Sanary-sur-Mer
Encyclopedia
Sanary-sur-Mer is a commune
in the Var
department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
region
in southeastern France.
It is located 13 km (8.1 mi) from Toulon
and 49 km (30.4 mi) from Marseille
.
. In the 16th century the seigneur established a fishing village here, clustered around the medieval watchtower, under the protection of "Sanct Nazari
" of Lérins Abbey
. The port was constructed and the harbor deepened in the mid-16th century. The little fishing port of Saint Nazari was finally granted its independence from Ollioules in 1688, and in 1890 officially received its local name in Provençal
, Sanary, which was formalized and distinguished as sur-Mer in 1923.
As a tourist rendezvous, the village underwent a strong decade of growth in the 1980s.
, Thomas Mann
, Ludwig Marcuse
, Joseph Roth
, Franz Werfel
, and Arnold Zweig
. Patronised by Jean Cocteau
and his coterie, Sanary had already drawn Aldous Huxley
and his wife, Maria, who attracted other English visitors, such as D. H. Lawrence
and his wife, Frieda; Julian Huxley
and his wife, Juliette; and others. The German expatriates clustered around Thomas Mann and his large family, his brother Heinrich and his wife (the model for Blue Angel), the writers Stefan Zweig
and Arnold Zweig
, the art critic Julius Meier-Graefe
, and the artist René Schickele
. The impressionable Sybille von Schoenebeck (later, as Sybille Bedford
, the author of A Legacy) lived here with her mother.
"If one lives in exile," wrote Hermann Kesten
, "The café becomes at once the family home, the nation, church and parliament, a desert and a place of pilgrimage, cradle of illusions and their cemetery... In exile, the café is the one place where life goes on."
With the declaration of war in 1939, the French government treated these exiles as enemy aliens and interned them in camps; they were seen as no more than so many Germans. After liberation, the little village that had been known as "Sanary-les-Allemands" chose to ignore the whole episode until the 1990s, when the volume of German and Austrian tourists encouraged the unveiling of a small plaque and some signposted tourist itineraries.
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Var
Var (département)
The Var is a French department in the region Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in Provence, in southeast France. It takes its name from the river Var, which used to flow along its eastern boundary, but the boundary was moved in 1860...
department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur or PACA is one of the 27 regions of France.It is made up of:* the former French province of Provence* the former papal territory of Avignon, known as Comtat Venaissin...
region
Régions of France
France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...
in southeastern France.
It is located 13 km (8.1 mi) from Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
and 49 km (30.4 mi) from Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
.
Overview
The seafront location was part of the commune of OllioulesOllioules
Ollioules is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.-Twin townss:Ollioules is twinned with: Weiler-Simmerberg, Germany, since 2004-2005-References:*Notes...
. In the 16th century the seigneur established a fishing village here, clustered around the medieval watchtower, under the protection of "Sanct Nazari
Saint Nazarius (Abbot)
Saint Nazarius was the fourteenth abbot of the monastery of Lérins, probably during the reign of the Merovingian Clotaire II . He successfully attacked the remnants of paganism on the southern coast of France, overthrew a sanctuary of Venus near Cannes, and founded on its site a convent for women,...
" of Lérins Abbey
Lérins Abbey
Lérins Abbey is a Cistercian monastery on the island of Saint-Honorat, one of the Lérins Islands, on the French Riviera, with an active monastic community....
. The port was constructed and the harbor deepened in the mid-16th century. The little fishing port of Saint Nazari was finally granted its independence from Ollioules in 1688, and in 1890 officially received its local name in Provençal
Provençal language
Provençal is a dialect of Occitan spoken by a minority of people in southern France, mostly in Provence. In the English-speaking world, "Provençal" is often used to refer to all dialects of Occitan, but it actually refers specifically to the dialect spoken in Provence."Provençal" is also the...
, Sanary, which was formalized and distinguished as sur-Mer in 1923.
As a tourist rendezvous, the village underwent a strong decade of growth in the 1980s.
Main sights
- Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Pitié: From this chapel built in 1560 on a headland west of the town, the visitor sees a broad view over the bay of Sanary.
- Église Saint Nazaire: A Gothic RevivalGothic Revival architectureThe Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
church of the late 19th century, Michel Pacha, architect. - Tour "romane": In fact, a medieval construction.
