Alsace
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Alsace
Elsàss ( Alemannic German) | |
---|---|
Anthem: "Elsässisches Fahnenlied" (German) (English: "Song of the Alsatian Flag") [1] | |
Country | France |
Territorial collectivity | European Collectivity of Alsace |
Prefecture | Strasbourg |
Departments | |
Area | |
• Total | 8,280 km2 (3,200 sq mi) |
Population (Jan. 2021)[3] | |
• Total | 1,919,745 |
• Density | 230/km2 (600/sq mi) |
Demonym | Alsatian |
GDP | |
• Total | €67.748 billion (2022) |
• Per capita | €35,800 (2022) |
ISO 3166 code | FR-A |
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Alsace |
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Alsace (
Until 1871, Alsace included the area now known as the Territoire de Belfort, which formed its southernmost part. From 1982 to 2016, Alsace was the smallest administrative région in metropolitan France, consisting of the Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin departments. Territorial reform passed by the French Parliament in 2014 resulted in the merger of the Alsace administrative region with Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine to form Grand Est. On 1 January 2021, the departments of Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin merged into the new European Collectivity of Alsace but remained part of the region Grand Est.
Etymology
The name Alsace can be traced to the Old High German Ali-saz or Elisaz, meaning "foreign domain".[9] An alternative explanation is from a Germanic Ell-sass, meaning "seated on the Ill",[10] a river in Alsace.
History
In prehistoric times, Alsace was inhabited by nomadic hunters. Part of the province of
After the 1870–71
Pre-Roman Alsace
The presence of hominids in Alsace can be traced back 600,000 years.[11] By 4000 BCE farming, in the form of Linear Pottery culture, arrived in the region from the Danube and the Hungarian plain. The culture was characterized by "timber longhouse settlements and incised pottery ... favoring floodplain edge situations for their permanent villages ... [and] small clearings in the forest" for their crops and animals."[12]
By 100 BCE Germanic peoples, including eventually the Suebi and other tribes under Ariovistus, had begun to intrude into areas along the upper Rhine and Danube long settled by Celtic Gauls. Alsace itself had come to be occupied by the Triboci, a Germanic tribe allied with Ariovistus.[13]
Roman Alsace
In response to the threat posted by Ariovistus, the Aedui, a Celtic tribe allied to Rome, appealed to the Roman Senate and Julius Caesar for aid. In 58 BCE, after negotiations with Ariovistus failed, Julius Caesar routed the Suebi at the foot of the Vosges near what became Cernay in southern Alsace.[14][15] There followed a "long period of security ... for the Gauls along the middle and upper Rhine."[14]
From the time of Augustus to the early fifth century AD, the area of Alsace was incorporated into the Roman province of Germania Superior.[16] As a border province, the Romans built fortifications and military camps, many of which, including Argentoratum (Strasbourg), evolved into modern towns and cities.[17]
Alemannic and Frankish Alsace
In 357 CE, Germanic tribes attempted to conquer Alsace but they were rebuffed by the Romans.
Lothar died early in 855 and his realm was divided into three parts. The part known as
Alsace within the Holy Roman Empire
At about this time, the surrounding areas experienced recurring fragmentation and reincorporations among a number of
In 1262, after a long struggle with the ruling bishops, its citizens gained the status of
Though little is known about the early history of the
Holy Roman Empire central power had begun to decline following years of imperial adventures in Italian lands, often ceding hegemony in Western Europe to France, which had long since centralized power. France began an aggressive policy of expanding eastward, first to the rivers Rhône and Meuse, and when those borders were reached, aiming for the Rhine. In 1299 the French proposed a marriage alliance between Blanche (sister of Philip IV of France) and Rudolf (son of Albert I of Germany), with Alsace to be the dowry; however, the deal never came off. In 1307, the town of Belfort was first chartered by the Counts of Montbéliard. During the next century, France was to be militarily shattered by the Hundred Years' War, which prevented for a time any further tendencies in this direction. After the conclusion of the war, France was again free to pursue its desire to reach the Rhine and in 1444 a French army appeared in Lorraine and Alsace. It took up winter quarters, demanded the submission of Metz and Strasbourg and launched an attack on Basel.
In 1469, following the
By the time of the
German Land within the Kingdom of France
This situation prevailed until 1639, when most of Alsace was conquered by France to keep it out of the hands of the
France consolidated its hold with the 1679
From French Revolution to the Franco-Prussian War
The year 1789 brought the French Revolution and with it the first division of Alsace into the départements of
Mulhouse (a city in southern Alsace), which had been part of Switzerland since 1466, joined France in 1798.[11]
At the same time, some Alsatians were in opposition to the Jacobins and sympathetic to the restoration of the monarchy pursued by the invading forces of Austria and Prussia who sought to crush the nascent revolutionary republic. Many of the residents of the Sundgau made "pilgrimages" to places like Mariastein Abbey, near Basel, in Switzerland, for baptisms and weddings. When the French Revolutionary Army of the Rhine was victorious, tens of thousands fled east before it. When they were later permitted to return (in some cases not until 1799), it was often to find that their lands and homes had been confiscated. These conditions led to emigration by hundreds of families to newly vacant lands in the Russian Empire in 1803–4 and again in 1808. A poignant retelling of this event based on what Goethe had personally witnessed can be found in his long poem Hermann and Dorothea.
