The name
Audun comes from
Awedeux, as a phonetical evolution of Latin
Aquaeducta, and
le Tiche is an evolution of
Thieux, meaning "the German" — cf.
Deutsch. The corresponding town
Audun-le-Roman lies in the former
Romance, or Latin-speaking area, where Audun-le-Tiche is the other side of the
language border, in the
Germanic-speaking area. Nowadays, these two cities are respectively named
Deutsch-Oth and
Welsch-Oth in German. The town was long associated with the mining industry. The history of mining in Audun-le-Tiche and its decline has been described in the writings of
Aurélie Filippetti. The
Villeroy & Boch ceramic manufacturing company was founded in 1748 in Audun by
François Boch. The company headquarter later moved to nearby
Luxembourg, and in 1801 to
Mettlach, Germany. Audun sister town is
Gualdo Tadino in Italy, from which immigrants came working in mining industry during the 19th century. ==Population==