Maizières-lès-Metz

Maizières-lès-Metz (Lorrain: Mach'ire) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.

Maizières-lès-Metz
Commune
The town hall in Maizières-lès-Metz
Coat of arms
Location of Maizières-lès-Metz
Maizières-lès-Metz Show map of France Maizières-lès-Metz Show map of Grand Est
Coordinates: 49°12′45″N 6°09′42″E
Country	France
Region	Grand Est
Department	Moselle
Arrondissement	Metz
Canton	Le Sillon Mosellan
Intercommunality	CC Rives de Moselle
Government
• Mayor (2008–2014)	Gérard Terrier
Area 1	8.92 km2 (3.44 sq mi)
Population  (2017-01-01)[1]	11,388
• Density	1,300/km2 (3,300/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	57433 /57280
Elevation	159–206 m (522–676 ft) (avg. 164 m or 538 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Anciently part of the Duchy of Lorraine, Maizières was within the Holy Roman Empire until 1766, when Lorraine was annexed by France. From 1871 to 1918, as part of Alsace-Lorraine, Maizières belonged to the German Empire as Maizières-bei-Metz. Between 1915 and 1918 the town's name was briefly Germanized to Macheren. During the German occupation from 1940 to 1944 it was known as Machern-bei-Metz.

The amusement park Walygator is located in Maizières-les-Metz.

The town gives its name to the now German Maizière family which, being Huguenots, had to emigrate from the Duchy of Lorraine to Prussia in the 17th century. Preserving the name of their town up to the present, prominent members of the family include Lothar de Maizière, last Prime Minister of the German Democratic Republic, the politician Thomas de Maizière and the general Ulrich de Maizière.