THIONVILLE

town, Moselle dpartement, Lorraine region, northeastern France, on the canalized Moselle River, near the Luxembourg border. It has remains of a 13th-century castle, built by the counts of Luxembourg. Formerly a part of the Holy Roman Empire, Thionville was taken from the Spaniards by the Great Cond in 1643. It was called Diedenhofen by the Germans, who held it from 1870 until 1919. The centre of an iron-mining district, it has a variety of heavy metallurgical industries. Pop. (1982) 34,758.