In response to the
The population grew rapidly, from 800,000 in 1814 to 914,000 in 1830 and 1,067,000 in 1846. The combination of economic and demographic factors led to hunger, housing shortages and a lack of work for young people. Thus, it is not surprising that people left Alsace, not only for Paris – where the Alsatian community grew in numbers, with famous members such as
Alsatian Jews
In contrast to the rest of France, the Jews in Alsace had not been expelled during the Middle Ages. By 1790, the
Struggle between France and united Germany
We Germans who know Germany and France know better what is good for the Alsatians than the unfortunates themselves. In the perversion of their French life they have no exact idea of what concerns Germany.
The
During the First World War, to avoid ground fights between brothers, many Alsatians served as sailors in the
Although U.S. President Woodrow Wilson had insisted that the région was self-ruling by legal status, as its constitution had stated it was bound to the sole authority of the Kaiser and not to the German state, France would allow no plebiscite, as granted by the League of Nations to some eastern German territories at this time, because the French regarded the Alsatians as Frenchmen liberated from German rule. Germany ceded the region to France under the Treaty of Versailles.
Policies forbidding the use of German and requiring French were promptly introduced.[29] In order not to antagonize the Alsatians, the region was not subjected to some legal changes that had occurred in the rest of France between 1871 and 1919, such as the 1905 French law on the separation of Church and State.
Alsace-Lorraine was occupied by Germany in 1940 during the Second World War. Although it was never formally annexed, Alsace-Lorraine was incorporated into the
After World War II
Today, the territory is in certain areas subject to some laws that are significantly different from the rest of France, which is known as the local law.
In more recent years, the Alsatian language is again being promoted by local, national and European authorities as an element of the region's identity. Alsatian is taught in schools (but is not mandatory) as one of the regional languages of France. German is also taught as a foreign language in local kindergartens and schools. There is a growing network of schools proposing full immersion in Alsatian dialect and in Standard German, called ABCM-Zweisprachigkeit (ABCM -> French acronym for "Association for Bilingualism in the Classroom from Kindergarten onwards", Zweisprachigkeit -> German for "Bilingualism"). However, the Constitution of France still requires that French be the only official language of the Republic.
Timeline
Year(s) | Event | Ruled by | Official or common language |
---|---|---|---|
5400–4500 BC | Bandkeramiker/Linear Pottery cultures | — | Unknown |
2300–750 BC | Bell Beaker cultures | — | Proto-Celtic spoken |
750–450 BC | Hallstatt culture early Iron Age (early Celts) | — | None; Old Celtic spoken |
450–58 BC | Celts/Gauls firmly secured in entire Gaul, Alsace; trade with Greece is evident (Vix) | Celts/Gauls | None; Gaulish variety of Celtic widely spoken |
58 / 44 BC– AD 260 |
Alsace and Gaul conquered by Caesar, provinciated to Germania Superior |
Roman Empire | Latin ; Gallic widely spoken
|
260–274 | Postumus founds breakaway Gallic Empire | Gallic Empire | Latin, Gallic |
274–286 | Rome reconquers the Gallic Empire, Alsace | Roman Empire | Latin, Gallic, Germanic (only in Argentoratum) |
286–378 | Diocletian divides the Roman Empire into Western and Eastern sectors | Roman Empire | |
around 300 | Beginning of Germanic migrations to the Roman Empire | Roman Empire | |
378–395 | The Visigoths rebel, precursor to waves of German, and Hun invasions | Roman Empire | Alamannic Incursions |
395–436 | Death of Theodosius I, causing a permanent division between Western and Eastern Rome | Western Roman Empire | |
436–486 | Germanic invasions of the Western Roman Empire | Roman Tributary of Gaul | Alamannic |
486–511 | Lower Alsace conquered by the Franks | Frankish Realm |
Old Frankish , Latin; Alamannic
|
531–614 | Upper Alsace conquered by the Franks | Frankish Realm | |
614–795 | Totality of Alsace to the Frankish Kingdom | Frankish Realm | |
795–814 | Charlemagne begins reign, Charlemagne crowned Emperor of the Romans on 25 December 800 | Frankish Empire | Old Frankish; Frankish and Alamannic |
814 | Death of Charlemagne | Carolingian Empire | Old Frankish; Frankish and Alamannic varieties of Old High German |
847–870 | Lothar I |
Middle Francia (Carolingian Empire) | Frankish; Frankish and Alamannic varieties of Old High German |
870–889 | Treaty of Mersen gives Alsace to East Francia |
East Francia (German Kingdom of the Carolingian Empire) | Frankish, Frankish and Alamannic varieties of Old High German |
889–962 | Carolingian Empire breaks up into five Kingdoms, Magyars and Vikings periodically raid Alsace | Kingdom of Germany | Frankish and Alamannic varieties of Old High German |
962–1618 | Otto I crowned Holy Roman Emperor |
Holy Roman Empire | Old High German, Middle High German, Modern High German; Alamannic and Franconian German dialects |
1618–1674 | Louis XIII annexes portions of Alsace during the Thirty Years' War |
Holy Roman Empire | German; Alamannic and Franconian dialects (Alsatian) |
1674–1871 | Louis XIV annexes the rest of Alsace during the Franco-Dutch War , establishing full French sovereignty over the region |
Kingdom of France | Officially French (Alsatian and German tolerated and spoken by an estimated 85%-90% of the population) |
1871–1918 | Franco-Prussian War causes French cession of Alsace to German Empire | German Empire | German; German/Alsatian (86.8% - 1,492,347 people), French (11.5% - 198,318 people), Italian (1.1% - 18,750 people), German and a second language (0.4% - 7,485 people), Polish (0.1% - 1,410 people). Statistics from 1871. Over time, French declined to 10.9% |
1919–1940 | Treaty of Versailles causes German cession of Alsace to France | France | French; Alsatian, French, German |
1940–1944 | Gau Baden-Elsaß |
Nazi Germany | German; Alsatian, French, German |
1945–present | French control | France | French; French and Alsatian German (declining minority language) |
Geography
Topography
Alsace has an area of 8,283 km2, making it the smallest
It includes the départements of Haut-Rhin and Bas-Rhin (known previously as Sundgau and Nordgau). It borders Germany on the north and the east, Switzerland and Franche-Comté on the south and Lorraine on the west.
