Until 1871, Alsace included the area now known as theTerritoire de Belfort, which formed its southernmost part. From 1982 to 2016, Alsace was the smallest administrativerégion inmetropolitan France, consisting of theBas-Rhin andHaut-Rhindepartments. Territorial reform passed by the French Parliament in 2014 resulted in the merger of the Alsace administrative region withChampagne-Ardenne andLorraine to formGrand Est. On 1 January 2021, the departments of Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin merged into the newEuropean Collectivity of Alsace but remained part of the region Grand Est.
Alsatian is anAlemannic dialect closely related toSwabian, although since World War II mostAlsatians primarily speak French. Internal and international migration since 1945 has also changed the ethnolinguistic composition of Alsace. For more than 300 years, from theThirty Years' War toWorld War II, the political status of Alsace was heavily contested between France and various German states in wars and diplomatic conferences. The economic and cultural capital of Alsace, as well as its largest city, isStrasbourg, which sits on the present German international border. The city is the seat ofseveral international organizations and bodies.
The nameAlsace can be traced to theOld High GermanAli-saz orElisaz, meaning "foreign domain".[10] An alternative explanation is from aGermanicEll-sass, meaning "seated on theIll",[11] a river in Alsace.
In prehistoric times, Alsace was inhabited by nomadic hunters. Part of the province ofGermania Superior in the Roman Empire, the area went on to become a diffuse border region between the French and the German cultures and languages. Long a center of the German-speaking world, after the end of theThirty Years' War, southern Alsace was annexed by France in 1648, with most of the remainder conquered later in the century. In contrast to other parts of France, Protestants were permitted to practise their faith in Alsace even after theEdict of Fontainebleau of 1685 that abolished their privileges in the rest of France.
After the 1870–71Franco-Prussian War, Alsace was annexed by Germany and became a part of the 1871unifiedGerman Empire as a formal "Emperor's Land". AfterWorld War I the victorious Allies detached it from Germany and the province became part of theThird French Republic. Having been occupied and annexed by Germany duringWorld War II, it was returned to France by the Allies at the end ofWorld War II.
The presence of hominids in Alsace can be traced back 600,000 years.[12] By 4000 BCE farming, in the form ofLinear Pottery culture, arrived in the region from the Danube and the Hungarian plain. The culture was characterized by "timber longhouse settlements and incised pottery ... favoring floodplain edge situations for their permanent villages ... [and] small clearings in the forest" for their crops and animals."[13]
By 100 BCE Germanic peoples, including eventually theSuebi and other tribes underAriovistus, had begun to intrude into areas along the upper Rhine and Danube long settled byCelticGauls. Alsace itself had come to be occupied by theTriboci, a Germanic tribe allied with Ariovistus.[14]
In response to the threat posted byAriovistus, theAedui, a Celtic tribe allied to Rome, appealed to the Roman Senate and Julius Caesar for aid. In 58 BCE, after negotiations with Ariovistus failed,Julius Caesar routed the Suebi at the foot of the Vosges near what became Cernay in southern Alsace.[15][16] There followed a "long period of security ... for the Gauls along the middle and upper Rhine."[15]
From the time ofAugustus to the early fifth century AD, the area of Alsace was incorporated into the Roman province ofGermania Superior.[17] As a border province, the Romans built fortifications and military camps, many of which, includingArgentoratum (Strasbourg), evolved into modern towns and cities.[18]
In 357 CE, Germanic tribes attempted to conquer Alsace but they were rebuffed by the Romans.[12] With thedecline of the Roman Empire, Alsace became the territory of the GermanicAlemanni. The Alemanni were agricultural people, and their Germanic language formed the basis of modern-day dialects spoken along the Upper Rhine (Alsatian, Alemannian, Swabian, Swiss).Clovis and theFranks defeated the Alemanni during the 5th century AD, culminating with theBattle of Tolbiac, and Alsace became part of theKingdom of Austrasia. Under Clovis'Merovingian successors the inhabitants were Christianized. Alsace remained under Frankish control until theFrankish realm, following theOaths of Strasbourg of 842, was formally dissolved in 843 at theTreaty of Verdun; the grandsons ofCharlemagne divided the realm into three parts. Alsace formed part of theMiddle Francia, which was ruled by the eldest grandsonLothar I.
Lothar died early in 855 and his realm was divided into three parts. The part known asLotharingia, or Lorraine, was given to Lothar's son. The rest was shared between Lothar's brothersCharles the Bald (ruler of theWest Frankish realm) andLouis the German (ruler of theEast Frankish realm). The Kingdom of Lotharingia was short-lived, however, becoming thestem duchy ofLorraine in Eastern Francia after theTreaty of Ribemont in 880. Alsace was united with the other Alemanni east of the Rhine into the stemduchy of Swabia.
At about this time, the surrounding areas experienced recurring fragmentation and reincorporations among a number offeudal secular and ecclesiastical lordships, a common process in theHoly Roman Empire. Alsace experienced great prosperity during the 12th and 13th centuries underHohenstaufen emperors.
