Ouistreham

Ouistreham
Ouistreham locks Ouistreham locks
Coat of arms
Ouistreham
Location within Lower Normandy region Ouistreham
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Normandy
Department	Calvados
Arrondissement	Caen
Canton	Ouistreham
Intercommunality	Caen la Mer
Government
• Mayor (2014-)	Romain Bail
Area1	9.95 km2 (3.84 sq mi)
Population (2008)2	9,322
• Density	940/km2 (2,400/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	14488 / 14150
Website	http://ouistreham-rivabella.fr/
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Ouistreham (French pronunciation: ​[wistʁe.am]) is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.

Ouistreham is a small port with fishing boats, leisure craft and a ferry-harbour. It serves as the port of the city of Caen. The town is about the mouth of the Canal de Caen à la Mer.

History

The name Ouistreham derives from ouistre - 'oyster' and Saxon ham= 'village'. It has been a trading port since the Middle Ages. The harbour is now a part of "Port de Caen-Ouistreham". Since the beginning of the 20th century, it has been a bathing beach on the "Riva Bella".

On 6 June 1944, No. 4 Commando landed at Ouistreham (Sword Beach) and fought their way to Pegasus Bridge, with the 177 Free French of the No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando given the honour of spearheading the advance. The assault on Ouistreham was featured in the movie The Longest Day, although the film location for Ouistreham was actually at Port-en-Bessin.

German battery in Ouistreham, fitted with the turret of a Renault FT tank.

Population

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1793	854	—
1800	796	−6.8%
1806	1,050	+31.9%
1821	1,104	+5.1%
1831	1,162	+5.3%
1836	1,149	−1.1%
1841	1,359	+18.3%
1846	1,194	−12.1%
1851	1,133	−5.1%
1856	1,221	+7.8%
1861	1,259	+3.1%
1866	1,243	−1.3%
1872	1,249	+0.5%
1876	1,196	−4.2%
1881	1,222	+2.2%
1886	1,206	−1.3%
1891	1,194	−1.0%
1896	1,354	+13.4%
1901	1,688	+24.7%
1906	1,523	−9.8%
1911	1,574	+3.3%
1921	2,013	+27.9%
1926	2,220	+10.3%
1931	2,584	+16.4%
1936	2,790	+8.0%
1946	3,527	+26.4%
1954	4,342	+23.1%
1962	4,780	+10.1%
1968	5,223	+9.3%
1975	6,140	+17.6%
1982	6,310	+2.8%
1990	6,709	+6.3%
1999	8,674	+29.3%
2008	9,322	+7.5%

Sights

• Museum of the Atlantic Wall
• Musée du Débarquement n° 4 Commando (museum)
• Der Grosse Bunker (French: Le Grand Bunker) is an old German bunker from WW2 that was captured by the British in the D-Day invasion

The town is crossed by the EuroVelo 4 track.

Transportation

The port of Ouistreham has a scheduled cross-Channel ferry service to Portsmouth, operated by Brittany Ferries.

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in France

Twin towns – Sister cities

Ouistreham is twinned with:

• Angmering in England (since 1975)
• Braine-l'Alleud in Belgium
• Lohr am Main in Germany
• Cameroon in Cameroon

See also

• Communes of the Calvados department
• The Grand bunker

References

• INSEE