Alsace History, Culture, Geography, & Map

French Moments is about promoting the French culture and language through its website and social network. These gems of the wine country are often made up of old medieval ramparts, winding alleyways that bloom with magnificent geraniums, winstubs, vaults, half-timbered houses, and medieval churches. Several cities and villages along the Alsace Wine Route have since become famous and attract a very large crowd of visitors during the summer months and Christmas. It was greatly restored between 1901 to 1908 under the orders of Kaiser William II, a great admirer of medieval romanticism.

Language

The Alsace region is bordered by the German Länder of Rhineland-Palatinate to the north and to the east, across the Rhine, by Baden-Württemberg. The Alsace region covers an area of 8,280 km2 (190 km long by 50 km wide), which represents 1.5% of the total area of France. The end of the Second World War signalled that it was time for the reconstruction and reconciliation of the peoples of Europe. Alsace had changed hands four times within 75 years between France and Germany. Cultural life was, in part, suppressed by linguistic pressure from French authorities confronted by regional culture.

  • In 58 BC, Julius Caesar’s troops conquered the region and brought with them the Roman culture, built roads and imported vines.
  • With the arrival of the French soldiers, many Alsatians and local Prussian/German administrators and bureaucrats cheered the re-establishment of order.
  • High population growth during the post-WW2 economic boom of the Trente Glorieuses ended after the 1973 oil crisis.
  • Until 1871, Alsace included the area now known as the Territoire de Belfort, which formed its southernmost part.
  • The topography of Alsace, the Vosges and the Black Forest in Germany all play a major role in the local climate.
  • 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

The commercial partners of Alsace

Fall in love with the most mythical of wine routes In the hollow where the Lorraine plateau meets Northern Alsace lies a secret region with rich, rugged landscapes. Small in size but big in its diversity, Alsace is an endless source of surprises and variety, promising a truly exceptional time! Alsace is the most bicycle-friendly region of France,citation needed with 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) of cycle routes.

Les visites guidées en Alsace

"Alsatia", the Latin form of Alsace's name, entered the English language as "a lawless place" or "a place under no jurisdiction" prior to the 17th century as a reflection of the British perception of the region at slotrize casino no deposit bonus that time. The local German dialect was rendered a backward regional "Germanic" dialect not being attached to German. It is almost four times longer than it is wide, corresponding to a plain between the Rhine in the east and the Vosges mountains in the west.

  • Just one of many beautiful villages in Alsace, Eguisheim has numerous traditional half-timbered housesSee Eguisheim
  • The survey counted 548,000 adult speakers of Alsatian in France, making it the second most-spoken regional language in the country (after Occitan).
  • The alsatian industry has been facing diversification, particularly since 2004 when many potassium mines (Mines de potasse d’Alsace or MDPA) were closed for good.
  • The population grew rapidly, from 800,000 in 1814 to 914,000 in 1830 and 1,067,000 in 1846.
  • To appreciate the natural environment you can explore the Regional Natural Park of the Ballon des Vosges which occupies much of the western Haut-Rhin.

La Route des vins d’Alsace

It borders Germany on the north and the east, Switzerland and Franche-Comté on the south and Lorraine on the west. German is also taught as a foreign language in local kindergartens and schools. Alsatian is taught in schools (but is not mandatory) as one of the regional languages of France.

The constitution of the Fifth Republic states that French alone is the official language of the Republic. 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. 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. 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. Though the ban has long been lifted and street signs today are often bilingual, Alsace–Lorraine is today predominantly French in language and culture.
Symbolically, the Route des Crêtes marks the border between Lorraine and Alsace, between the Romance and Germanic language worlds. Throughout its course, it is sometimes in Lorraine and sometimes in Alsace. Many town names have become synonymous with rich traditions, friendliness, prosperity and great wines. Several cities and villages along the Alsace Wine Route have become famous and attract a very large crowd of visitors during the summer months and Christmas, where they have beautiful Christmas Markets.

Mulhouse (a city in southern Alsace), which had been part of Switzerland since 1466, joined France in 1798. "La Marseillaise" was played for the first time in April of that year in front of the mayor of Strasbourg Philippe-Frédéric de Dietrich. France continued to maintain its customs border along the Vosges mountains where it had been, leaving Alsace more economically oriented to neighbouring German-speaking lands. By the time of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, Strasbourg was a prosperous community, and its inhabitants accepted Protestantism in 1523. 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. 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.
This tragic wartime episode gave them the name “les Malgré-Nous” (“in spite of our will”). From that time, the Alsace region was ruled by France and remained under its national colours until 1871. The region was originally populated by Celtic tribes who founded Argentorate (now Strasbourg) towards the end of the 3rd century BC.