Several
The ried lies along the Rhine.
Geology
Alsace is the part of the plain of the Rhine located at the west of the
The Jura Mountains, formed by slip (induced by the alpine uplift) of the Mesozoic cover on the Triassic formations, goes through the area of Belfort.
Climate
Despite being far from oceans and seas, the climate in Alsace remains
Governance
Since 2021, Alsace has been a territorial collectivity called the European Collectivity of Alsace (collectivité européenne d'Alsace).
Administrative divisions
The European Collectivity of Alsace is divided into 2 departmental constituencies (circonscriptions départementales), 9 departmental arrondissements, 40 cantons, and 880 communes.
- Arrondissement of Haguenau-Wissembourg
- Arrondissement of Molsheim
- Arrondissement of Saverne
- Arrondissement of Sélestat-Erstein
- Arrondissement of Strasbourg
- Arrondissement of Altkirch
- Arrondissement of Colmar-Ribeauvillé
- Arrondissement of Guebwiller
- Arrondissement of Mulhouse
- Arrondissement of Thann-Guebwiller
Society
Demographics
Alsace's population increased to 1,919,745 in 2021.[3] It has regularly increased over time, except in wartime and shortly after the German annexation of 1871 (when many Alsatians who had opted to keep their French citizenship emigrated to France), by both natural growth and immigration. High population growth during the post-WW2 economic boom of the Trente Glorieuses ended after the 1973 oil crisis. Demographic growth picked up again in the 1990s and 2000s, but by the 2010s Alsace entered a new period of slow demographic growth.
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Sources: French and German censuses (1806-1871),[31] (1876-2021),[32][3] |
Immigration
At the 2018 census, 69.9% of the inhabitants of Alsace were natives of Alsace, 16.0% were born in the rest of Metropolitan France, 0.5% were born in Overseas France, and 13.7% were born in foreign countries.[33] Nearly 44% of the immigrants come from Europe, in particular from Germany (natives of Germany residing in Alsace where housing is cheaper), Italy, Portugal and Serbia.[34][35] Since 2008, the number of Turkish immigrants living in Alsace has declined, whereas the number of Maghreban immigrants has risen less than the number of European immigrants.[36][34][35] The fastest growing groups of immigrants are those from Asia and from sub-Saharan Africa.[36][34][35]
Census | Born in Alsace | Born in the rest of Metropolitan France |
Born in Overseas France |
Born in foreign countries with French citizenship at birth[a] |
Immigrants[b] | ||||
2018 | 69.9% | 16.0% | 0.5% | 2.2% | 11.6% | ||||
from Europe | from the Maghreb[c] | from Turkey | from the rest of the world | ||||||
5.1% | 2.6% | 1.5% | 2.4% | ||||||
2013 | 71.1% | 15.4% | 0.4% | 2.3% | 10.8% | ||||
from Europe | from the Maghreb[c] | from Turkey | from the rest of the world | ||||||
4.8% | 2.5% | 1.6% | 2.0% | ||||||
2008 | 71.8% | 15.3% | 0.4% | 2.3% | 10.3% | ||||
from Europe | from the Maghreb[c] | from Turkey | from the rest of the world | ||||||
4.5% | 2.4% | 1.6% | 1.8% | ||||||
1999 | 73.6% | 15.4% | 0.4% | 2.1% | 8.5% | ||||
from Europe | from the Maghreb[c] | from Turkey | from the rest of the world | ||||||
4.2% | 1.9% | 1.3% | 1.1% | ||||||
1990 | 75.9% | 13.4% | 0.3% | 2.4% | 7.9% | ||||
1982 | 76.8% | 12.5% | 0.3% | 2.6% | 7.8% | ||||
1975 | 78.3% | 11.6% | 0.2% | 2.6% | 7.3% | ||||
1968 | 81.7% | 9.8% | 0.1% | 2.8% | 5.6% | ||||
Pieds-Noirs and children of French expatriates.
