Alsace - Strasbourg Region Attractions

Along the eastern fringes of the hills, which provide shelter from wind and rain, is a climatically favored zone, a region of picturesque little towns and villages.

The landscape of Alsace is the mirror image of the other bank of the Rhine in Germany, with the Black Forest corresponding to the Vosges. The Rhine plain is a large rift valley which has been filled up by deposits from the Rhine and its tributaries. The Vosges and the Black Forest are the relics of a great mountain massif whose central section fell in at some time during the Tertiary era. The Alsatian plain, a tract of sands and dry gravels which for the most part is broader than its counterpart on the right bank of the river, is flanked by rolling country, particularly around Saverne, in an area of very varied geological structure, and in the Sundgau in southern Alsace. Beyond this again is a zone of low hills, mostly built up from light-colored limestones but in some places from variegated sandstones, and largely forest-covered, like Mont Ste-Odile. The region owes its fertility to the great expanses of loess and loess clay. The Vosges resemble the Black Forest in structure, with their more steeply scarped slopes facing the Rhine. The Southern or High Vosges rise to 1,423m/4,669ft in the Grand Ballon and 1,245m/4,085ft in the Ballon d'Alsace, the Central Vosges to 1,008m/3,307ft in Mont Donon, the Northern Vosges to only 581m/1,906ft in the Grand- Wintersberg. Extending into southern Alsace are the Sundgau uplands, rising to 350-400m/1,150-1,300ft, and the Alsatian Jura. The Upper Rhine Plain was settled by man many thousands of years before our era. Around 1000 BC Celtic influence began to make itself felt; a massive relic of this period is the Mur Païen on Mont Ste-Odile. Caesar's victory over Ariovistus and his Suevi at Cernay in Upper Alsace in 58 BC made Alsace part of the Roman province of Germania Superior. The Roman peace, inaugurated by Augustus in 17 BC, afforded the region 500 years of quiet development. Around 300 AD the Romans introduced the vine into Alsace. In the fifth century the name Alsace (Elisaza, "those who live over the Rhine") came into use. The name was applied to the Alemanni, who had advanced from this region and were subjugated by the Franks in 496. Alsace became part of the Frankish kingdom, and between 640 and 740 it was an independent duchy, which under the Carolingians was divided into the two counties of Sundgau and Nordgau. After Charlemagne's death the Frankish kingdom fell apart into three separate kingdoms and, under the treaty of Verdun (843), Alsace became part of the central kingdom of Lotharingia under Lothair I. In 870, however, on the death of the heir to that kingdom, it was divided between the eastern and western kingdoms and Alsace fell to the eastern kingdom. In 925 it became part of the duchy of Swabia. The duchy passed in 1079 to the Hohenstaufens, for whom it became a favored place of residence and a central element in their dynastic possessions. After the death of the last Hohenstaufen in 1268 the duchy fell to pieces and Alsace broke up into numerous small lay and ecclesiastical lordships, some of which retained links with the territories on the right bank of the Rhine. The landgraviate of Lower Alsace fell into the hands of the bishops of Strasbourg, while most of Upper Alsace came under Habsburg control. The free imperial cities (cities directly subordinate to the Holy Roman Emperor) became increasingly important and, in 1354, 10 imperial cities in Alsace, excluding Strasbourg and Mulhouse, formed themselves into a league. From 1520 onwards the Reformation came to Alsace, largely through the imperial cities. This was followed soon afterwards by peasant wars and in 1586 by the Catholic Counter-Reformation. Under the Peace of Westphalia (1648) after the Thirty Years War the Sundgau and the 10 imperial cities passed to France, followed 25 years later by the whole of Alsace except Strasbourg and Mulhouse. In 1681 Strasbourg, except for its German university, was annexed to France by Louis XIV. Mulhouse remained within the Swiss Confederation, to which it had been admitted in 1515. The French Revolution, by creating the départements of Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin, bound Alsace more firmly to France, and it was in Strasbourg that Rouget de Lisle composed the "Marseillaise". In 1798 Mulhouse also became part of France. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 Alsace was incorporated in the German Empire. After the 1914-1918 war French troops moved into Alsace and under the Treaty of Versailles it was returned to France. Between 1940 and 1944, during the World War II, Alsace was incorporated in the German Reich, but thereafter again became French. It had thus changed its nationality four times within 75 years. Alsace is now no longer a frontier territory as in the past, but, as the seat of the Council of Europe (since 1949), the European Parliament (since 1958) and other European institutions, has taken on a new role in the move towards European unity. French is the official language of Alsace, but many of its inhabitants also speak a dialect of German. Since 1972 German has been an optional subject in schools from the fourth year onwards. In 1978 Alsace became the first French region to be granted a degree of cultural autonomy. Agriculture is a major activity in the Rhine plain. In the hills themselves the predominant activity is forestry, but there is also pastoral farming on the upland meadows in areas cleared of forest; one of the products is the famed Munster cheese. The traditional textile industry of the region is now declining, and since 1945 metal-processing has become the most important branch of industry. Since the Middle Ages Alsace has played an important role in the development of art. Romanesque architecture is represented by a relatively small number of churches (Wissembourg, Andlau, Murbach Abbey, Lautenbach, etc.). Strasbourg Cathedral, recognized as a masterpiece of Gothic, was begun in Romanesque style (the crypt), but from the end of the 12th century onwards came increasingly to show Gothic features (the transept), a process which reached its full expression with the building of the nave around 1250. The numerous castles in Alsace (Haut-Kônigsbourg, Fleckenstein, Ortenberg, Hohenbourg, Ribeauvillé, Kaysersberg, Drei Exen, Landskron) are also important examples of medieval architecture; many of them date from the period of Hohenstaufen rule. Other examples of Gothic art in Alsace apart from Strasbourg Cathedral are to be seen at Thann, Molsheim and Colmar. During this period the art of sculpture flourished in Strasbourg and radiated from there. The great church-building period was also the age of great painters and sculptors like Matthias Groenewald (Isenheim Altar, 1512-1515), Martin Schongauer ("Madonna of the Rose-Garden") and Hans Baldung Grien (1485- 1545). While Romanesque and Gothic art mainly found expression in religious buildings, the Renaissance produced much secular architecture - guild houses, burghers' houses and handsome town halls (Mulhouse, Obernai) which bear witness to the increasing prosperity and self-confidence of the towns. There are few Baroque churches in Alsace, but important Baroque palaces can be seen in Strasbourg and Saverne. Among the major attractions of Alsace, to be set alongside such masterpieces as Strasbourg Cathedral and the Isenheim Altar, are the many little towns and villages which have preserved their medieval aspect, such as Colmar, Riquewihr, Hunspach, Kaysersberg, Turckheim, Obernai. The successful graphic artist and illustrator Gustave Doré (1832-1883) and the sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904) in the 19th century and Hans (Jean) Arp in the 20th were natives of Alsace.