Strasbourg

Strasbourg, France

Half-timbered houses of La Petite France reflecting on the Ill river at sunrise, with the Cathedral spire visible in the distance.

Strasbourg pairs a canal-cut Alsatian old town with the working seat of the European Parliament.

The place

Strasbourg is the capital and largest city of Grand Est, in historic Alsace, on the Upper Rhine plain in northeastern France where the Ill runs toward the Rhine. The commune is home to 293,771 people and lies at 150 metres. It is a prefecture and a border city, and the European Parliament sits here, so interpreters, flags and coach parties are part of the street, not a side trip. Several other European bodies work from the city as well, which gives the calendar a rhythm of sessions, security cordons and full hotels. Water shapes the centre. Channels of the Ill cut La Petite France, a quarter of half-timbered houses and mill races, and the Ponts Couverts, no longer covered, close the view with their towers. Nearby, the Rohan palace turns the riverbank to French classical stone. Beyond that, the Neustadt opens into wide avenues around Place de la République, the Palais du Rhin among the heavy imperial buildings. Medieval timber, French ceremony and German boulevards sit in one walk. The same ground has been filed under the Holy Roman Empire, France, the German Empire and Nazi Germany. That sequence shows up as bilingual names, Alsatian cooking next to French cafés, and a skyline with no single century in charge. The city is large enough for ordinary neighbourhoods and a tram network, and compact enough that the cathedral still marks direction from the quays. Practical updates are published on the official site, https://www.strasbourg.eu.

Its story

Strasbourg grows in the record out of the Roman camp Argentoratum, noted from 12 BCE, on fertile land between the Ill and the Rhine. Through the Middle Ages the bishops governed. Their hold was strengthened more than once, until Hausbergen in 1262, when the town broke that hold and continued as a self-governing imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1681 Louis XIV's forces brought Alsace, and Strasbourg with it, under the French crown. The classical palace on the river belongs to the long French period that followed. The border flipped in 1871, after the Franco-Prussian War: the city was placed in the Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine and stayed German until France recovered it in 1918. The broad Neustadt was laid out for that German chapter, which is why the avenues feel unlike the medieval island. The years of the world wars repeated the swing. German troops entered in June 1940 as France was defeated, and annexation put Strasbourg in the Gau Baden-Elsaß under Gauleiter Robert Wagner. In November 1944 General Leclerc's 2nd French Armoured Division took the city back. French rule has held since. The city's own record lists those sovereignties as the Holy Roman Empire, France, the German Empire, Nazi Germany and France again. Those changes were not only flags. A family could see the school language and the town hall switch more than once. The cathedral, underway for medieval centuries and finished by one tall tower, stayed the fixed object while armies passed. Hosting the European Parliament is the city's later reply to that record: institutions planted on a border so the border would matter less.

What to see

Culture

Strasbourg keeps a full musical and theatre calendar beside the comings and goings of the European institutions. Since 1975 the Palais de la musique et des congrès has been home to the Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg, an orchestra founded in 1855 and one of the oldest symphony orchestras in western Europe. The Opéra national du Rhin works here too, along with the Théâtre national de Strasbourg, the Percussions de Strasbourg and the Théâtre du Maillon. Smaller stages include the Théâtre jeune public, TAPS Scala and the Kafteur, and the Laiterie belongs on the same live-music circuit. Festivals mark the seasons without taking the city over. Autumn is Musica, devoted to contemporary classical music. Summer is the Festival international de Strasbourg, established in 1932, with classical programmes and jazz. Augenblick, a film meeting, has returned each year since 2005. A parliament plenary adds another kind of crowd: languages, security and full trams, then a quiet week after. Between those dates this is a French city with German-language traces in surnames, shop names and family custom, and with winstubs that still expect a long meal rather than a rushed table. In the cathedral, speak quietly, step aside for anyone who is praying, and do not use flash during a service.

What to wear

Strasbourg's folk dress is Alsatian rather than court French. For women the festive version centres on the coiffe, a large bow of black silk ribbon set on a small cap, worn with a white blouse, a fitted velvet bodice, a full skirt and an apron. Colour and size of the bow once marked a village and a kind of occasion; in the city today the costume comes out with folk groups and feast days, not for work. Men's festive clothes were a dark jacket, a red or black waistcoat, breeches and a wide hat, in wool and linen. The Musée Alsacien holds these garments beside plainer work clothes, which is the right place to see the textiles up close. Daily dress in Strasbourg is ordinary big-city French. Coats, scarves, trainers and dark jackets fill the tram; session weeks at the parliament add suits. The Rhine plain is cold in winter, so a warm coat matters, and summer can be warm enough for shirtsleeves. A light waterproof is worth packing in any month. Visitors can wear the same. Cobbles and bridge stones need shoes with a grip, not thin soles. The cathedral is a working church, so covered shoulders and knees are the respectful choice, and hats come off indoors. Alsatian festive costume is for an invitation, not for sightseeing.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. April, September and October are the easier months for walking the lanes, with August the hottest and May the wettest. High summer can be hot on the plain, and winter is cold. December fills the squares for the Christmas market, which suits some visits and exhausts others. Take a current forecast seriously.

How long. 3–4

Getting there. Strasbourg has its own airport. Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg, over the border, and the German airports at Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden and Stuttgart offer more flights, with a train or bus still to do; check those links close to the day. The TGV from Paris, including a connection from Charles de Gaulle, is often the simplest long leg into the main station. Details change, so confirm them rather than trusting a saved plan.

Budget. mid

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

Sources