^b An immigrant is by French definition a person born in a foreign country and who did not have French citizenship at birth. Note that an immigrant may have acquired French citizenship since moving to France, but is still listed as an immigrant in French statistics. On the other hand, persons born in France with foreign citizenship (the children of immigrants) are not listed as immigrants. ^c Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria | |||||||||
Source: INSEE[33][34][35][37][36][38] |
Religion
Alsace is generally seen as the most religious of all the French regions. Most of the Alsatian population is
Following the
In 1707, the simultaneum forced many Reformed and Lutheran church buildings to also allow Catholic services. About 50 such "simultaneous churches" still exist in modern Alsace, but with the Catholic church's general lack of priests, they tend to hold Catholic services only occasionally.
Culture
Alsace historically was part of the Holy Roman Empire and the German realm of culture. Since the 17th century, the region has passed between German and French control numerous times, resulting in a cultural blend. German traits remain in the more traditional, rural parts of the culture, such as the cuisine and architecture, whereas modern institutions are totally dominated by French culture.
Symbolism
Strasbourg
Flags
There is controversy around the recognition of the Alsatian flag. The authentic historical flag is the Rot-un-Wiss; Red and White are commonly found on the coat of arms of Alsatian cities (Strasbourg, Mulhouse, Sélestat...)
Language
Although German dialects were spoken in Alsace for most of its history, the dominant language in Alsace today is French.
The traditional language of the région is
Although Alsace has been part of France multiple times in the past, the region had no direct connection with the French state for several centuries. From the end of the Roman Empire (5th century) to the French annexation (17th century), Alsace was politically part of the German world.
During the
From the annexation of Alsace by France in the 17th century and the language policy of the French Revolution up to 1870, knowledge of French in Alsace increased considerably. With the education reforms of the 19th century, the middle classes began to speak and write French well. The French language never really managed, however, to win over the masses, the vast majority of whom continued to speak their German dialects and write in German (which we would now call "standard German").[citation needed]
Between 1870 and 1918, Alsace was annexed by the German Empire in the form of an imperial province or Reichsland, and the mandatory official language, especially in schools, became High German. French lost ground to such an extent that it has been estimated that only 2% of the population spoke French fluently, and only 8% had some knowledge of it (Maugue, 1970).
After 1918, French was the only language used in schools, particularly primary schools. After much argument and discussion and after many temporary measures, a memorandum was issued by Vice-Chancellor Pfister in 1927 and governed education in primary schools until 1939.
During a reannexation by Germany (1940–1945), High German was reinstated as the language of education. The population was forced to speak German and 'French' family names were Germanized. Following the Second World War, the 1927 regulation was not reinstated, and the teaching of German in primary schools was suspended by a provisional rectorial decree, which was supposed to enable French to regain lost ground. The teaching of German became a major issue, however, as early as 1946. After World War II, the French government pursued, in line with its traditional language policy, a campaign to suppress the use of German as part of a wider Francization campaign. The local German dialect was rendered a backward regional "Germanic" dialect not being attached to German.[43]
In 1951, Article 10 of the
. However, in a Decree of 18 December 1952, supplemented by an Order of 19 December of the same year, optional teaching of the German language was introduced in elementary schools in communes in which the language of habitual use was the Alsatian dialect.In 1972, the Inspector General of German, Georges Holderith, obtained authorization to reintroduce German into 33 intermediate classes on an experimental basis. This teaching of German, referred to as the Holderith Reform, was later extended to all pupils in the last two years of elementary school. This reform is still largely the basis of German teaching (but not Alsatian) in elementary schools today.
It was not until 9 June 1982, with the Circulaire sur la langue et la culture régionales en Alsace (Memorandum on regional language and culture in Alsace) issued by the Vice-Chancellor of the Académie Pierre Deyon, that the teaching of German in primary schools in Alsace really began to be given more official status. The Ministerial Memorandum of 21 June 1982, known as the Circulaire Savary, introduced financial support, over three years, for the teaching of regional languages in schools and universities. This memorandum was, however, implemented in a fairly lax manner.
Both Alsatian and Standard German were for a time banned from public life (including street and city names, official administration, and educational system). Though the ban has long been lifted and street signs today are often bilingual, Alsace-Lorraine is today predominantly French in language and culture. Few young people speak Alsatian today, although there do still exist one or two enclaves in the Sundgau region where some older inhabitants cannot speak French, and where Alsatian is still used as the mother tongue. A related Alemannic German survives on the opposite bank of the Rhine, in Baden, and especially in Switzerland. However, while French is the major language of the region, the Alsatian dialect of French is heavily influenced by German and other languages such as Yiddish in phonology and vocabulary.
This situation has spurred a movement to preserve the Alsatian language, which is perceived as endangered, a situation paralleled in other régions of France, such as Brittany or Occitania. Alsatian is now taught in French high schools. Increasingly, French is the only language used at home and at work, and a growing number of people have a good knowledge of standard German as a foreign language learned in school.
The constitution of the Fifth Republic states that French alone is the official language of the Republic. However, Alsatian, along with other regional languages, are recognized by the French government in the official list of languages of France.
