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Alsace (French: Alsace; Alsatian/German: Elsaß) is a région of
France. It is located on the eastern border of France, adjacent to Germany and Switzerland. Its capital and
largest city is Strasbourg (German: Straßburg).
Geography
Alsace has an area of 8280 km,2 making it the smallest région of metropolitan France. It is almost four times longer than it is wide, corresponding to a plain between
the Rhine in the east and the Vosges mountains in the west.
It includes the départements of Haut-Rhin and Bas-Rhin. It borders Germany on the north and the east, Switzerland and Franche-Comté on the south, and Lorraine on the west.
It contains many forests, primarily in the Vosges and in Bas-Rhin (Haguenau Forest). Several valleys are also found in the
région. Its highest point is the ballon de Guebwiller in Haut-Rhin, which reaches a
height of 1,426 m.
Alsace has a semi-continental climate with cold and dry winters and hot summers. There is little precipitation
because the Vosges protect it from the west. The city of Colmar has a sunny microclimate; it is the driest city in France, with an annual precipitation of just 550 mm, making it ideal
for vin d'Alsace (Alsatian wine).
History
In prehistoric times, Alsace was inhabited by nomadic hunters, but by 1500
B.C. Celts began to settle in Alsace, clearing and cultivating the land. By 58 B.C., the Romans had invaded and established
Alsace as a center of viticulture. To protect this highly valued industry,
the Romans built fortifications and military camps that evolved into various communities which have been inhabited continuously
to the present day.
With the decline of the Roman Empire, Alsace became the territory of the
Alamanni. The Alamanni were agricultural people, and their language formed the
basis of the modern-day Alsatian dialect. The Franks drove the Alamanni out of Alsace
during the 5th century, and Alsace then became part of the Kingdom of Austrasia. Alsace remained under Frankish control until the Frankish realm was formally dissolved in 843 at the Treaty of Verdun.
In time, Alsace became part of the Holy Roman Empire and was
under the administration of the Austrian House of Habsburg. Alsace, along with
Lorraine has long been contested territory between France and Germany, and most of
Alsace was ceded to France at the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, the conclusion of the
Thirty Years War. Meanwhile, Alsace experienced great prosperity
during the 12th and 13th
centuries under the Hohenstaufen Emperors, but this
prosperity was terminated in the 14th century by a series of harsh winters,
bad harvests, and the bubonic plague. These hardships were blamed on
Jews, leading to the vicious pogroms of 1336 and 1339. During the Renaissance, prosperity returned to Alsace under Habsburg administration.
The City of Strasbourg was annexed by France during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Since 500, the area had been predominantly
populated by Germans and they fought efforts to have French language
and customs imposed upon them. Both Alsace and Lorraine were ceded to the new German Empire after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870
causing an estimated 50,000 people (of a total population of about a million) to emigrate to France. Alsace remained a part of
Germany until the end of World War I, when Germany ceded it back to France
under the Treaty of Versailles. Unlike the some eastern German territories ceded to Poland at this time, Alsace was not given the
opportunity of a plebiscite. The President of the United States Woodrow
Wilson, believed that the region legally should have been self-ruling, as its Constitution had stated it was bound to the
sole authority of the Kaiser and not to the German State.
After World War I the re-establishment of German identity in Alsace was reversed, as Germans who had settled in Alsace since
1871 were expelled. Policies forbidding the use of German and
requiring that of French were then intoroduced. Curiously, the region was not considered to be subject to some changes in French
law from 1871 to 1919, such as the Law of Separation of the Church and the State.
The region was annexed by Germany in 1940 during World War II and reincorporated into the Greater German Reich. Alsace was merged with Baden and Lorraine with
the Saarland. The annexation, while putting a halt to the anti-German discrimination, subjected the region to the Nazi dictatorship, which was loathed by most or all of the people. The war-torn area was given
again in 1944 to France, which restored its policy of promoting the French language. For
instance, from 1945 to 1984 the use of the German in newspapers was restricted to a maximum of 25%. In more recent years, as
national consciousness has become diluted, cultural freedom has been gradually restored.
