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GETTING AROUND IN ALSACE
Get inspired by destinations chosen in this year's Best in Travel list. Most beautiful villages of France Alsace promises the journey of a lifetime! French Moments is about promoting the French culture and language through its website and social network.
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. Alsace is one of the regions of France that has retained the most medieval castles. The touristic itinerary Route Romane d’Alsace (Romanesque Road of Alsace) links the region’s best examples of Romanesque architecture in Alsace.
Gastronomy & Wines of Alsace
If you’re after great white wines, you’ll be in seventh heaven. Vines march up the hillsides to castle-topped crags and the mist-shrouded Vosges, and every so often an exquisitely preserved medieval village invites you to stop and soak up the atmosphere. Corkscrewing through glorious countryside, the entire route stretches 170km (105 miles) from Marlenheim. This is certainly not your typical Alsatian destination, but the area around Ensisheim, north of Mulhouse, will appeal to travelers after something different.
However, visitors to Alsace can see indications of renewed political and cultural interest in the language – in Alsatian signs appearing on hoardings and in car windows, as well as in new official bilingual street signs in Strasbourg and Mulhouse. 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 glitzbets casino registration where some older inhabitants cannot speak French, and where Alsatian is still used as the mother tongue.
Transportation in Alsace is generally convenient and efficient, making it relatively easy to explore the region, including the Alsace Wine Route. Alsace cuisine is a delightful fusion of French and German culinary traditions, reflecting the region’s rich history and cultural diversity. The region’s location in northeastern France, near the Vosges Mountains, also influences its climate.
With the purpose of "Francizing" the region, the Rot-un-Wiss has not been recognized by Paris. As it underlines the Germanic roots of the region, it was replaced in 1949 by a new "Union jack-like" flag representing the union of the two départements. The authentic historical flag is the Rot-un-Wiss; Red and White are commonly found on the coat of arms of Alsatian cities (Strasbourg, Mulhouse, Sélestat…) and of many Swiss cities, especially in Basel's region. Following the Protestant Reformation, promoted by the local reformer Martin Bucer, the principle of cuius regio, eius religio led to a certain amount of religious diversity in the highlands of northern Alsace. The divergence in policy from the French majority is because the region was part of Imperial Germany when the 1905 law separating the French church and state was instituted (for a more comprehensive history, see Alsace–Lorraine). Alsace is generally seen as the most religious of all the French regions.
- This is due to the region having belonged to the Holy Roman Empire until the 17th century, and also to the fact that the region has passed between German and French control four times between 1870 and 1945.
- 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).
- French Moments is about promoting the French culture and language through its website and social network.
- Castles of Alsace, a unique heritage in EuropeWelcome to the official #VisitAlsace destination website
- Like the rest of France, only the spire of the parish church signals the presence of colourful and elegant villages between two hills.
- Alsacea is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland.
Fascinating French Traditions Every Student Should Know Before Visiting France
- According to the Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques (INSEE), Alsace had a gross domestic product of 44.3 billion euros in 2002.
- The touristic itinerary Route Romane d’Alsace (Romanesque Road of Alsace) links the region’s best examples of Romanesque architecture in Alsace.
- 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.
- From the time of Augustus to the early fifth century AD, the area of Alsace was incorporated into the Roman province of Germania Superior.
- If you’re after great white wines, you’ll be in seventh heaven.
- After 1918, French was the only language used in schools, particularly primary schools.
In recent times, villagers started to paint the rendering white in accordance with Beaux-Arts movements. The traditional habitat of the Alsatian lowland, like in other regions of Germany and Northern Europe, consists of houses constructed with walls in timber framing and cob and roofing in flat tiles. 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.
Spectacular Things to Do in Eguisheim: Alsace’s “Preferred Village”
Like the rest of France, only the spire of the parish church signals the presence of colourful and elegant villages between two hills. 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.
Traditional costume
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. Many Alsatians campaigned to obtain some recognition of their local status concerning local administration and dialect. In 1354, an alliance of ten prosperous merchant towns of Alsace, the Décapole, was agreed upon, with imperial protection. 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.
Struggle between France and united Germany
The massif of the Vosges gradually gives way eastward to the plain of Alsace, while to the south the region of Sundgau in southern Haut-Rhin rises to the Jura Mountains. Fall in love with the most mythical of wine routes Alsace is the most bicycle-friendly region of France,citation needed with 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) of cycle routes. However, the abandoned Maurice-Lemaire tunnel towards Saint-Dié-des-Vosges was rebuilt as a toll road. 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. A gastronomic symbol of the région is the Choucroute, a local variety of Sauerkraut.
Colmar is the principal centre of the wine-growing region, whose vineyards extend in a narrow strip along the lower slopes of the Vosges west of the city. A string of picturesque villages, well-known wine-producing towns and exceptional landscapes await you, for a delicious getaway. "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 that time. The local German dialect was rendered a backward regional "Germanic" dialect not being attached to German. 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.
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. 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. Symbolically, the Route des Crêtes marks the border between Lorraine and Alsace, between the Romance and Germanic language worlds. The road follows a ridgeline route of 80km, linking the towns of Thann to Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines.