Paris1972-Versailles2003

We have driven in the area and would like to have an imprint in my blog on the wonderful towns of my belle France. There is so much to see , doing my best, and glad found me these older paper pictures which now transposing in my blog for you and me, Do see my other post on the City in my blog ; this one will be in my black and white series,no pictures, but the memories are the same forever, Therefore, here is my take on this is Strasbourg !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

The City of Strasbourg is located in the European community of Alsace;in the Bas-Rhin dept no 67 in the Grand Est region of my belle France. Capital of the historic region of Alsace, it is bordered by the Rhine and directly border with Germany. It is 217 km fromf Frankfurt , 259 km from Luxembourg, 466 km from Paris, 466 km from Brussels, 69 km from Colmar, 530 km from Versailles and 987 km from my current house,

Strasbourg is located on an east-west axis which connects it on the one hand to Paris via Reims and Nancy/Metz on the autoroute/highway A4, and on the other hand in Munich via Stuttgart (E52). The city is also placed on a north-south axis which connects it on the one hand south of France via Lyon by the A6 and A7 autoroute/highway,and on the other hand to Frankfurt Sur-le-Main via Karlsruhe (E35) . Strasbourg is also connected to Germany by two bridges: the Pont de l’Europe, located east of the city and the Pont Pierre-Pflimlin, located in the southern section, and which allows better service to cities of ‘Offenburg and Friborg. When in town I parked by place Gutenberg underground parking easy walk all over.

Other things to see and enjoy in this City, me think are : the Palais des Rohan is also remarkable. It is notably one of the rare buildings of the period to use light sandstone and not pink. This former episcopal palace was built between 1728 and 1741. Its façade is decorated with numerous sculptures of religious or mythical figures. Today it houses three museums: the archaeological museum, the museum of fine arts and the museum of decorative arts. Near Place Broglie, we find the Hôtel de Klinglin, built between 1731 and 1736 at the request of François-Joseph de Klinglin, then royal lender of the city. It housed the Bas-Rhin prefecture for a time, and is now the residence of the prefect. Right next door, the building of the Municipal Theatre (where the Opéra national du Rhin plays), was built between 1804 and 1821. In the La Robertsau district, the Pourtalès castle is a remarkable monument. Built in the 18C, it was remodeled several times during the 19C and early 20C. The pavilions were enlarged, an English-style park was created, and a new building was built. Today, this castle is owned by an American university, the Schiller International University. Indeed, on the Place de la République, there are several characteristic buildings, such as the Palais du Rhin, a former imperial palace built between 1883 and 1888. The current Strasbourg National Theatre is another important building. Built between 1888 and 1899, it initially hosted the sessions of the Regional Delegation. In 1911, it became the Parliament of Alsace-Lorraine, Landtag, until the end of the First World War. Attached since 1972 to the Ministry of Culture, it is the first national theater established in the provinces the National and University Library of Strasbourg in neo-Renaissance style, inaugurated in 1895. Today, with its three million works, it is the second library in France.

Strasbourg has been marked by the various Germanic, then German and French administrations. Its rich and tormented history has left a remarkable architectural heritage with unique cultural influences. Strasbourg has also become the symbol of Franco-German reconciliation and more generally of European integration. It is sometimes referred to as the “parliamentary capital of the European Union”. It is the official seat of the European Parliament, which holds its twelve annual plenary sessions there, and of the European Ombudsman, but also of the Council of Europe (separate from the European Union) on which the European Court of Human Rights and the European Pharmacopoeia depend. The architecture is an interesting specificity of the city, because it is deeply bicultural. The historic center includes many half-timbered houses, particularly in the Petite France district, near the civil hospital (Finkwiller district) and the cathedral. These houses were mostly built between the 17-18C; the most emblematic are the Kammerzell house and the tanners’ house, the Renaissance with the Neue Bau and Classicism with the Rohan Palace and the Aubette. From the arrival of Louis XIV, Strasbourg adopted certain French architectural codes, in particular the construction of private mansions: the Hanau Hotel (current city hall, Place Broglie), the Deux-Ponts Hotel, the Episcopal Palace, the Klinglin Hotel (current residence of the prefect). Between 1880 and 1914, the German quarter, known as the Neustadt (“new town” in German) was built. It forms a particularly homogeneous ensemble with a predominantly residential character and a typically Germanic neo-Renaissance style for the Rhine Palace (former imperial palace), neo-Gothic for the Post Office Hotel, neo-classical for the historic campus; We also note the presence of Art Nouveau buildings (notably Allée de la Robertsau, at the intersection of Rue Foch and Rue Castelnau, and the Palais des Fêtes) which make Strasbourg one of the centres of this architecture. German monumental architecture of the 19th century across the Place de la République (Palais du Rhin, prefecture, general treasury, national and university library and national theatre).

