Houillères du Bassin de Lorraine (Lorraine coal mining board), a section of the French Coal Board. When the mining operations were permanently shut down in 2004, Forbach turned to activities in the tourism, service, energy and other industries to rebuild the local economy. The "Musée des Mineurs - Wendel" in the neighboring village of Petite-Rosselle is a coal mining museum which preserves the industrial and cultural heritage from the coal mining era in the Forbach region. It was awarded the "Musées de France" quality label in 2002. Population Notable people from Forbach Nicolas Appert (1749–1841), inventor, notably of the canning technique Claire Burger, journalist, screenwriter and film director. Her 2008 short film, Forbach, was awarded by the Cinéfoundation in 2008 and she received the "Ensemble Prize" along with Marie Amachoukeli and Samuel Theis in the category "A Certain Regard" (Un Certain Regard) for their first feature film, Party Girl, at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. Jean-Luc Cairon (born 1962), gymnast and coach Helmut Fritz (born 1975), singer Jean-Nicolas Houchard (1740–1793), French General, whose name appears on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris Sophie Huber (born 1985), freestyle swimmer Eugene Jolas (1894–1952), journalist, poet and translator, best known for founding the modernist Parisian journal transition (which published, notably, James Joyce's "Finnegans Wake"). Patricia Kaas (born 1966), singer from Stiring-Wendel (near Forbach) Christian von Zweibrücken (1782–1859), Bavarian general Sam Hocevar (born 1978), Debian project leader from 17 April 2007 to 16 April 2008 Loris Frasca Olympic Gymnast See also Communes of the Moselle department Gallery Notes External links Eurodistrict website English website for the Musée les Mineurs-Wendel Communes of Moselle (department) Subprefectures in France Duchy of Lorraine