Kreis Beffert (Empires of Liberty)

Kreis Beffert (eng: Belfort, fr: Belfort) is a county in the German state Alsace-Lorraine (Elsaß-Lothringen) bordering France to the west and south, and Luxemburg to the northwest.



History
In the Treaty of Paris (1945), Belfort was separated from France and annexed to Germany's state Alsace-Lorraine, in Regierungsbezirk Oberelsaß (Uper Alsace). The French population at the time, which numbered 86,648 people, were expelled by the Allied Council, to Franche Comte and Burgundy, also in the German Zone. German POWs, freed by the Allies across France, were resettled in Kreis Beffert to replace the French population. Beffert became the seventh Kreis (county) of Oberelsaß.

From 1946-1948, a process of Germanization occurred, where all place-names were replaced with their historic German equivalents (Novillard became Neuweiler; Pérouse became Pfeffershausen, for example), and others had new German names created (Sevenans became Seveningen, for example). Food aid and construction aid came into the county to help rebuild it from the aerial bombing that took place during the war.

Starting in 1951, the Autobahn was built, running from Belfort through Straßburg, then north to the North sea coast.

Cities and Municipalities
There are 4 cities and 98 municipalities in Beffert Kreis.

Cities

 * Beffert (50,196) (fr: Belfort)
 * Dettenried (5,818) (fr: Delle)
 * Wedau (5,394) (fr: Valdoie)
 * Guthoffen (5,111) (fr: Beaucourt)