Saint-Nazaire in 3 Facts

We’ve done our homework, dug through the archives, and we’re ready to serve you—on a silver platter—three juicy facts about this industrial city that might just surprise you. Fact one: Saint-Nazaire was the last city in France to be liberated from German occupation during World War II. That’s right—five long years of fear, restrictions, and daily hardship left a deep mark on the city’s people, its heritage, and its identity. Known as the “Saint-Nazaire pocket,” this area was one of several strongholds chosen by Hitler as a final line of defense to slow down the Allied advance. A chapter in history that’s impossible to forget. Fact two: Let’s fast-forward to 1986 for a story that’s historic in a very different way—the so-called “Heist of the Century.” On July 3rd, ten heavily armed, hooded men broke into the Bank of France in Saint-Nazaire and vanished with 88 million francs, the equivalent of 13.4 million euros today. Despite intense investigations, only one of the suspected robbers ever stood trial—twenty years later, in 2006. It remains the second biggest bank heist in French history. A wild tale, don’t you think? And fact three: You probably already know about Saint-Nazaire’s strong link to shipbuilding—but did you know it also plays a major role in aeronautics? The city has been involved in the aviation industry since 1923. Back then, it was all about seaplanes and propeller aircraft. Today, it’s the cutting-edge Airbus fleet, including the iconic A380. With nearly 6,000 workers building components for these giants of the skies, Saint-Nazaire—alongside Nantes—forms the second largest Airbus hub in France, just behind the one in the Occitanie region. History, heists, and high-flying innovation—Saint-Nazaire’s got a little bit of everything!