Seal ofAlbert IV, Count of Habsburg (d.1239), inscribed in Latin (with abbreviations):SIGILLUM ALBERTI (COMIS) DE HABESB(URG) ET LANGRAVII ALSACTIAE ("seal of Albert of Habsburg, Count of Habsburg and Landgrave of Alsace")
Frederick I set up Alsace as a province (aprocuratio, not aprovincia) to be ruled byministeriales, a non-noble class of civil servants. The idea was that such men would be more tractable and less likely to alienate thefief from the crown out of their own greed. The province had a single provincial court (Landgericht) and a central administration with its seat atHagenau.Frederick II designated theBishop of Strasbourg to administer Alsace, but the authority of the bishop was challenged by CountRudolf of Habsburg, who received his rights from Frederick II's sonConrad IV. Strasbourg began to grow to become the most populous and commercially important town in the region.
In 1262, after a long struggle with the ruling bishops, its citizens gained the status offree imperial city. A stop on theParis-Vienna-Orient trade route, as well as a port on the Rhine route linkingsouthern Germany and Switzerland to the Netherlands, England andScandinavia, it became the political and economic center of the region. Cities such asColmar andHagenau also began to grow in economic importance and gained a kind of autonomy within the "Décapole" (or "Zehnstädtebund"), a federation of ten free towns.
Though little is known about the early history of theJews of Alsace, there is a lot of information from the 12th century onwards. They were successful as moneylenders and had the favor of the Emperor.[19] As in much of Europe, the prosperity of Alsace was brought to an end in the 14th century by a series of harsh winters, bad harvests, and theBlack Death. These hardships were blamed on Jews, leading to thepogroms of 1336 and 1339. In 1349, Jews of Alsace were accused of poisoning the wells withplague, leading to the massacre of thousands of Jews during theStrasbourg pogrom.[20] Jews were subsequently forbidden to settle in the town. An additional natural disaster was theRhine rift earthquake of 1356, one of Europe's worst which made ruins ofBasel. Prosperity returned to Alsace underHabsburg administration during theRenaissance.
Holy Roman Empire central power had begun to decline following years of imperial adventures in Italian lands, often ceding hegemony in Western Europe to France, which had long since centralized power. France began an aggressive policy of expanding eastward, first to the riversRhône andMeuse, and when those borders were reached, aiming for the Rhine. In 1299 the French proposed a marriage alliance betweenBlanche (sister ofPhilip IV of France) andRudolf (son ofAlbert I of Germany), with Alsace to be the dowry; however, the deal never came off. In 1307, the town ofBelfort was first chartered by the Counts ofMontbéliard. During the next century, France was to be militarily shattered by theHundred Years' War, which prevented for a time any further tendencies in this direction. 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. It took up winter quarters, demanded the submission ofMetz andStrasbourg and launched an attack onBasel.
In 1469, following theTreaty of St. Omer [fr], Upper Alsace was sold by ArchdukeSigismund of Austria toCharles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. Although Charles was the nominal landlord, taxes were paid toFrederick III, Holy Roman Emperor. The latter was able to use this tax and a dynastic marriage to his advantage to gain back full control of Upper Alsace (apart from the free towns, but including Belfort) in 1477 when it became part of the demesne of the Habsburg family, who were also rulers of the empire. The town of Mulhouse joined theSwiss Confederation in 1515, where it was to remain until 1798.
By the time of theProtestant Reformation in the 16th century, Strasbourg was a prosperous community, and its inhabitants accepted Protestantism in 1523.Martin Bucer was a prominent Protestant reformer in the region. His efforts were countered by the Roman Catholic Habsburgs who tried to eradicate heresy in Upper Alsace. As a result, Alsace was transformed into a mosaic of Catholic and Protestant territories. On the other hand,Mömpelgard (Montbéliard) to the southwest of Alsace, belonging to the Counts ofWürttemberg since 1397, remained a Protestant enclave in France until 1793.
This situation prevailed until 1639, when most of Alsace was conquered by France to keep it out of the hands of theSpanish Habsburgs, who bysecret treaty in 1617 had gained a clear road to their valuable and rebellious possessions in theSpanish Netherlands, theSpanish Road. Beset by enemies and seeking to gain a free hand inHungary, the Habsburgs sold theirSundgau territory (mostly in Upper Alsace) to France in 1646, which had occupied it, for the sum of 1.2 millionThalers. When hostilities were concluded in 1648 with theTreaty of Westphalia, most of Alsace was recognized as part of France, although some towns remained independent. The treaty stipulations regarding Alsace were complex. Although the French king gained sovereignty, existing rights and customs of the inhabitants were largely preserved. France continued to maintain its customs border along theVosges mountains where it had been, leaving Alsace more economically oriented to neighbouring German-speaking lands. The German language remained in use in local administration, in schools, and at the (Lutheran)University of Strasbourg, which continued to draw students from other German-speaking lands. The 1685Edict of Fontainebleau, by which the French king ordered the suppression ofFrench Protestantism, was not applied in Alsace. France did endeavour to promote Catholicism.Strasbourg Cathedral, for example, which had been Lutheran from 1524 to 1681, was returned to the Catholic Church. However, compared to the rest of France, Alsace enjoyed a climate ofreligious tolerance.
Louis XIV receiving the keys of Strasbourg in 1681
France consolidated its hold with the 1679Treaties of Nijmegen, which brought most remaining towns under its control. France seized Strasbourg in 1681 in an unprovoked action. These territorial changes were recognised in the 1697Treaty of Ryswick that ended theWar of the Grand Alliance.But Alsace still contained islands of territory nominally under the sovereignty of German princes and an independent city-state at Mulhouse. These enclaves were established by law, prescription and international consensus.[21]
Alsatian sign, 1792: Freiheit Gleichheit Brüderlichk. od. Tod (Liberty Equality Fraternity or Death) Tod den Tyranen (Death to Tyrants) Heil den Völkern (Long live the Peoples)
The year 1789 brought the French Revolution and with it the first division of Alsace into the départements ofHaut- andBas-Rhin. Alsatians played an active role in the French Revolution. On 21 July 1789, after receiving news of theStorming of the Bastille in Paris, a crowd of people stormed the Strasbourg city hall, forcing the city administrators to flee and putting symbolically an end to the feudal system in Alsace. In 1792,Rouget de Lisle composed in Strasbourg the Revolutionary marching song "La Marseillaise" (asMarching song for the Army of the Rhine), which later became the anthem of France. "La Marseillaise" was played for the first time in April of that year in front of themayor of StrasbourgPhilippe-Frédéric de Dietrich. Some of the most famous generals of the French Revolution also came from Alsace, notablyKellermann, the victor ofValmy,Kléber, who led the armies of the French Republic inVendée, andWestermann, who also fought in the Vendée.
Mulhouse (a city in southern Alsace), which had been part of Switzerland since 1466, joined France in 1798.[12]
At the same time, some Alsatians were in opposition to theJacobins and sympathetic to the restoration of the monarchy pursued by the invading forces ofAustria andPrussia who sought to crush the nascentrevolutionary republic. Many of the residents of theSundgau made "pilgrimages" to places likeMariastein Abbey, nearBasel, in Switzerland, for baptisms and weddings. When theFrench Revolutionary Army of the Rhine was victorious, tens of thousands fled east before it. When they were later permitted to return (in some cases not until 1799), it was often to find that their lands and homes had been confiscated. These conditions led to emigration by hundreds of families to newly vacant lands in theRussian Empire in 1803–4 and again in 1808. A poignant retelling of this event based on whatGoethe had personally witnessed can be found in his long poemHermann and Dorothea.
In response to the"hundred day" restoration ofNapoleon I of France in 1815, Alsace along with other frontier provinces of France was occupied by foreign forces from 1815 to 1818,[22] including over 280,000 soldiers and 90,000 horses in Bas-Rhin alone. This had grave effects on trade and the economy of the region since former overland trade routes were switched to newly openedMediterranean andAtlantic seaports.
The population grew rapidly, from 800,000 in 1814 to 914,000 in 1830 and 1,067,000 in 1846. The combination of economic and demographic factors led to hunger, housing shortages and a lack of work for young people. Thus, it is not surprising that people left Alsace, not only for Paris – where the Alsatian community grew in numbers, with famous members such asGeorges-Eugène Haussmann – but also for more distant places like Russia and theAustrian Empire, to take advantage of the new opportunities offered there: Austria had conquered lands in Eastern Europe from theOttoman Empire and offered generous terms to colonists as a way of consolidating its hold on the new territories. Many Alsatians also began to sail to the United States, settling in many areas from 1820 to 1850.[23] In 1843 and 1844, sailing ships bringing immigrant families from Alsace arrived at the port of New York. Some settled in Texas and Illinois, many to farm or to seek success in commercial ventures: for example, the sailing shipsSully (in May 1843) andIowa (in June 1844) brought families who set up homes in northern Illinois and northern Indiana. Some Alsatian immigrants were noted for their roles in 19th-century American economic development.[24] Others ventured to Canada to settle in southwesternOntario, notablyWaterloo County.
In contrast to the rest of France, the Jews in Alsace had not been expelled during the Middle Ages. By 1790, theJewish population of Alsace was approximately 22,500, about 3% of the provincial population. They were highly segregated and subject to long-standingantisemitic regulations. They maintained their own customs,Yiddish language, and historic traditions within the tightly knit ghettos; they adhered to Jewish law. Jews were barred from most cities and instead lived in villages. They concentrated in trade, services, and banking. They financed about a third of the mortgages in Alsace. Official tolerance grew during the French Revolution, with full emancipation in 1791. However, local antisemitism also increased and Napoleon turned hostile in 1806, imposing a one-year moratorium on all debts owed to Jews.[25] In the 1830–1870 era, most Jews moved to the cities, where they integrated and acculturated, as antisemitism sharply declined. By 1831, the state began paying salaries to official rabbis, and in 1846 a special legal oath for Jews was discontinued. Antisemitic local riots occasionally occurred, especially during the Revolution of 1848. The merger of Alsace into Germany in 1871–1918 lessened antisemitic violence.[26] The constitution of theReichsland of 1911 reserved one seat in the first chamber of theLandtag for a representative of the Jewish Consistory of Alsace–Lorraine (besides two seats respectively for the two main Christian denominations).