Although the French government signed the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in 1992, it never ratified the treaty and therefore no legal basis exists for any of the regional languages in France.[44] However, visitors to Alsace can see indications of renewed political and cultural interest in the language – in Alsatian signs appearing in car-windows and on hoardings, and in new official bilingual street signs in Strasbourg and Mulhouse.
A 1999 INSEE survey, included in the 1999 Census, the majority of the population in Alsace speak
The survey counted 548,000 adult speakers of Alsatian in France, making it the second most-spoken regional language in the country (after Occitan). Like all regional languages in France, however, the transmission of Alsatian is on the decline. While 39% of the adult population of Alsace speak Alsatian, only one in four children speak it, and only one in ten children uses it regularly.
Architecture
The traditional habitat of the Alsatian lowland, like in other regions of Germany and Northern Europe, consists of houses constructed with walls in timber framing and cob and roofing in flat tiles. This type of construction is abundant in adjacent parts of Germany and can be seen in other areas of France, but their particular abundance in Alsace is owed to several reasons:
- The proximity to the Vosges where the wood can be found.
- During periods of war and bubonic plague, villages were often burned down, so to prevent the collapse of the upper floors, ground floors were built of stone and upper floors built in half-timberings to prevent the spread of fire.
- During most of its history, a great part of Alsace was flooded by the Rhine every year. Half-timbered houses were easy to knock down and to move around during those times (a day was necessary to move it and a day to rebuild it in another place).
However, half-timbering was found to increase the risk of fire, which is why from the 19th century, it began to be rendered. In recent times, villagers started to paint the rendering white in accordance with Beaux-Arts movements. To discourage this, the region's authorities gave financial grants to the inhabitants to paint the rendering in various colours, in order to return to the original style and many inhabitants accepted (more for financial reasons than by firm belief).[citation needed]
Cuisine
Food
The festivities of the year's end involve the production of a great variety of biscuits and small cakes called
A gastronomic symbol of the région is the
Alsace is also well known for its foie gras made in the region since the 17th century. Additionally, Alsace is known for its fruit juices and mineral waters.
Wines
Alsace is an important
Beers
Alsace is also the main beer-producing region of France, thanks primarily to
In tales
The stork is a main feature of Alsace and was the subject of many legends told to children. The bird practically disappeared around 1970, but re-population efforts are continuing. They are mostly found on roofs of houses, churches and other public buildings in Alsace.
The Easter Bunny was first mentioned in Georg Franck von Franckenau's De ovis paschalibus (About Easter eggs) in 1682 referring to an Alsace tradition of an Easter Hare bringing Easter eggs.
The term "Alsatia"
"Alsatia", the Latin form of Alsace's name, entered the
Derived from the above, "
Economy
According to the Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques (
Alsace is a région of varied economic activity, including:
- Route des Vins d'Alsace between Marlenheim and Thann)
- hop harvesting and brewing (half of French beer is produced in Alsace, especially in the vicinity of Strasbourg, notably in Schiltigheim, Hochfelden, Saverne and Obernai)
- forestry development
- automobile industry (Mulhouse and Molsheim, home town of Bugatti Automobiles)
- life sciences, as part of the trinational BioValley
- tourism
- potassium chloride (until the late 20th century) and potash mining
Alsace has many international ties and 35% of firms are foreign companies (notably German, Swiss, American, Japanese, and Scandinavian).
Tourism
Having been early and always densely populated, Alsace is famous for its high number of picturesque villages, churches and castles and for the various beauties of its three main towns, in spite of severe destructions suffered throughout five centuries of wars between France and Germany.
Alsace is furthermore famous for its vineyards (especially along the 170 km of the
- Old towns of Strasbourg, Colmar, Sélestat, Guebwiller, Saverne, Obernai, Thann
- Smaller cities and villages: Molsheim, Rosheim, Riquewihr, Ribeauvillé, Kaysersberg, Wissembourg, Neuwiller-lès-Saverne, Marmoutier, Rouffach, Soultz-Haut-Rhin, Bergheim, Hunspach, Seebach, Turckheim, Eguisheim, Neuf-Brisach, Ferrette, Niedermorschwihr and the gardens of the blue house in Uttenhoffen[48]
- Churches (as main sights in otherwise less remarkable places): Thann, Andlau, Murbach, Ebersmunster, Niederhaslach, Sigolsheim, Lautenbach, Epfig, Altorf, Ottmarsheim, Domfessel, Niederhaslach, Marmoutier and the fortified church at Hunawihr
- Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg
- Haut-Barr (above Saverne), Saint-Ulrich (above Ribeauvillé), Lichtenberg, Wangenbourg, the three Castles of Eguisheim, Pflixbourg, Wasigenstein, Andlau, Grand Geroldseck, Wasenbourg
- Cité de l'Automobile museum in Mulhouse
- Cité du trainmuseum in Mulhouse
- The EDF museum in Mulhouse
- Ungersheim's "écomusée" (open-air museum) and "Bioscope" (leisure park about the environment, closed since September 2012)
- Musée historique in Haguenau, largest museum in Bas-Rhin outside Strasbourg
- Bibliothèque humaniste in Sélestat, one of the oldest public libraries in the world
- Christmas markets in Kaysersberg, Strasbourg, Mulhouse and Colmar
- Departmental Centre of the History of Families (CDHF) in Guebwiller
- The Maginot Line: Ouvrage Schoenenbourg
- Mount Ste Odile
- Route des Vins d'Alsace(Alsace Wine Route)
- Mémorial d'Alsace-Lorraine in Schirmeck
- concentration campon French territory during WWII
- Famous mountains: Massif du Donon, Grand Ballon, Petit Ballon, Ballon d'Alsace, Hohneck, Hartmannswillerkopf
- National park: Parc naturel des Vosges du Nord
- Vosges)
Transportation
Roads
Most major car journeys are made on the A35 autoroute, which links Saint-Louis on the Swiss border to Lauterbourg on the German border.
