The twin town of Créteil (opens in a new tab), with a population of around 90,000 (as of 2006), is located south-east of the capital Paris, around 880 kilometers from Salzgitter.
The extremely favorable geographical location on the Marne led to a very early settlement. The first people settled there as early as 5,000 BC. In the Middle Ages, today's Créteil was nothing more than a small market town (vicus cristolium) located directly at the intersection of important trade routes.
Créteil retained its village character until the early 1950s. Then the town began to grow rapidly. Countless residential buildings were built around Mont Meslie during this time.