We Germans who know Germany and France know better what is good for the Alsatians than the unfortunates themselves. In the perversion of their French life they have no exact idea of what concerns Germany.
TheFranco-Prussian War, whichstarted in July 1870, saw France defeated in May 1871 by theKingdom of Prussia and other German states. The end of the war led to theunification of Germany.Otto von Bismarck annexed Alsace and northern Lorraine to the newGerman Empire in 1871. France ceded more than 90% of Alsace and one-fourth of Lorraine, as stipulated in thetreaty of Frankfurt;Belfort, the largest Alsatian town south of Mulhouse, remained French. Unlike other member states of the German federation, which had governments of their own, the newImperial territory of Alsace–Lorraine was under the sole authority of theKaiser, administered directly by the imperial government in Berlin. Between 100,000 and 130,000 Alsatians (of a total population of about a million and a half) chose to remain French citizens and leaveReichsland Elsaß–Lothringen, many of them resettling inFrench Algeria asPieds-Noirs. Only in 1911 was Alsace–Lorraine granted some measure of autonomy, which was manifested also in a flag and an anthem (Elsässisches Fahnenlied). In 1913, however, theSaverne Affair (French: Incident de Saverne) showed the limits of this new tolerance of the Alsatian identity.
An Alsatian woman in traditional costume, photographed byAdolphe Braun in the 1870s
During the First World War, to avoid ground fights between brothers, many Alsatians served as sailors in theKaiserliche Marine and took part in the Naval mutinies that led to the abdication of the Kaiser in November 1918, which left Alsace–Lorraine without a nominal head of state. The sailors returned home and tried to found an independent republic. WhileJacques Peirotes, at this time deputy at theLandrat Elsass–Lothringen and just electedmayor of Strasbourg, proclaimed the forfeiture of the German Empire and the advent of theFrench Republic, a self-proclaimed government of Alsace–Lorraine declared its independence as the "Republic of Alsace–Lorraine". French troops entered Alsace less than two weeks later to quash the worker strikes and remove the newly established Soviets and revolutionaries from power. With the arrival of the French soldiers, many Alsatians and local Prussian/German administrators and bureaucrats cheered the re-establishment of order.[29]
Although U.S. PresidentWoodrow Wilson had insisted that therégion was self-ruling by legal status, as its constitution had stated it was bound to the sole authority of the Kaiser and not to the German state, France would allow no plebiscite, as granted by theLeague of Nations to some eastern German territories at this time, because the French regarded the Alsatians as Frenchmen liberated from German rule. Germany ceded the region to France under theTreaty of Versailles.
Policies forbidding the use of German and requiring French were promptly introduced.[30] In order not to antagonize the Alsatians, the region was not subjected to some legal changes that had occurred in the rest of France between 1871 and 1919, such as the1905 French law on the separation of Church and State.
German stamps ofHindenburg marked with "Elsaß" (1940)
Alsace–Lorraine was occupied by Germany in 1940 during the Second World War. Although it was never formally annexed, Alsace–Lorraine was incorporated into theGreater German Reich, which had been restructured intoReichsgaue. Alsace was merged withBaden, and Lorraine with theSaarland, to become part of a plannedWestmark. During the war, 130,000 young men from Alsace and Lorraine were conscripted into the German armies against their will (malgré-nous). There were some volunteers for theWaffen SS.,[31] although they were outnumbered by conscripts of the 1926–1927 classes. Thirty of said Waffen SS were involved in theOradour-sur-Glane massacre (29 conscripts, one volunteer). A third of the malgré-nous perished on the Eastern front. In July 1944, 1500malgré-nous were released from Soviet captivity and sent toAlgiers, where they joined theFree French Forces.
Today, the territory is in certain areas subject to some laws that are significantly different from the rest of France, which is known as thelocal law.
In more recent years, the Alsatian language is again being promoted by local, national and European authorities as an element of the region's identity. Alsatian is taught in schools (but is not mandatory) as one of the regional languages of France. German is also taught as a foreign language in localkindergartens and schools. There is a growing network of schools proposing full immersion in Alsatian dialect and in Standard German, calledABCM-Zweisprachigkeit (ABCM -> Frenchacronym for "Association for Bilingualism in the Classroom from Kindergarten onwards", Zweisprachigkeit -> German for "Bilingualism"). However, theConstitution of France still requires that French be the only official language of the Republic.