The Church Sainte-Madeleine destroyed by fire in 1904, preserves the choir of the old 15C convent church as well as the remains of a Gothic cloister and frescoes. The church was destroyed a second time in 1944 and was not rebuilt until 1958. The Saint-Étienne Church, located within the grounds of the episcopal college of the same name, was built in 1210. Today, only the transept and the apse remain of the church. The crypt presents the remains of the 5C Roman basilica. The Saint-Jean Church is striking for its very particular architecture, with its tiny bell tower and immense roof. Built in 1477 in a Gothic style, it came under the control of the Hospitallers of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem in 1687. It is the last church of the Order remaining in Strasbourg . It was damaged by bombing in 1944 and restored twenty years later. The Church of Saint Louis, the first incarnation of this church, was built in 1687 following the visit of Louis XIV. Destroyed by fire in 1805, it was rebuilt in 1825. Its priests are currently members of the Totus Tuus association and celebrate in both forms of the Roman rite. In the middle of the Avenue de la Forêt-Noire, is the Church of Saint Maurice. This former garrison church, built between 1895 and 1898 in a neo-Gothic style, has the particularity of being visible from the Place de Haguenau, thus forming a long perspective. The Church of Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune, in neo-Byzantine style ,notably the superb dome with some Romanesque influences, also dates from the end of the 19C.

The city is characterized, due to its history, by a strong Protestant presence. The Lutheran church of Saint-Guillaume is particularly picturesque. Completed in 1667, the work is distinguished by a flagrant obliquity and pre-Renaissance stained glass windows. This church also contains an exceptional recumbent tomb from the 14C, the Church of Saint-Nicolas, in Gothic style. Its construction began in 1381, but the bell tower was not built until 1585. This Protestant church has medieval frescoes. Albert Schweitzer played the organ there. The Sainte-Aurélie Church has a baroque nave, an organ and a clock. Some elements of the original 12C church are still visible today. However, it has been remodeled several times, including in 1765. Built not far from the Petite France district, the Saint-Thomas Church was built at the end of the 12C. Protestant since 1524, it is of a very particular architectural type since it is a hall church with five naves of equal height, thus opposing the usual basilica-plan church design. It preserves in its choir the famous tomb of the Marshal of Saxe, whose author is the 18C sculptor Jean-Baptiste Pigalle. Mozart and Albert Schweitzer played on its organ. The Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux Church, another special religious building, is made up of two perpendicular buildings: a Protestant church and a Catholic church. The Protestant part was built between 1381 and 1428, where the simultaneum was imposed by Louis XIV in 1683. New developments were undertaken in 1867 with the construction of a separate Catholic church. Other work was carried out at the beginning of the 20C. The Protestant Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune Church houses a remarkable rood screen, a recently renovated cloister, 14C frescoes and a Merovingian tomb from the 6C. The church was begun in the middle of the 12C and was remodeled several times. Having become simultaneous in 1681 under the orders of Louis XIV, the church became solely Protestant again in 1893. The Temple-Neuf Church, built in 1260 by the Dominicans, became the first reformed parish. Indeed, from 1538 this church became the place of worship for Protestants and John Calvin preached there between 1538 and 1541. A new church was built between 1873 and 1876, in a neo-Romanesque style. Its bell tower rises to a height of 60 meters.

A certain number of Orthodox churches are present in Strasbourg, in particular by Byzantine rite: Serbian, Russian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Greek churches in the Port du Rhin district, the premises of the Protestant Chapel of the Rencontre (meeting) are used for offices of the Saint-Jean-Cassien Orthodox parish ;dependent on the Vicariate Sainte-Marie-de-Paris-et-Saint-Alexis-d’Ugine, bringing together parishes of Russian tradition within the Greek Orthodox metropolis of France, the latter even canonically attached to the ecumenical patriarchy of Constantinople. The Serbian Saint-Georges Orthodox Church was completed in 2007 in the Koenigshoffen district. The Orthodox Church in Tout-les-Saints is located on the banks of the Marne Au Rhin canal, in the Quinze district. It is wearing a golden bulb culminating at 42 meters high and also has a cultural center. It is devoted by Patriarch Cyrille de Moscow on May 26, 2019

Strasbourg has a very important Jewish community, the Jews were however banished from the city for exactly four centuries (from 1389, following the pogrom of Strasbourg, to 1789), when they then reinstall themselves massively in the villages and small towns in the surrounding area . From the 19C, Alsace was by far the region in which the greatest number of French of Hebrew confession lived. There are several synagogues, including the Grande synagogue de la Paix near the parc du Contades, the Cronenburg synagogue and the Synagogue of Meinau.