The A4 toll road (towards Paris) begins 20 km (12 mi) northwest of Strasbourg and the A36 toll road towards Lyon, begins 10 km (6.2 mi) west from Mulhouse.
Spaghetti junctions (built in the 1970s and 1980s) are prominent in the comprehensive system of motorways in Alsace, especially in the outlying areas of Strasbourg and Mulhouse. These cause a major buildup of traffic and are the main sources of pollution in the towns, notably in Strasbourg where the motorway traffic of the A35 was 170,000 per day in 2002.
At present, plans are being considered for building a new dual carriageway west of Strasbourg, which would reduce the buildup of traffic in that area by picking up north and southbound vehicles and getting rid of the buildup outside Strasbourg. The line plans to link up the interchange of Hœrdt to the north of Strasbourg, with Innenheim in the southwest. The opening is envisaged at the end of 2011, with an average usage of 41,000 vehicles a day. Estimates of the French Works Commissioner however, raised some doubts over the interest of such a project, since it would pick up only about 10% of the traffic of the A35 at Strasbourg. Paradoxically, this reversed the situation of the 1950s. At that time, the French trunk road left of the Rhine not been built, so that traffic would cross into Germany to use the Karlsruhe-Basel Autobahn.
To add to the buildup of traffic, the neighbouring German state of Baden-Württemberg has imposed a tax on heavy-goods vehicles using their Autobahnen. Thus, a proportion of the HGVs travelling from north Germany to Switzerland or southern Alsace bypasses the A5 on the Alsace-Baden-Württemberg border and uses the untolled French A35 instead.
Trains
TER Alsace is the rail network serving Alsace. Its network is articulated around the city of Strasbourg. It is one of the most developed rail networks in France, financially sustained partly by the French railroad SNCF, and partly by the région Alsace.
Because the Vosges are surmountable only by the Col de Saverne and the Belfort Gap, it has been suggested that Alsace needs to open up and get closer to France in terms of its rail links. Developments already under way or planned include:
- the TGV Est (Paris – Strasbourg) had its first phase brought into service in June 2007, bringing down the Strasbourg-Paris trip from 4 to 2 hours 20 minutes, and further reducing it to 1h 50m after the completion of the second phase in 2016.
- the TGV Rhin-Rhône between Dijon and Mulhouse (opened in 2011)
- a tram-train system in Mulhouse (2011)
- an interconnection with the German InterCityExpress, as far as Kehl(expected 2016)
However, the abandoned Maurice-Lemaire tunnel towards Saint-Dié-des-Vosges was rebuilt as a toll road.
Waterways
Port traffic of Alsace exceeds 15 million tonnes, of which about three-quarters is centred on Strasbourg, which is the second busiest French fluvial harbour. The enlargement plan of the Rhône–Rhine Canal, intended to link up the Mediterranean Sea and Central Europe (Rhine, Danube, North Sea and Baltic Sea) was abandoned in 1998 for reasons of expense and land erosion, notably in the Doubs valley.
Air traffic
There are two international airports in Alsace:
- the international airport of Strasbourg in Entzheim
- the international EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg, which is the seventh largest French airport in terms of traffic
Strasbourg is also two hours away by road from one of the largest European airports, Frankfurt Main, and 2 hours 30 minutes from Charles de Gaulle Airport through the direct TGV service, stopping in Terminal 2.
Cycling network
Crossed by three EuroVelo routes
- the EuroVelo 5 (Via Francigena from London to Rome/Brindisi),
- the EuroVelo 6 (Véloroute des fleuves from Nantes to Budapest (H)) and
- the EuroVelo 15 (Véloroute Rhin / Rhine cycle route from Andermatt (CH) to Rotterdam (NL)).
Alsace is the most bicycle-friendly region of France,[
Notable people
The following is a selection of people born in Alsace who have been particularly influential or successful in their respective fields.