"Sanary-les-Allemands"
With the rise of Nazism in the early 1930s, a great number of German writers and intellectuals left Germany and settled here, where the cost of living was lower than in Paris: the playwright Bertold Brecht, Egon Erwin KischEgon Erwin Kisch
Egon Erwin Kisch was a Czechoslovak writer and journalist, who wrote in German. Known as the The raging reporter from Prague, Kisch was noted for his development of literary reportage and his opposition to Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime.- Biography :Kisch was born into a wealthy, German-speaking...
, Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
, Ludwig Marcuse
Ludwig Marcuse
Professor Ludwig Marcuse , was a philosopher and writer of Jewish origin....
, Joseph Roth
Joseph Roth
Joseph Roth, born Moses Joseph Roth , was an Austrian journalist and novelist, best known for his family saga Radetzky March about the decline and fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and for his novel of Jewish life, Job as well as the seminal essay 'Juden auf Wanderschaft' translated in...
, Franz Werfel
Franz Werfel
Franz Werfel was an Austrian-Bohemian novelist, playwright, and poet.- Biography :Born in Prague , Werfel was the first of three children of a wealthy manufacturer of gloves and leather goods. His mother, Albine Kussi, was the daughter of a mill owner...
, and Arnold Zweig
Arnold Zweig
Arnold Zweig was a German writer and anti-war activist.He is best known for his World War I tetralogy.-Life and work:Zweig was born in Glogau, Silesia son of a Jewish saddler...
. Patronised by Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, María...
and his coterie, Sanary had already drawn Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley
Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. Best known for his novels including Brave New World and a wide-ranging output of essays, Huxley also edited the magazine Oxford Poetry, and published short stories, poetry, travel...
and his wife, Maria, who attracted other English visitors, such as D. H. Lawrence
D. H. Lawrence
David Herbert Richards Lawrence was an English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter who published as D. H. Lawrence. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanising effects of modernity and industrialisation...
and his wife, Frieda; Julian Huxley
Julian Huxley
Sir Julian Sorell Huxley FRS was an English evolutionary biologist, humanist and internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentieth century evolutionary synthesis...
and his wife, Juliette; and others. The German expatriates clustered around Thomas Mann and his large family, his brother Heinrich and his wife (the model for Blue Angel), the writers Stefan Zweig
Stefan Zweig
Stefan Zweig was an Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist and biographer. At the height of his literary career, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most famous writers in the world.- Biography :...
and Arnold Zweig
Arnold Zweig
Arnold Zweig was a German writer and anti-war activist.He is best known for his World War I tetralogy.-Life and work:Zweig was born in Glogau, Silesia son of a Jewish saddler...
, the art critic Julius Meier-Graefe
Julius Meier-Graefe
Julius Meier-Graefe was a German art critic and novelist. His writings on Impressionism, Post-Impressionism as well as on art of earlier and more recent generations, with his most important contributions translated into French, Russian and English, are considered to have been instrumental for the...
, and the artist René Schickele
René Schickele
René Schickele was a German-French writer, essayist and translator.-Biography:Schickele was born in Obernai, Alsace, the son of a German vineyard owner and police officer and a French mother. He studied literature, history, science and philosophy...
. The impressionable Sybille von Schoenebeck (later, as Sybille Bedford
Sybille Bedford
Sybille Bedford, OBE was a German-born English writer. Many of her works are partly autobiographical. Julia Neuberger proclaimed her "the finest woman writer of the 20th century" while Bruce Chatwin saw her as "one of the most dazzling practitioners of modern English prose".-Early life:She was...
, the author of A Legacy) lived here with her mother.
"If one lives in exile," wrote Hermann Kesten
Hermann Kesten
Hermann Kesten was a German novelist and dramatist. He was one of the principal literary figures of the New Objectivity movement in 1920's Germany.The literary prize Hermann Kesten Medal has been given in his honor since 1985....
, "The café becomes at once the family home, the nation, church and parliament, a desert and a place of pilgrimage, cradle of illusions and their cemetery... In exile, the café is the one place where life goes on."
With the declaration of war in 1939, the French government treated these exiles as enemy aliens and interned them in camps; they were seen as no more than so many Germans. After liberation, the little village that had been known as "Sanary-les-Allemands" chose to ignore the whole episode until the 1990s, when the volume of German and Austrian tourists encouraged the unveiling of a small plaque and some signposted tourist itineraries.
External links
- 2000 pictures, history, agenda
- Official site
- Independent site
- Info site
- The Independent obituary of Sybille Bedford, February 20, 2006