The word Sauerkraut in Alsatian has the form sûrkrût, same as in other southwestern German dialects, and means "sour cabbage" as its Standard German equivalent. Like all regional languages in France, however, the transmission of Alsatian is on the decline. The survey counted 548,000 adult speakers of Alsatian in France, making it the second most-spoken regional language in the country (after Occitan). Although the French government signed the European 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. However, Alsatian, along with other regional languages, are recognized by the French government in the official list of languages of France.
However, the abandoned Maurice-Lemaire tunnel towards Saint-Dié-des-Vosges was rebuilt as a toll road. Thus, a proportion of the HGVs travelling from north Germany to Switzerland or southern Alsace bypasses the A5 on the Alsace-Baden-Württemberg border and uses the untolled French A35 instead. 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.
Roads
- While 39% of the adult population of Alsace speak the dialect, only one in four children speak it, and only one in ten children uses it regularly.
- 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.
- In the postwar years, however, French hegemony reclaimed Alsace, though some cultural ties to Germany remained.
- Long a center of the German-speaking world, after the end of the Thirty Years’ War, southern Alsace was annexed by France in 1648, with most of the remainder conquered later in the century.
- 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.
- However, Alsatian, along with other regional languages, are recognized by the French government in the official list of languages of France.
In addition to the AOC, the notes “Late Harvest” (Récoltes Tardives) and “Selection of Noble Grains” (Sélection des Grains Nobles) designate rare wines, which are most often the most mellow or syrupy. The wines of Alsace (except for sparkling wine) are still sold in gracefully-shaped bottles, which are named “Alsace flûtes”. In Alsace, the wines are mostly named after the variety of the grapes and not after the land on which they are produced. The local microclimate is favourable for the slow and prolonged ripening of grapes and the formation of grapes of great slotrize casino no deposit bonus finesse.
Struggle between France and united Germany
Many Alsatians campaigned to obtain some recognition of their local status concerning local administration and dialect. In the prosperous city of Strasbourg, the bourgeoisie took over the local authority of the bishop. In addition to these three dynasties, the region was divided into many territories meshed with each other, operating under the authority of little lords, laymen or clergymen. In 58 BC, Julius Caesar’s troops conquered the region and brought with them the Roman culture, built roads and imported vines.
The area was conquered by the Roman legions of Julius Caesar in the 1st century bce and had been profoundly Romanized by the time of the invasion of the Alemanni in the 5th century ce. A network of motorways traverses Alsace, and a regional airport is located in Strasbourg. Textile manufacturing, based in and around Mulhouse, is one of the region’s oldest industries, though now it has little importance. Parts of the alluvial plain of Alsace (e.g., west of Strasbourg) are devoted to cereals, but industrial crops are also widely cultivated and include sugar beets, hops, and tobacco.
The touristic itinerary Route Romane d’Alsace (Romanesque Road of Alsace) links the region’s best examples of Romanesque architecture in Alsace. Like the rest of France, only the spire of the parish church signals the presence of colourful and elegant villages between two hills. At each mountainside, the road travels along bucolic countrysides, opening up views of mountain passes, rounded mountains, lakes, rocks, pastures and forests of majestic pines.
The Vosges Mountains
Since the 1st January 2016, the administrative region of Alsace has been part of the new Grand Est region along with Lorraine and Champagne-Ardenne. In the postwar years, however, French hegemony reclaimed Alsace, though some cultural ties to Germany remained. During the interwar years, German influence remained strong in the two recovered régions, and in the early 1940s Alsace was once again annexed by Germany, for the duration of World War II.
At about this time, the surrounding areas experienced recurring fragmentation and reincorporations among a number of feudal secular and ecclesiastical lordships, a common process in the Holy Roman Empire. 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). From the time of Augustus to the early fifth century AD, the area of Alsace was incorporated into the Roman province of Germania Superior. In 58 BC, after negotiations with Ariovistus failed, Julius Caesar routed the Suebi at the foot of the Vosges near what became Cernay in southern Alsace. 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." By 4000 BC, farming arrived in the form of Linear Pottery culture in the region from the Danube and the Hungarian plain.