Arts
- Jean Arp
- Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, born in Colmar in 1834[49]
- Théodore Deck
- Gustave Doré
- Sébastien Érard
- Jean-Jacques Henner
- Philip James de Loutherbourg
- Master of the Drapery Studies
- Marcel Marceau
- Sam Marx, born as Simon Marx in Mertzwiller in 1859[50]
- Charles Munch
- Claude Rich
- Martin Schongauer
- Marie Tussaud
- Tomi Ungerer
- Émile Waldteufel
- Jean-Jacques Waltz (aka Hansi)
- Cora Wilburn
- William Wyler
Business
- Automobiles Ettore Bugatti
- Thierry Mugler
- Schlumberger brothers
- André Koechlin
- Léopold Louis-Dreyfus
Literature
- Sebastian Brant, who was born in Strasbourg in 1457 or 1458[51]
- August Stöber
- Gottfried von Strassburg
Military
- Alfred Dreyfus, who was born in Mulhouse in 1850[52]
- François Christophe de Kellermann
- Jean-Baptiste Kléber
- Jacques Paul Klein
- Jean Rapp
Nobility
Religion
- Martin Bucer
- Wolfgang Capito
- Charles de Foucauld
- Herrad of Landsberg
- Pope Leo IX
- Thomas Murner
- J. F. Oberlin
- Odile of Alsace
- Albert Schweitzer
- Philipp Spener
- Jakob Wimpfeling
Sciences
- Hans Bethe
- Charles Friedel
- Charles Frédéric Gerhardt
- Johann Hermann
- Alfred Kastler
- Erich Leo Lehmann
- Jean-Marie Lehn
- Wilhelm Philippe Schimper
- Charles Xavier Thomas
- Pierre Weiss
- Charles-Adolphe Wurtz
Sports
- Mehdi Baala
- Yann Ehrlacher
- Valérien Ismaël
- Sébastien Loeb
- Yvan Muller
- Thierry Omeyer
- Thomas Voeckler
- Arsène Wenger
Major communities
German original names in brackets if French names differ:
- Bischheim
- Colmar (Kolmar)
- Guebwiller (Gebweiler)
- Haguenau (Hagenau)
- Illkirch-Graffenstaden (Illkirch-Grafenstaden)
- Illzach
- Lingolsheim
- Mulhouse (Mülhausen)
- Saint-Louis (St. Ludwig)
- Saverne (Zabern)
- Schiltigheim
- Sélestat (Schlettstadt)
- Strasbourg (Straßburg)
- Wittenheim
Sister regions
There is an accord de coopération internationale between Alsace and the following regions:[53]
- Vest, Romania
- Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea
- Upper Austria, Austria
- Lower Silesia, Poland
- Quebec, Canada
- Jiangsu, China
- Moscow, Russia
See also
- 2014 Alsace single territorial collectivity referendum
- Musée alsacien (Strasbourg)
- Route Romane d'Alsace
- German place names in Alsace
- Alsace independence movement
- Castroville, Texas
Notes
References
- ^ "Elsässisches Fahnenlied [Anthem of Alsace][+English translation]". YouTube.
- ^ "La géographie de l'Alsace". region.alsace. Archived from the original on 12 December 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
- ^ a b c d Combined 2021 population of the departements of Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin: "Populations légales des départements en 2021". INSEE. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
- ^ "EU regions by GDP, Eurostat". Retrieved 18 September 2023.
- ^ "Alsace". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 17 March 2020.
- ^ "Alsace". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). HarperCollins. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
- CollinsDictionary.com. HarperCollins. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
- ^ Leichtfried, Laura (23 February 2017). "Alsace: culturally not quite French, not quite German". British Council. Archived from the original on 23 February 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
- ISBN 0-19-815392-9.
- ISBN 2-7377-0308-5, page 36
- ^ ISBN 1-57958-468-3.
- ^ Bellwood, Peter (2005). First Farmers. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. p. 77.
- ^ Cary, M.; Scullard, H.H. (1979). A History of Rome Down to the Reign of Constantine. London: MacMillan Education Ltd. p. 260.
- ^ a b Cary, M.; Scullard, H.H. (1979). A History of Rome Down to the Age of Constantine (third ed.). London: Macmillan Education Ltd. pp. 259–261.
- ^ Caesar, Julius (2000). Henderson, Jeffrey (ed.). The Galllic War, Book 1. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University. pp. 46-87 (lines 31-54).
- ^ Sheperd, William (1929). Historical Atlas (seventh ed.). New York: Henry Holt and Company. pp. 38–39.
- ^ Cary, M.; Scullard, H.H. (1979). A History of Rome Down to the Reign of Constantine. London: MacMillan Education Ltd. pp. 336 and 458.
- ^ Wigoder, Geoffrey (1972). Jewish Art and Civilization. p. 62.
- ISBN 1-55581-356-9.
- ISBN 978-0-19-880493-2.
- ^ Veve, Thomas Dwight (1992). The Duke of Wellington and the British army of occupation in France, 1815–1818, pp. 20–21. Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, United States.
- ^ "Cox.net". Archived from the original on 4 May 2006.
- ^ Ilgenweb.net Archived 23 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Necheles, Ruth F. (1971). "The Abbé Grégoire and the Jews". Jewish Social Studies. 33 (2/3): 120–40. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
- ISBN 9781851094394.
- ^ "Full text of "Alsace-Lorraine since 1870"". New York, The Macmillan. 1919.
- ^ Remaking the Map of Europe by Jean Finot, The New York Times, 30 May 1915
- ^ "Archive video".
- ^ However, propaganda for elections was allowed to go with a German translation from 1919 to 2008.
