts is about 3⅜ miles from the cathedral. Their names and positions may be seen on the annexed plan. Previous to 1870 the fortress of Metz had never succumbed to an enemy.

Sources of Information.—Westphal, Geschichte der Stadt Metz, 1875-78; Georg Lang, Metz und seine Umgebungen, 1883, and Statistisch-topographisches Handbuch für Lothringen. The official German account of the blockade.of Metz'in 1870 will be found in the history of the Franco-German war issued by the general staff at Berlin, 1872 sq. A succinct account is given by Georg Lang, Die Kriegsoperationen um Metz im Jahr 1870, 2d ed., Metz, 1880.