Politics
Alsace is one of the most conservative régions of France. It is one of just two régions in metropolitan France where the right won the 2004 regional elections and thus controls
the conseil régional. The president of the conseil régional is Adrien Zeller, a member of the Union for a Popular Movement.
Economy
According to INSEE, Alsace had a gross domestic product of 44.3 billion euros in 2002. With a
GDP per capita of 24,804 €, it was the second-place région of France, losing only to Île-de-France. 68% of its jobs are in the services; 25% are
in industry, making Alsace one of France's most industrialized régions.
Demographics
Alsace's population increased to 1,734,145 in 1999. It has regularly increased over
time, except in wartime, by both natural growth and migration. This
growth has even accelerated at the end of the 20th century.
INSEE estimates that its population will grow 12.9% to 19.5% between 1999 and 2030.
With a density of 209/km², Alsace is the third most densely populated région in metropolitan France. The population is mostly of Germanic origin.
Religion
Most of the Alsatian population are Roman Catholic, but there is a significant Protestant community.
Culture
Historically part of the Holy Roman Empire, the region has passed between French and German control numerous times, resulting
in a rich cultural blend. It traditionally belongs, however, to the German Kulturkreis, as any glance at traditional
buildings in the towns and villages and at placenames will confirm.
Language
In the beginning of the 21st century, the language most spoken in Alsace
is standard French.
The traditional language of the region is Alsatian, an
Alemannic dialect of Upper
German. Alsatian is closest to Swiss German. Some Frankish dialects of West Middle German are also spoken in the extreme north of Alsace. Neither Alsatian nor the Frankish
dialects have any form of official status, as is customary for regional languages in France, although both are now recognized as languages of France and can be chosen as subject in French high schools.
A few valleys in the west of Alsace, at the border with Lorraine, were always
outside of the Germanic languages area, and dialects of Lorraine French were spoken there ever since the Middle Ages.
It is important to understand that since 1945 the influence of standard French has been ever increasing in Alsace, and today Alsace is
largely a French-speaking area. More often assumed to be a bilingual area (French/Alsatian), Alsace is actually evolving fast
toward a situation of total French monolingualism. People above 70 still speak Alsatian at home, but the younger generations use
French even at home, and the vast majority of people below 30 do not understand Alsatian anymore. This situation has provoked a
sort of desire to preserve the traditional Alsatian language, which is perceived as in danger in front of French, a situation
paralleled in other regions of France with regional languages such as Brittany or
Occitania. Alsatian is now taught in French high schools, but the overwhelming
presence of French media make the survival of Alsatian uncertain among younger generations.
The linguistic situation of Alsace can be summed up like this: the region is fast evolving toward a situation where standard French is the only language used at home and at work, whereas an
increasing number of people have a good knowledge of standard German
as a foreign language learnt in school.
Cuisine
Alsatian cuisine, strongly influenced by the Germanic culinary traditions, is
marked by the use of pork in various forms. Traditional dishes include baeckeoffe, tartes flambées
(flammekueche), choucroute, and fleischnackas. The south of Alsace,
also called Sundgau, is characterized by
carpe frite.
The festivities of the year's end involve the production of a great variety of biscuits and small cakes called brédalas as well as pain d'épice, which are given to
children starting on Saint Nicholas Day.
A wine-producing region, Alsace wines are primarily white. Its wines, which have a strong Germanic influence,
are called vins d'Alsace. It produces some of the world's most
noted dry rieslings and is the only région in France to produce mostly
varietal wines, typically from grapes also
used in Germany.
Alsace is also the main beer-producing région of France, thanks primarily to
breweries in and near Strasbourg.
These include those of Kronenbourg,
Fischer, Heineken, Météor, and Kanterbräu.
Hops are grown in Kochersberg and in northern Alsace. Schnapps is also
traditionally made in Alsace, but it is in decline because home distillers
are becoming less common and the consumption of traditional, strong, alcoholic beverages is decreasing.
Additionally, Alsace is known for its fruit juices and its mineral and spring
waters.
Notable Alsatians
See also: List of
Alsatians and Lorrainians
External links
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