Un Noël de Rêve en Alsace
Strasbourg and the region of Wissembourg were the main bastions of Protestantism, while the rest of Alsace remained Catholic and loyal to the Habsburgs. Strasbourg officially became Protestant in 1532, along with Basel, Montbéliard, Mulhouse and Zurich to the south. French is the most commonly spoken language in Alsace nowadays. It is common to see new official bilingual street signs in Alsatian cities and villages.
Between 100,000 and 130,000 Alsatians (of a total population of about a million and a half) chose to remain French citizens and leave Reichsland Elsaß–Lothringen, many of them resettling in French Algeria as Pieds-Noirs. France ceded more than 90% of Alsace and one-fourth of Lorraine, as stipulated in the treaty of Frankfurt; Belfort, the largest Alsatian town south of Mulhouse, remained French. Antisemitic local riots occasionally occurred, especially during the Revolution of 1848. However, local antisemitism also increased and Napoleon turned hostile in 1806, imposing a one-year moratorium on all debts owed to Jews.
As an administrative entity, it encompassed the départements of Haut-Rhin (“Upper Rhine”) and Bas-Rhin (“Lower Rhine”) and was bounded by the régions of Lorraine to the west and Franche-Comté to the southwest. A string of picturesque villages, well-known wine-producing towns and exceptional landscapes await you, for a delicious getaway. The line plans to link up the interchange of Hœrdt to the north of Strasbourg, with Innenheim in the southwest. At present, plans are being considered for building a new dual 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 A4 toll road (towards Paris) begins 20 km (12 mi) northwest of Strasbourg and the A36 toll road towards Lyon, begins 10 km (6.2 mi) west from Mulhouse.
Others ventured to Canada to settle in southwestern Ontario, notably Waterloo County. 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. On the other hand, Mömpelgard (Montbéliard) to the southwest of Alsace, belonging to the Counts of Württemberg since 1397, remained a Protestant enclave in France until 1793. A stop on the Paris-Vienna-Orient trade route, as well as a port on the Rhine route linking southern Germany and Switzerland to the Netherlands, England and Scandinavia, it became the political and economic center of the region. Part of the province of Germania Superior in the Roman Empire, the area went on to become a diffuse border region between the French and the German cultures and languages.
- From Colmar, next to the foothills and at the base of the Vosges mountains, clouds arriving from the West are forced to rise and fall as precipitation over the high summits, hence protecting the lower area from rain.
- At each mountainside, the road travels along bucolic countrysides, opening up views of mountain passes, rounded mountains, lakes, rocks, pastures and forests of majestic pines.
- To the north-west of Bas-Rhin the landscape changes as you enter the Regional Natural Park of Vosges du Nord.
- Hunspach is one of our favourite Alsace villages, in part because of the many well maintained gardensSee Hunspach
- Alsace is one of the regions of France that has retained the most medieval castles.
- In 58 BC, after negotiations with Ariovistus failed, Julius Caesar routed the Suebi at the foot of the Vosges near what became Cernay in southern Alsace.
As in previous times, these castles still seem to dominate the Alsace Plain even today, watching over the Vosges valleys, communication channels and sometimes the abbeys. Even if they are for the most part in ruins, their silhouettes, perched at the top of the Vosges Mountains, have been a part of the countryside for centuries, thus defying time. More than 500 are situated here, mostly distributed from north to south, in the foothills of the Vosges. Alsace is one of the regions of France that has retained the most medieval castles.
In spite of consecutive wars between Germany and France, which have severely affected Alsace, the region has been able to protect its rich heritage of churches and castles. The hilly region is covered with pine, beech and oak woods, orchards, pastures, fields and ponds filled with carp, dotted with a multitude of wealthy villages. Located between the Plain of Alsace, the Rhine River, the Vosges and the Jura mountains, the Sundgau region has its own distinctive geographic character. These villages are gems of the wine country and often comprise old medieval ramparts, winding alleyways that bloom with magnificent geraniums, winstubs, half-timbered houses and medieval churches. The position of Alsace within the Holy Roman Empire at the time of the Reformation further complicated the fragile political balance in the Upper Rhine region.
Alsace is furthermore famous for its vineyards (especially along the 170 km of the Route des Vins d'Alsace from Marlenheim to Thann) and the Vosges mountains with their thick and green forests and picturesque lakes. Derived from the above, "Alsatia" was historically a cant term for the area near Whitefriars, London, which was for a long time a sanctuary. The bird practically disappeared around 1970, but re-population efforts are continuing.
