Strasbourg Tourist Attractions

Strasbourg - capital of Alsace, a university town, the see of a bishop, seat of the Council of Europe, the European Commission of Human Rights and the European Science Foundation, and as the meeting-place of the European Parliament the germ of a future united Europe - lies at the intersection of important traffic routes on the left bank of the Rhine, which at this point is joined by the river Ill, the Rhine-Marne Canal and the Rhine-Rhône Canal.

With its soaring cathedral and many burghers' houses of the 16th and 17th centuries, Strasbourg still retains something of the character of an old free city of the Holy Roman Empire, but is also typically French with its elegant buildings in Louis XV style, dating from the time of the French Cardinal-Bishops of the 18th century, and its numerous mansard roofs. The city's principal industries are metal-working, the manufacture of building materials and the production of foodstuffs (paté de foie gras), followed by papermaking, textiles and tanning. The port of Strasbourg is the largest on the Upper Rhine, and is particularly active in the export trade. Tourism has now also become an important element in the economy of the city, which attracts increasing numbers of visitors as the principal tourist center of Alsace and the venue of numerous congresses and conferences.

About A.D. 16 the Romans established a fortified post which they called Argentoratum beside an earlier Celtic settlement situated on important trade routes. In the fourth century the Alemanni built a new settlement on its ruins, and this appears in the records in the sixth century under the name of Strataburgum ("the fortified town on the roads"). In 842 Louis (Ludwig) the German and Charles the Bald confirmed their alliance against Lothair I in the "Serments de Strasbourg" ("Strasbourg Oaths"), one of the earliest specimens of Old French. Strasbourg became the see of a bishop in 1003 and rose to considerable prosperity through its shipping and its trade. In 1262, after a conflict with the bishop and the nobility, it achieved independence as a free imperial city, which for a time was the wealthiest and most brilliant in the Holy Roman Empire, a city in which art and learning flourished. In the 14th century the Dominican preachers and mystics Meister Eckhart and Johannes Tauler lived in Strasbourg, and between 1434 and 1444 Gutenberg developed the art of printing here. After the coming of the Reformation in 1520 Strasbourg numbered among its citizens the Protestant writer and satirist Johannes Fischart (1546-1590) and the educationalist Johannes Sturm (1507- 1589), rector of the Protestant grammar school and founder of a theological academy which was the forerunner of the University.

In 1681, taking advantage of the weakness of the Holy Roman Empire, Louis XIV occupied Strasbourg and soon afterwards had it fortified by Vauban. Until 1793, however, the town retained a degree of autonomy, and French cultural influence did not assert itself until the time of Napoleon. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 Strasbourg, along with the rest of Alsace (apart from Belfort) and part of Lorraine, returned to German sovereignty, and remained German until the end of World War I.

The establishment of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg in 1949, followed by a number of other European institutions, and the city's history and geographical situation seemed to make it a predestined future capital of Europe. In 1988 Strasbourg celebrated the 2,000th anniversary of its foundation.

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Place Kléber

The hub of Strasbourg's traffic is Place Kléber, named after General J. B. Kléber, born in Strasbourg in 1753. In the square is a statue of Kléber, under which is a vault containing his remains. On the north side of the square is the Aubette (Orderly Room), built by Blondel in 1765-1772, which until 1918 housed the Conservatoire and the main police station.

Place Gutenberg

In Strasbourg, from the Place Kléber, the busy Rue des Grandes-Arcades runs south to Place Gutenberg, in the center of which is a statue of Gutenberg (1840). On the southwest side of the square is the finest Renaissance building in Lower Alsace, originally the Town Hall (1582- 1585) and now occupied by the Chamber of Commerce (tourist information office). From the southeast corner of the square Rue Mercière leads to the Place de la Cathédrale, with a magnificent view of the west front of the cathedral.

Cathedral of Notre-Dame

The Cathedral of Notre-Dame towers over Strasbourg with its massive tower. Having taken several centuries to complete the impressive building displays a range of architectural styles.

Highlights:	South Doorway, Strasbourg Cathedral Interior, Strasbourg Cathedral	West Front, Strasbourg Cathedral

Maison Kammerzell

On the north side of the Place de la Cathédrale in Strasbourg is the Maison Kammerzell (restaurant), the finest old burgher's house in the city, with a stone-built ground floor (1467), half-timbered upper floors (1589), leaded windows and rich carved ornament. At the corner of the Place de la Cathédrale and Rue Mercière is the half-timbered Pharmacie du Cerf (1567), on a site which has been continuously occupied by a pharmacy since 1268. Nearby, in Rue des Juifs, are the excavations of the Roman fort, begun in 1986.

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Château des Rohan

In Strasbourg, on the south side of the cathedral is the Place du Château, with the Château des Rohan (1728- 1742), which until the French Revolution was the residence of the Cardinal Bishops of the great Rohan family. On the first two floors are the bishop's apartments, with a library, a print room and a chapel. The château also houses the Archeological Museum and the Municipal Art Gallery, with pictures by Italian, Spanish, Flemish, Dutch and French masters from the Middle Ages to modern times. In the right-hand wing is the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (ceramics, porcelain).

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Maison de l'Oeuvre Notre-Dame

At the southwest corner of the Place du Château in Strasbourg is the Maison de l'Oeuvre Notre-Dame, which has housed the Oeuvre Notre-Dame (the authority responsible for the maintenance of the cathedral) since 1349. The east wing dates from 1347 (renovated in the 16th C), the west wing from 1579-1585. It contains the Musée de l'Oeuvre Notre-Dame, with the originals of sculpture from the cathedral and a number of pictures, mainly by artists from the Upper Rhine region.

