Strasbourg Overview

Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin department. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking, explaining the city's Germanic name. In 2006, the city proper had 272,975 inhabitants and its urban community 467,375 inhabitants. With 638,670 inhabitants in 2006, Strasbourg's metropolitan area (aire urbaine) (only the part of the metropolitan area on French territory) is the ninth largest in France. The transnational Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau had a population of 884,988 inhabitants in 2008.

Strasbourg is the seat of several European institutions, such as the Council of Europe (with its European Court of Human Rights, its European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and its European Audiovisual Observatory) and the Eurocorps, as well as the European Parliament and the European Ombudsman of the European Union. The city is the seat of the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine.

Strasbourg's historic city center, the Grande Île (Grand Island), was classified a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1988, the first time such an honor was placed on an entire city center. Strasbourg is fused into the Franco-German culture and although violently disputed throughout history, has been a bridge of unity between France and Germany for centuries, especially through the University of Strasbourg, currently the largest in France, and the coexistence of Catholic and Protestant culture. The largest Islamic place of worship in France, the Strasbourg Grand Mosque, was inaugurated by French Interior Minister Manuel Valls on 27 September 2012.

Economically, Strasbourg is an important center of manufacturing and engineering, as well as of road, rail, and river communications. The port of Strasbourg is the second largest on the Rhine after Duisburg, Germany. In terms of city rankings, Strasbourg has been ranked third in France and 18th globally for innovation.

Etymology

The city's Gallicized name is of Germanic origin and means "Town (at the crossing) of roads". The modern Stras- is cognate to the German Straße / Strasse which itself is derived from Latin strata ("street"), while -bourg (French for "village") is cognate to the German -burg ("fortress, town, citadel") and English borough. So the whole name would be roughly translated into English as "Fortress on the Street", or better, "Fortress on the Road" (or crossroads).

Skyline of Strasbourg
© Corbis/Nik Wheeler
(click to enlarge)

Geography

Strasbourg is situated on the Ill River, where it flows into the Rhine on the border with Germany, across from the German town Kehl. The city is situated in the Upper Rhine Plain, approximately 12 mi. (20 km) east of the Vosges Mountains and 16 mi. (25 km) west of the Black Forest.

The location and the resulting poor natural ventilation makes Strasbourg one of the most atmospherically polluted cities of France, although the progressive disappearance of heavy industry on both banks of the Rhine, as well as effective measures of traffic regulation in and around the city are showing encouraging results. The Grand contournement ouest (GCO) project, nurtured since 1999, plans the construction of a 15 mi. (24 km) long highway connection between the junctions of the A4 and the A35 autoroutes in the north and of the A4 and the A352 and A35 autoroutes in the south, meant to divert a significant portion of motorized traffic from the unité urbaine (metropolitan area).

Attractions

One of the best ways to get acquainted with Strasbourg is to take a Batorama boat tour (03.88.84.13.13) from Place de la Cathédrale, which lasts one hour and 10 minutes and costs €9,20 (€4,80 for children 3-18 years and students <25 years; free for <3 y.o.). Departures are every 30 minutes from March through October and during the Christmas season; in other months, tours happen four to eight times daily.

Another popular activity is the 40-minute minitrain tour (03.88.77.70.03), which costs €5.50 (€2.80 for children 4-18 years) and departs from Place du Château. Views along the way include La Petite-France (Little France district on the Grande Île), les Ponts Couverts (covered bridges), le barrage Vauban (fortifications), and more.

A Strasbourg Pass priced at €14 (€7 for juniors), available at the Tourism Office (17, place de la Cathédrale) and at several hotels, includes a boat tour before noon or after 5 p.m., a visit to one of the city's eight museums, free 1/2-day use of a bicycle, a view of the astronomical clock and an ascent to the Cathedral's platform – plus 50% discounts on several more activities.

Strasbourg Cathedral – Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg

Constructed when Strasbourg was a German city, Strasbourg Cathedral is nonetheless one of the most French of all German High Gothic churches. The cathedral was begun in 1175 in the Romanesque style, which marks its apse and transept. The new High Gothic style was adopted after 1235, when the nave, largely finished by 1275, was begun.

The design of the nave is closely based on that of the abbey church of Saint-Denis near Paris, as is evident in the compound piers, the huge clerestory windows, and especially the glazed triforium. The twin-towered west facade (only the north tower has a spire, which is 142 m/466 ft high) was begun in 1277 but not finished until about 1440. The splendid sculpture around the three west portals dates from the late 13th and early 14th centuries. A 14th-century astronomical clock is a major feature of the cathedral's interior.

Maison Kammerzell

Address: 16, place de la Cathédrale (next to the Office of Tourism)
Phone: 03.88.32.42.14

The Kammerzell house is one of most typical structures facing the Place de la Cathédrale, with the date 1467 engraved on the pediment of the door. At that time, the house belonged to Hans Joerger, a draper, who had occupied the premises since 1427. It was then acquired by the Staedel family before being sold to Martin Braun, a cheese maker, in 1571, who extended the house, building the upper floors in 1589.

In 1604, Braun's daughter married Robert Koenigsmann, better known as the "Anglais", for having brought tobacco plants back with him from England, which he then cultivated at what was known as the "Ferme d'Angleterre", a short distance from Fuchs Am Buckel. The house was then acquired by the Wohlleben family, followed by Jean Bernhardt, a merchant, whose son sold it to Jean François Fuchs, a grocer.

In 1806 it was purchased by Philippe-François Kammerzell, himself a grocer and native of Würzbourg. Sold at a public auction in 1879, it became an integral part of the heritage of the Oeuvre Notre Dame. Today, it houses a gourmet restaurant which rents the building from the Oeuvre.

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