German; German/Alsatian (86.8% - 1,492,347 people), French (11.5% - 198,318 people), Italian (1.1% - 18,750 people), German and a second language (0.4% - 7,485 people), Polish (0.1% - 1,410 people). Statistics from 1871. Over time, French declined to 10.9%
Alsace has an area of 8,283 km2, making it the smallestrégion ofmetropolitan France. It is almost four times longer than it is wide, corresponding to a plain between theRhine in the east and theVosges mountains in the west.
Severalvalleys are also found in therégion. Its highest point is theGrand Ballon inHaut-Rhin, which reaches a height of 1,424 m (4,672 ft). It contains many forests, primarily in theVosges and inBas-Rhin (Haguenau Forest).
Alsace has anoceanic climate at low altitude and acontinental climate at high altitude. There is fairly low precipitation because theVosges protect it from the west. The city ofColmar has asunnymicroclimate; it is the second driest city in France, with an annual precipitation of around 700 mm (28 in), making it ideal forvin d'Alsace (Alsatian wine).
Alsace's population increased to 1,919,745 in 2021.[3] It has regularly increased over time, except in wartime and shortly after the German annexation of 1871 (when many Alsatians who had opted to keep their French citizenship emigrated to France), by both natural growth andimmigration. High population growth during the post-WW2 economic boom of theTrente Glorieuses ended after the1973 oil crisis. Demographic growth picked up again in the 1990s and 2000s, but by the 2010s Alsace entered a new period of slow demographic growth.
Historical population of Alsace (within the borders set in 1871)
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found onPhabricator and onMediaWiki.org.
Sources: French and German censuses (1806-1871),[32] (1876–2021),[33][3]
At the 2018 census, 69.9% of the inhabitants of Alsace were natives of Alsace, 16.0% were born in the rest ofMetropolitan France, 0.5% were born inOverseas France, and 13.7% were born in foreign countries.[34] Nearly 44% of the immigrants come from Europe, in particular from Germany (natives of Germany residing in Alsace where housing is cheaper), Italy, Portugal and Serbia.[35][36] Since 2008, the number of Turkish immigrants living in Alsace has declined, whereas the number of Maghreban immigrants has risen less than the number of European immigrants.[37][35][36] The fastest growing groups of immigrants are those from Asia and from sub-Saharan Africa.[37][35][36]
Place of birth of residents of Alsace (at the 1968, 1975, 1982, 1990, 1999, 2008, 2013, and 2018 censuses)
^a Persons born abroad of French parents, such asPieds-Noirs and children of French expatriates. ^b An immigrant is by French definition a person born in a foreign country and who did not have French citizenship at birth. Note that an immigrant may have acquired French citizenship since moving to France, but is still listed as an immigrant in French statistics. On the other hand, persons born in France with foreign citizenship (the children of immigrants) are not listed as immigrants. ^cMorocco,Tunisia,Algeria
Alsace is generally seen as the most religious of all the French regions. Most of the Alsatian population isRoman Catholic, but, largely because of the region'sGerman heritage, a significantProtestant community also exists: today, theEPCAAL (a Lutheran church) is France's second largest Protestant church, also forming an administrative union (UEPAL) with the much smaller CalvinistEPRAL. Unlike the rest of France, theLocal law in Alsace–Moselle still provides for theNapoleonicConcordat of 1801 and theorganic articles, which provides public subsidies to the Roman Catholic,Lutheran, andCalvinist churches, as well as to Jewish synagogues; religion classes in one of these faiths are compulsory in public schools. The divergence in policy from the French majority is because the region was part ofImperial Germany when the1905 law separating the French church and state was instituted (for a more comprehensive history, seeAlsace–Lorraine). Controversy erupts periodically on the appropriateness of that legal disposition, as well as on the exclusion of other religions from the arrangement.
Following theProtestant Reformation, promoted by the local reformerMartin Bucer, the principle ofcuius regio, eius religio led to a certain amount of religious diversity in the highlands of northern Alsace. Landowners, who as "local lords" had the right to decide the religion that was allowed on their land, were eager to entice populations from the more attractive lowlands to settle and develop their property. Many accepted without discrimination Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinists, Jews andAnabaptists.Multiconfessional villages appeared, particularly in the region ofAlsace bossue. Alsace became one of the French regions boasting a thrivingJewish community and the only region with a noticeable Anabaptist population.Philipp Jakob Spener who foundedPietism was born in Alsace. The schism of theAmish under the lead ofJacob Amman from theMennonites occurred in 1693 inSainte-Marie-aux-Mines. The strongly CatholicLouis XIV tried in vain to drive them from Alsace. WhenNapoleon imposed military conscription without religious exception, most emigrated to the American continent.
In 1707, thesimultaneum forced many Reformed and Lutheran church buildings to also allow Catholic services. About 50 such "simultaneous churches" still exist in modern Alsace, but with the Catholic church's general lack of priests, they tend to hold Catholic services only occasionally.
Alsace historically was part of the Holy Roman Empire and the German realm of culture. Since the 17th century, the region has passed between German and French control numerous times, resulting in a cultural blend. German traits remain in the more traditional, rural parts of the culture, such as thecuisine and architecture, whereas modern institutions are totally dominated by French culture.