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Suckling Pig Market

In Strasbourg, behind the Maison de l'Oeuvre Notre-Dame, is the picturesque Place du Marché-aux-Cochons-de-Lait (Suckling Pig Market). Farther west is the Grande Boucherie, built in 1586-1588 as a meat market, which now houses the Municipal Historical Museum. Across the street to the west is the Ancienne Douane (Old Custom House), the oldest part of which dates from 1358. It is now occupied by the Museum of Modern Art, with a collection of 19th and 20th c. painting and culture, including works by Hans Arp, Braque, Klee, Max Ernst, Rodin, Renoir and Degas.

Place du Corbeau

In Strasbourg, from the Ancienne Douane the Pont du Corbeau leads over the Ill to the Place du Corbeau, with an old inn, the Hôtellerie du Corbeau (14th C, picturesque courtyard), once a posting station, where many notable people stayed between the 16th and 18th centuries, including Frederick the Great in 1740.

Musée Alsacien

In Strasbourg, west of the Place du Corbeau, in a patrician house of 1620, is the Musée Alsacien (folk art, furniture, costumes, domestic equipment, etc.).

From Place Gutenberg the Rue des Serruriers (Locksmiths' Street) runs southwest to the church of St-Thomas, the only hall-church in Alsace, which has a Romanesque west end (1230-1250), a Gothic nave (c 1330) and an octagonal tower over the crossing (1348), with a clock which for 400 years has struck the hours four minutes too soon, in order to make itself heard before the cathedral clock strikes. In the apse is the tomb of the French marshal Maurice de Saxe (d. 1750), an allegorical marble group by J.- B. Pigalle (1777). The church has a Silbermann organ (1737-1740), on which Albert Schweitzer frequently played.

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Tanner's Quarter

North-west of St-Thomas is the old Quartier des Tanneurs (Tanners' Quarter), with picturesque half- timbered buildings lining its narrow streets, an area known as "Little France" (Petite France). In Rue du Bain-aux-Plantes is the old Gerwerstub or Maison des Tanneurs (restaurant). Farther south-west are the Ponts Couverts (Covered Bridges), four bridges, formerly roofed, over the Ill, which is here divided into four arms. Four of the town's medieval defense towers are also preserved here. The best view (and also a fine view of the town) is to be had from the Grande Ecluse, a dam built by Vauban.

North of the Ponts Couverts, on the western edge of the old town, is the church of St-Pierre-le-Vieux (14th-15th C.). From the south side of the church the old-world Grand' Rue leads back to Place Gutenberg.

Place Broglie

To the east of Place Kléber in Strasbourg is the elongated rectangle of Place Broglie, laid out in 1742 on the site of the old horse market. Along the south side of this square are a number of imposing 18th C. buildings, with their main fronts on Rue BruPlée. The Old Town Hall, built in 1730-1736 as the residence of the Landgrave of Hesse, was the seat of municipal administration from 1805 to 1976. To the east, set in gardens, is the Hôtel du Gouvernement Militaire (c. 1760). At the east end of the square is the Opéra du Rhin, the Municipal Theater (1804-1822), and on the north side (No. 5) is the Banque de France, on the spot where Rouget de Lisle sang the "Marseillaise" for the first time on April 26, 1792. Beyond the theater, on the far side of the old town moat, is the Place de la République, surrounded by public buildings, with a monument commemorating the dead of World War I. On the northwest side of the square is the Palais du Rhin (1883-1889), formerly a German imperial palace. On the southeast side is the National and University Library (1889-1894; ca. three million volumes), with the Conservatoire de Musique (1889-1894) to the right. A little way northwest is the Roman Catholic church of St-Pierre-le-Jeune (1889-1893), with an imposing dome.

Citadel

East of the University in Strasbourg is the old Citadel, built in 1682-1684 as the central element in Vauban's system of fortifications. It is now an attractive park, laid out in 1967.

Hôpital Civil

1km/0.75mi west of the University in Strasbourg is the large complex of buildings occupied by the Hôpital Civil, one of France's largest teaching hospitals.

Palais de la Musique et des Congrès

1km/0.75mi north of the Place de la République, on the east side of the Place de Bordeaux, is the Maison de la Radio, the Strasbourg headquarters of the French radio and television service, and farther north, in a large park, is the hexagonal Palais de la Musique et des Congrès, an international congress center built in 1973-1975. Northeast of this is the Terrain d'Exposition (Exhibition Grounds), with an exhibition hall and ice rink, flanked by sports and recreation grounds.

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Palais de l'Europe

To the southeast of the Exhibition Grounds in Strasbourg, beyond the Ill, is the new Palais de l'Europe (1972-1977), near the older Maison de l'Europe. This is a fortress-like structure of nine stories with an interior courtyard containing the tent-like chamber in which the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe and the 434 members of the European Parliament meet.

Northeast of the Palais de l'Europe is the Palais des Droits de l'Homme, the headquarters of the Commission of Human Rights. To the southeast of the Palais de l'Europe extends the beautiful Parc de l'Orangerie, laid out in the early 19th C., with the Orangery built for the Empress Joséphine now used for exhibitions and receptions.

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Events

Highlights:	Bach Festival	Friend Fritz's Wedding, Marlenheim

More France Resources

Alsace tours & day trips by Viator

Map of Strasbourg Attractions

Map - Strasbourg