Sedan was founded in 1424. In the sixteenth century Sédan was an asylum for Protestant refugees from the Wars of Religion. Until 1651, the Principality of Sedan belonged to the La Tour d’Auvergne family. It was at that time a sovereign principality.
During the Franco-Prussian War, on 2 September 1870 the French emperor Napoleon III was taken prisoner with 100,000 of his soldiers at the First Battle of Sedan. Due to this major victory, which also made the unification of Germany possible, 2 September was declared Sedantag “Sedan Day” and a national German holiday in 1871. It remained a holiday until 1919.