Strasbourg's arms are the colours of the shield of theBishop of Strasbourg (a band of red on a white field, also considered an inversion of the arms of the diocese) at the end of a revolt of the burghers during the Middle Ages who took their independence from the teachings of the Bishop. It retains its power over the surrounding area.
Rot-un-Wiss, the historical flagThe region's flag from 1949 to 2008
There is controversy around the recognition of the Alsatian flag. The authentic historical flag is theRot-un-Wiss; Red and White are commonly found on the coat of arms of Alsatian cities (Strasbourg, Mulhouse, Sélestat...)[41] and of many Swiss cities, especially inBasel's region. The German regionHesse uses a flag similar to the Rot-un-Wiss. As it underlines the Germanic roots of the region, it wasreplaced in 1949 by a new "Union jack-like" flag representing the union of the two départements. It has, however, no real historical relevance. It has been since replaced again by a slightly different one, also representing the two départements. With the purpose of "Francizing" the region, the Rot-un-Wiss has not been recognized by Paris. Some overzealous statesmen have called it a Nazi invention – while its origins date back to the 11th century and the Red and White banner[42] ofGérard de Lorraine (aka. d'Alsace). The Rot-un-Wiss flag is still known as the real historical emblem of the region by most of the population and the départements' parliaments and has been widely used during protests against the creation of a new "super-region" gatheringChampagne-Ardennes,Lorraine and Alsace, namely on Colmar's statue of liberty.[43]
Although Alsace has been part of France multiple times in the past, the region had no direct connection with the French state for several centuries. From the end of the Roman Empire (5th century) to the French annexation (17th century), Alsace was politically part of the German world.
During theLutheran Reform, the towns of Alsace were the first to adopt the German language as their official language instead ofLatin. It was in Strasbourg that German was first used for the liturgy. It was also in Strasbourg that the first German Bible was published in 1466.
From the annexation of Alsace by France in the 17th century and the language policy of the French Revolution up to 1870, knowledge of French in Alsace increased considerably. With the education reforms of the 19th century, the middle classes began to speak and write French well. 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]
Between 1870 and 1918, Alsace was annexed by the German Empire in the form of an imperial province or Reichsland, and the mandatory official language, especially in schools, became High German. French lost ground to such an extent that it has been estimated that only 2% of the population spoke French fluently, and only 8% had some knowledge of it (Maugue, 1970).
After 1918, French was the only language used in schools, particularly primary schools. After much argument and discussion and after many temporary measures, a memorandum was issued by Vice-Chancellor Pfister in 1927 and governed education in primary schools until 1939.
During a reannexation by Germany (1940–1945), High German was reinstated as the language of education. The population was forced to speak German and 'French' family names were Germanized. Following the Second World War, the 1927 regulation was not reinstated, and the teaching of German in primary schools was suspended by a provisional rectorial decree, which was supposed to enable French to regain lost ground. The teaching of German became a major issue, however, as early as 1946. After World War II, the French government pursued, in line with its traditionallanguage policy, a campaign to suppress the use of German as part of a widerFrancization campaign. The localGerman dialect was rendered a backward regional "Germanic" dialect not being attached to German.[44]
In 1951, Article 10 of theDeixonne Law (Loi Deixonne) on the teaching of local languages and dialects made provision forBreton,Basque,Catalan and oldProvençal but not forCorsican,Dutch (West Flemish) or Alsatian in Alsace andMoselle. However, in a Decree of 18 December 1952, supplemented by an Order of 19 December of the same year, optional teaching of the German language was introduced in elementary schools in communes in which the language of habitual use was the Alsatian dialect.
In 1972, the Inspector General of German, Georges Holderith, obtained authorization to reintroduce German into 33 intermediate classes on an experimental basis. This teaching of German, referred to as the Holderith Reform, was later extended to all pupils in the last two years of elementary school. This reform is still largely the basis of German teaching (but not Alsatian) in elementary schools today.
It was not until 9 June 1982, with theCirculaire sur la langue et la culture régionales en Alsace (Memorandum on regional language and culture in Alsace) issued by the Vice-Chancellor of the Académie Pierre Deyon, that the teaching of German in primary schools in Alsace really began to be given more official status. The Ministerial Memorandum of 21 June 1982, known as the Circulaire Savary, introduced financial support, over three years, for the teaching of regional languages in schools and universities. This memorandum was, however, implemented in a fairly lax manner.
Both Alsatian and Standard German were for a time banned from public life (including street and city names, official administration, and educational system). Though the ban has long been lifted and street signs today are often bilingual, Alsace–Lorraine is today predominantly French in language and culture. Few young people speak Alsatian today, although there do still exist one or two enclaves in theSundgau region where some older inhabitants cannot speak French, and where Alsatian is still used as the mother tongue. A relatedAlemannic German survives on the opposite bank of the Rhine, inBaden, and especially in Switzerland. However, while French is the major language of the region, the Alsatian dialect of French is heavily influenced by German and other languages such as Yiddish in phonology and vocabulary.