The City had last count 35 places of Muslim worship, mosques and prayer rooms located in the Heyritz district, the Great Mosque of Strasbourg was open to worship on August 1, 2011, on the 1st day of Ramadan 1432. It is the second largest mosque in France, it is officially inaugurated on September 27, 2012.

The city also has strong links with Buddhism. Thus, the France Tibet Libre association and the international high school of Pontonniers organized the arrival of the Dalai Lama, in the 1980s, and regular exchanges with Buddhist monks are maintained. The Zen Buddhism Center of Strasbourg was founded by Maître Deshimaru in 1970. It was located rue des Magasins in the Halles district

A bit of history ,condense that I like tell us that from the 7C, under the impulse of Bishop Arbogast, a first cathedral was built on the site of an ancient Roman sanctuary used by Christians since the 4C (current Saint-Etienne Church) under the Merovingian era , Strasbourg becomes a royal city but remains of very modest size, In 842, the city welcomes Charles II the Bald and Louis II of Germania who combine against their brother Lothaire for the sharing of the Empire bequeathed by their grandfather Charlemagne and pronounce The Oaths of Strasbourg, the oldest text written in Romanesque language (ancestor of French, among others) and in the tudesque language (ancestor of German), In 843, the Treaty of Verdun attributes Strasbourg to Lothaire. But shortly after his death, in 870, the city returned to Louis the Germanic. In 962, Otton the Great founded the Holy Roman Empire and Strasbourg will experience a period of expansion. During the 10C, the Roman enclosures were repaired and the construction of a new cathedral began in 1015. In the 12C new fortified enclosures and a hospital was born while the construction of the current cathedral begins in 1180 while keeping the Roman heart of the old.

In 1201, Philippe de Souabe raise Strasbourg to the rank of a free city. Shortly after, in 1220, the municipal council was born. But in 1260, Walter de Geroldseck was elected bishop of Strasbourg and demanded that they are restored to him full powers. Very quickly, a war broke out between the Strasbourg and the episcopal army. In 1262, the prelate was defeated in the battle of Hausbergen, by the Strasbourg troops, well helped by Rodolphe I of the Holy Empire in 1371, the banker Rulman Merswin founded the “Maison de l’Ori-Verte” intended to become a hermitage for laymen eager to live an authentically evangelical life in the heart of the city. He buys the convent to the trinaritaries to entrust him to the hospital workers of the Order of Saint-Jean de Jerusalem. The commandery becomes one of the Hauts-Lieux of the Rhine mysticism where the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Maximilien 1st d’Austria will stay several times between 1492 and 1507, and who also hosted pontifical legates passing through Strasbourg. Commandery Saint-Jean was evacuated on January 16, 1633 and the premises closed. In March 1633, the demolition of the commandery was engaged. There is only the small pavilion of the hospital of 1547 from this time, with its facade adorned with windows painted in trompe-l’oeil , At the end of the 14C, a new expansion of the city is undertaken on this set remain the Cloister of the Sainte-Madeleine Church and that of Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune or the Saint-Jean commandery. In 1439, after four centuries of construction, the arrow of the Notre-Dame Cathedral was completed. It is then the highest monument of Christianity and symbolizes the power of the city.

The city will be up to the Thirty Years War, one of the major centers of the war ammunition trade (weapons, armor, accessories and powder) in Europe . At the beginning of the 15C, there was a period of conflicts between the Strasbourg bourgeois governing the city, with the Alsatian nobility. Intellectual life was marked in the 15C by the printing revolution. Born in Mainz and installed in Strasbourg since 1434, Johannes Gensfleisch, known as Johannes Gutenberg, designs the printing of mobile characters indeed, humanism and reform are the significant facts of the time and Strasbourg is one of the first cities that calls to change. As early as 1519, the theses of Martin Luther were displayed at the gates of the cathedral, the city adopted the reform in 1525 and became Protestant in 1532 with the membership of the
Confession of Augsburg . Strasbourg was then one of the main bastions of the Protestant reform, which will largely contribute to its influence. The city becomes a host land for the Huguenots, these Protestants chased from France for their belief. Among them, notably Jean Calvin who will settle later in Geneva.