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- ^ a b INSEE. "Données harmonisées des recensements de la population 1968–2018" (in French). Retrieved 11 February 2022.
- ^ (in French). Retrieved 10 February 2013.
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- INSEE. "IMG1B - Population immigrée par sexe, âge et pays de naissance en 2013 - Région d'Alsace (42)"(in French). Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- INSEE. "D_FD_IMG2 – Base France par départements – Lieux de naissance à l'étranger selon la nationalité" (in French). Archived from the originalon 12 October 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
- ^ [1] Géographie réligieuse: France
- ^ "Unser LandBrève histoire d'un drapeau alsacien". Unser Land. Archived from the original on 27 January 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
- ^ "Genealogie-bisval.net".
- ^ "Colmar : une statue de la Liberté en "Rot und Wiss"". France 3 Alsace. 16 November 2014.
- ^ von Polenz, Peter (1999). Deutsche Sprachgeschichte vom Spätmittelalter bis zur Gegenwart. Vol. Band III: 19. und 20. Jahrhundert. Berlin/New York. p. 165.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "Charte européenne des langues régionales : Hollande nourrit la guerre contre le français". Le Figaro. 5 June 2015.
- ^ www.epsilon.insee.fr/jspui/bitstream/1/2294/1/cpar12_1.pdf, L'alsacien, deuxième langue régionale de France. INSEE. December 2002. p. 3.
- ^ "Les Christstollen de la vallée de Munster". 2009.
- ^ Lashmar, Paul (27 May 2007). "Law Lords slam crime agency for freezing UMBS payments". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
- ^ "Jardins de la ferme bleue – SehenswĂźrdigkeiten in Uttenhoffen, Elsa". beLocal.de. 23 November 2011. Archived from the original on 19 July 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
- ^ Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
- ^ La famille paternelle des Marx Brothers (in French)
- JSTOR 20655345.
- ^ "Birth certificate of Dreyfus, Alfred". culture.gouv.fr. Government of the French Republic. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
- ^ "Les Accords de coopération entre l'Alsace et..." (in French). Archived from the original on 3 January 2011.
Further reading
- Assall, Paul. Juden im Elsass. Zürich: Rio Verlag. ISBN 3-907668-00-6.
- Das Elsass: Ein literarischer Reisebegleiter. Frankfurt a. M.: Insel Verlag, 2001. ISBN 3-458-34446-2.
- Erbe, Michael (Hrsg.) Das Elsass: Historische Landschaft im Wandel der Zeiten. Stuttgart: ISBN 3-17-015771-X.
- Faber, Gustav. Elsass. München: Artemis-Cicerone Kunst- und Reiseführer, 1989.
- Fischer, Christopher J. Alsace to the Alsatians? Visions and Divisions of Alsatian Regionalism, 1870–1939 (Berghahn Books, 2010).
- Gerson, Daniel. Die Kehrseite der Emanzipation in Frankreich: Judenfeindschaft im Elsass 1778 bis 1848. Essen: Klartext, 2006. ISBN 3-89861-408-5.
- Herden, Ralf Bernd. Straßburg Belagerung 1870. Norderstedt: BoD, 2007, ISBN 978-3-8334-5147-8.
- Hummer, Hans J. Politics and Power in Early Medieval Europe: Alsace and the Frankish Realm, 600–1000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
- Kaeppelin, Charles E. R, and Mary L. Hendee. Alsace Throughout the Ages. Franklin, Pa: C. Miller, 1908.
- Lazer, Stephen A. State Formation in Early Modern Alsace, 1648–1789. Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 2019. Archived 12 June 2019 at the Wayback Machine
- Mehling, Marianne (Hrsg.) Knaurs Kulturführer in Farbe Elsaß. München: Droemer Knaur, 1984.
- Putnam, Ruth. Alsace and Lorraine: From Cæsar to Kaiser, 58 B.C.–1871 A.D. New York: 1915.
- Schreiber, Hermann. Das Elsaß und seine Geschichte, eine Kulturlandschaft im Spannungsfeld zweier Völker. Augsburg: Weltbild, 1996.
- Schwengler, Bernard. Le Syndrome Alsacien: d'Letschte? Strasbourg: Éditions Oberlin, 1989. ISBN 2-85369-096-2.
- ISBN 2-7165-0618-3.
- Vogler, Bernard and Hermann Lersch. Das Elsass. Morstadt: Éditions Ouest-France, 2000. ISBN 3-88571-260-1.
External links
- Official website of the Alsace regional council Archived 30 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- Alsace : at the heart of Europe Archived 5 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine – Official French website (in English)
- Visit Alsace Official Alsace tourism website
- Rhine Online – life in southern Alsace and neighbouring Basel and Baden Wuerrtemburg
- Alsatourisme Archived 23 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine Tourism in Alsace (in French)
- Alsace at Curlie
- Alsace.net: Directory of Alsatian Websites (in French)
- "Museums of Alsace" (in French)
- Churches and chapels of Alsace (pictures only) (in French)
- Medieval castles of Alsace (pictures only) (in French)
- "Organs of Alsace" (in French)
- The Alsatian Library of Mutual Credit (in French)
- The Alsatian Artists (in French)