This situation has spurred a movement to preserve the Alsatian language, which is perceived as endangered, a situation paralleled in otherrégions of France, such asBrittany orOccitania. Alsatian is now taught in French high schools. Increasingly, French is the only language used at home and at work, and a growing number of people have a good knowledge ofstandard German as a foreign language learned in school.
The constitution of the Fifth Republic states that French alone is the official language of the Republic. However, Alsatian, along with other regional languages, are recognized by the French government in the official list of languages of France.
Although the French government signed theEuropean Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in 1992, it never ratified the treaty and therefore no legal basis exists for any of the regional languages in France.[45] However, visitors to Alsace can see indications of renewed political and cultural interest in the language – in Alsatian signs appearing in car-windows and on hoardings, and in new official bilingual street signs in Strasbourg and Mulhouse.
A 1999 INSEE survey, included in the 1999 Census, the majority of the population in Alsace speakFrench as their first language, 39.0% (or 500,000 people) of the population speakAlsatian, 16.2% (or 208,000 people) speakGerman, 75,200 people speakEnglish (or 5.9%) and 27,600 people speakItalian.[46]
The survey counted 548,000 adult speakers of Alsatian in France, making it the second most-spoken regional language in the country (afterOccitan). Like all regional languages in France, however, the transmission of Alsatian is on the decline. While 39% of the adult population of Alsace speak Alsatian, only one in four children speak it, and only one in ten children uses it regularly.
The traditional habitat of the Alsatian lowland, like in other regions of Germany and Northern Europe, consists of houses constructed with walls intimber framing and cob and roofing in flat tiles. This type of construction is abundant in adjacent parts of Germany and can be seen in other areas of France, but their particular abundance in Alsace is owed to several reasons:
The proximity to theVosges where the wood can be found.
During periods of war and bubonic plague, villages were often burned down, so to prevent the collapse of the upper floors, ground floors were built of stone and upper floors built in half-timberings to prevent the spread of fire.
During most of its history, a great part of Alsace was flooded by the Rhine every year. Half-timbered houses were easy to knock down and to move around during those times (a day was necessary to move it and a day to rebuild it in another place).
However, half-timbering was found to increase the risk of fire, which is why from the 19th century, it began to be rendered. In recent times, villagers started to paint the rendering white in accordance with Beaux-Arts movements. To discourage this, the region's authorities gave financial grants to the inhabitants to paint the rendering in various colours, in order to return to the original style and many inhabitants accepted (more for financial reasons than by firm belief).[citation needed]
Alsatian cuisine, somewhat based on German culinary traditions, is marked by the use of pork in various forms. It is perhaps mostly known for the region's wines and beers. Traditional dishes includebaeckeoffe,flammekueche,choucroute, andfleischnacka. Southern Alsace, also called theSundgau, is characterized bycarpe frite (that also exists inYiddish tradition).
The festivities of the year's end involve the production of a great variety of biscuits and small cakes calledbredela as well aspain d'épices (gingerbread cakes) which are baked around Christmas time. TheKugelhupf is also popular in Alsace, and theChriststollen during the Christmas season.[47]
A gastronomic symbol of therégion is theChoucroute, a local variety ofSauerkraut. The word Sauerkraut in Alsatian has the formsûrkrût, same as in other southwestern German dialects, and means "sour cabbage" as itsStandard German equivalent. This word was included into the French language aschoucroute. To make it, the cabbage is finely shredded, layered with salt andjuniper and left to ferment in wooden barrels. Sauerkraut can be served with poultry, pork, sausage or even fish. Traditionally it is served with Strasbourg sausage or frankfurters, bacon, smoked pork or smokedMorteau orMontbéliard sausages, or a selection of other pork products. Served alongside are often roasted or steamed potatoes or dumplings.
Alsace is also well known for itsfoie gras made in the region since the 17th century. Additionally, Alsace is known for its fruit juices and mineral waters.
Alsace is an importantwine-producingrégion.Vins d'Alsace (Alsace wines) are mostly white. Alsace produces some of the world's most noted dryrieslings and is the only region in France to produce mostlyvarietal wines identified by the names of the grapes used (wine fromBurgundy is also mainly varietal, but not normally identified as such), typically from grapes also used in Germany. The most notable example isGewurztraminer.
Alsace is also the main beer-producing region of France, thanks primarily tobreweries in and nearStrasbourg. These include those ofFischer,Karlsbräu,Kronenbourg, andHeineken International.Hops are grown inKochersberg and in northern Alsace.Schnapps is also traditionally made in Alsace, but it is in decline because homedistillers are becoming less common and the consumption of traditional, strong, alcoholic beverages is decreasing.
Thestork is a main feature of Alsace and was the subject of manylegends told to children. The bird practically disappeared around 1970, but re-population efforts are continuing. They are mostly found on roofs of houses, churches and other public buildings in Alsace.