In the 1530s, Emperor Charles V, Catholic, went to war against Protestant princes and their allies and defeated them in 1547 at the Battle of Muehlberg. In 1592, after endless deliberations, the cathedral was shared in two with the election of two bishops: a Catholic and a Protestant. Then begins the long war of the bishops who will plunge the city into important financial difficulties. This conflict, which lasted until 1604, resulted in the victory of the Catholics, Charles de Lorraine becoming the only bishop of the city throughout Europe, the tension rises between the Protestants and the Catholics and in 1618, the war of thirty Years bursts. Strasbourg , sheltered in his fortifications did not intervene in the conflict , At the end of the war in 1648, by the Westphalia treaties , part of Alsace (the possessions of the Habsburgs) is attached to France , But Strasbourg remains an imperial free city. On September 28, 1681, the city was besieged by an army under the command of Louis XIV and two days later, after rapid negotiations, Strasbourg accepted the surrender , On October 24, 1681, King Louis XIV made a sumptuous entry in the City to the sound of bells and cannons to celebrate the annexation of the city to France , which was confirmed in 1697 by the Ryswick Treaty, In fact, Louis XV will stay in Strasbourg during the Austrian War. In addition, Strasbourg is home to around 6,000 French soldiers, mostly based at the Citadel of Vauban whose work began in 1682 , In 1704, a prince of the Rohan family became bishop of the city. the family will retain episcopal power until 1790 and built the famous Palais des Rohan de Strasbourg, located very close to the cathedral, on the banks of the Ill. In 1716, shortly after the death of Louis XIV, French societies of colonization of America decided to make a vast appeal to Alsatian emigration, in particular Strasbourg. Advertisements attracts Alsatians in Louisiana, which found the city of Des Allemands. When on July 14, 1789 the Bastille fell into the hands of the revolutionaries, the Strasbourg population rises up.On April 26, the young Rouget de l’Isle composed, at the request of the mayor of Strasbourg, a song for the army of the Rhine without suspecting that it will become a symbol of the French revolution by becoming the
Marseillaise , That same year, François Christophe Kellermann, native of Strasbourg, is appointed head of the Moselle army, with which he won the battle of Valmy, arresting enemy troops in Verdun and Longwy, and saves France. He will then be appointed Duke of Valmy by Napoleon in 1808 in memory of his historical role.

As of August 1870, the Prussians, under the command of General August von Werder, invaded Alsace and besiege Strasbourg . The city is poorly prepared and its fortified 18C enclosure is not suitable for modern artillery fire ;on September 28, 1870, after more than a month of discontinuous bombing, Strasbourg surrended and the Prussians enter the city. The Frankfurt Treaty , signed on May 10, 1871, attached Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin (except the borough of Belfort), part of the Moselle, part of the Meurthe and some towns of the Vosges to the German Empire. Strasbourg becomes the capital of the Reichsland Elsass-Lothringen. The locals come out traumatized from this war, and the attachment of the city to Germany is very badly experienced , After WWI by the Treaty of Versailles , Alsace-Moselle is returned to France . After the armistice of June 22, 1940, Alsace-Lorraine was, in fact, annexed to the third Reich. Unlike the annexation from 1871 to 1918, the two Alsatian departments and the Moselle were not united. Alsace becomes the CDZ-Gebiet Elsass (Bas-Rhin 67 and Haut-Rhin 68) and is integrated into the Gau Baden-Elsaß. From 1942, the indoctrination was compulsory and the young people of Alsace and Moselle were forcibly enlisted in the Nazi army. Despite been sent to the Russian front and very few of them will return, Strasbourg is liberated quite easily, thanks to the speed of the offensive led by General Leclerc, and thanks to the equally rapid surrender of General Vaterrodt. On November 23, 1944, the French flag was hoisted at the top of the cathedral.

The City of Strasbourg on its heritage : https://int.strasbourg.eu/en/outstanding-sites-and-monuments

The Strasbourg tourist office on its heritage : https://www.visitstrasbourg.fr/en/welcome-in-strasbourg/

The Alsace European Community tourist office on Strasbourg : https://www.visit.alsace/en/strasbourg/

There you go folks, a dandy area to explore and enjoy with the family, Memorable moments in my belle France, driving all over in my road warrior trails brings out sublime awesome spots with nice memorable family visits of yesteryear always remember and always looking forward to be back, eventually. Again hope you enjoy the post on this is Strasbourg as I.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!