TheEaster Bunny was first mentioned inGeorg Franck von Franckenau'sDe ovis paschalibus (About Easter eggs) in 1682 referring to an Alsace tradition of an Easter Hare bringing Easter eggs.
"Alsatia", the Latin form of Alsace's name, entered theEnglish 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 that time. It was used into the 20th century as a term for a ramshackle marketplace, "protected by ancient custom and the independence of their patrons". The word is still in use in the 21st century among the English and Australian judiciaries to describe a place where the law cannot reach: "In setting up theSerious Organised Crime Agency, the state has set out to create an Alsatia – a region of executive action free of judicial oversight,"Lord Justice Sedley in UMBS v SOCA 2007.[48]
According to theInstitut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques (INSEE), Alsace had a gross domestic product of 44.3 billion euros in 2002. With a GDP per capita of €24,804, it is the secondrégion of France, after onlyÎle-de-France, and 68% of Alsatian jobs are in theservices, and 25% are in industry, which makes Alsace one of France's most industrialisedrégions.
Alsace is arégion of varied economic activity, including:
hop harvesting and brewing (half of French beer is produced in Alsace, especially in the vicinity of Strasbourg, notably inSchiltigheim,Hochfelden,Saverne andObernai)
Having been early and always densely populated, Alsace is famous for its high number of picturesque villages, churches and castles and for the various beauties of its three main towns, in spite of severe destructions suffered throughout five centuries of wars between France and Germany.
Most major car journeys are made on theA35 autoroute, which links Saint-Louis on the Swiss border to Lauterbourg on the German border.
TheA4 toll road (towards Paris) begins 20 km (12 mi) northwest ofStrasbourg and theA36 toll road towards Lyon, begins 10 km (6.2 mi) west fromMulhouse.
Spaghetti junctions (built in the 1970s and 1980s) are prominent in the comprehensive system of motorways in Alsace, especially in the outlying areas of Strasbourg and Mulhouse. These cause a major buildup of traffic and are the main sources of pollution in the towns, notably in Strasbourg where the motorway traffic of the A35 was 170,000 per day in 2002.
At present, plans are being considered for building a newdual carriageway west of Strasbourg, which would reduce the buildup of traffic in that area by picking up north and southbound vehicles and getting rid of the buildup outside Strasbourg. The line plans to link up the interchange ofHœrdt to the north of Strasbourg, withInnenheim in the southwest. The opening is envisaged at the end of 2011, with an average usage of 41,000 vehicles a day. Estimates of the French Works Commissioner however, raised some doubts over the interest of such a project, since it would pick up only about 10% of the traffic of the A35 at Strasbourg. Paradoxically, this reversed the situation of the 1950s. At that time, the French trunk road left of the Rhine not been built, so that traffic would cross into Germany to use the Karlsruhe-Basel Autobahn.
To add to the buildup of traffic, the neighbouring German state ofBaden-Württemberg has imposed a tax on heavy-goods vehicles using theirAutobahnen. Thus, a proportion of the HGVs travelling from north Germany to Switzerland or southern Alsace bypasses theA5 on the Alsace-Baden-Württemberg border and uses the untolled FrenchA35 instead.
TER Alsace is the rail network serving Alsace. Its network is articulated around the city of Strasbourg. It is one of the most developed rail networks in France, financially sustained partly by the French railroadSNCF, and partly by therégion Alsace.
Because the Vosges are surmountable only by theCol de Saverne and theBelfort Gap, it has been suggested that Alsace needs to open up and get closer to France in terms of its rail links. Developments already under way or planned include:
theTGV Est (Paris – Strasbourg) had its first phase brought into service in June 2007, bringing down the Strasbourg-Paris trip from 4 to 2 hours 20 minutes, and further reducing it to 1h 50m after the completion of the second phase in 2016.
Port traffic of Alsace exceeds 15 million tonnes, of which about three-quarters is centred on Strasbourg, which is the second busiest French fluvial harbour. The enlargement plan of theRhône–Rhine Canal, intended to link up theMediterranean Sea and Central Europe (Rhine,Danube,North Sea andBaltic Sea) was abandoned in 1998 for reasons of expense and land erosion, notably in the Doubs valley.
Strasbourg is also two hours away by road from one of the largest European airports, Frankfurt Main, and 2 hours 30 minutes fromCharles de Gaulle Airport through the directTGV service, stopping in Terminal 2.
^Veve, Thomas Dwight (1992).The Duke of Wellington and the British army of occupation in France, 1815–1818, pp. 20–21. Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, United States.
^Caron, Vicki (2005)."Alsace". In Levy, Richard S. (ed.).Antisemitism: A Historical Encyclopedia of Prejudice and Persecution. Vol. 1. Abc-Clio. pp. 13–16.ISBN9781851094394.
^von Polenz, Peter (1999).Deutsche Sprachgeschichte vom Spätmittelalter bis zur Gegenwart. Vol. Band III: 19. und 20. Jahrhundert. Berlin/New York. p. 165.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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