Flammekueche

25 August 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon appétit Reading Time:  5 minutes

© Rama/CeCill licence

© Rama/CeCill licence

Flammekueche (Alsatian), Flammkuchen (Standard German), or tarte flambée (French), is a speciality of the region of Alsace, German-speaking Moselle, Baden and the Palatinate. It is composed of bread dough rolled out very thinly in the shape of a rectangle or oval, which is covered with fromage blanc or crème fraîche, thinly sliced onions and lardons.   read more…

Place de la République in Strasbourg

28 April 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  7 minutes

© Zairon/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Zairon/cc-by-sa-4.0

Place de la République (“Republic Square”; former German: Kaiserplatz, “Imperial Square”) is one of the main squares of the city of Strasbourg, France. It is surrounded on three sides by five buildings only, of which none is residential: the Palais du Rhin, the National and University Library, the Théâtre national de Strasbourg, the Préfecture of Grand Est and Bas-Rhin, and the tax center Hôtel des impôts. All of these buildings are classified as monuments historiques. The fourth side of the square is devoid of buildings.   read more…

Illhaeusern in Alsace

27 April 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  3 minutes

© Bernard Chenal/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Bernard Chenal/cc-by-sa-4.0

Illhaeusern (German: Illhäusern) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.   read more…

Eguisheim in Alsace

25 April 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

© Svein-Magne Tunli - tunliweb.no/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Svein-Magne Tunli – tunliweb.no/cc-by-sa-4.0

Eguisheim is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It lies in the historical region of Alsace. The village lies on the edge of the Ballons des Vosges Nature Park, where the Vosges meet the Upper Rhine Plain. Eguisheim is about 7 kilometres (4 mi) from Colmar.   read more…

Riquewihr in Alsace

15 April 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  4 minutes

© flickr.com - Pug Girl/cc-by-2.0

© flickr.com – Pug Girl/cc-by-2.0

Riquewihr is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. A popular tourist attraction for its historical architecture, Riquewihr is also known for the Riesling and other wines produced in the village. Riquewihr looks today more or less as it did in the 16th century. It is located on the Route des Vins (The Wines Road), close to Colmar.   read more…

Strasbourg Cathedral

8 April 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  6 minutes

The west front © Claude Truong-Ngoc/cc-by-sa-3.0

The west front © Claude Truong-Ngoc/cc-by-sa-3.0

Strasbourg Cathedral or the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg (French: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg, or Cathédrale de Strasbourg, German: Liebfrauenmünster zu Straßburg or Straßburger Münster), also known as Strasbourg Minster, is a Catholic cathedral in Strasbourg, Alsace, France. Although considerable parts of it are still in Romanesque architecture, it is widely considered to be among the finest examples of Rayonnant Gothic architecture. Architect Erwin von Steinbach is credited for major contributions from 1277 to his death in 1318, and beyond through his son Johannes von Steinbach, and his grandson Gerlach von Steinbach, who succeeded him as chief architects. The Steinbachs’s plans for the completion of the cathedral were not followed through by the chief architects who took over after them, and instead of the originally envisioned two spires, a single, octagonal tower with an elongated, octagonal crowning was built on the northern side of the west facade by master Ulrich von Ensingen and his successor, Johannes Hültz. The construction of the cathedral, which had started in the year 1015 and had been relaunched in 1190, was finished in 1439.   read more…

Neustadt in Strasbourg

5 April 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  8 minutes

Palais du Rhin © Chabe01/cc-by-sa-4.0

Palais du Rhin © Chabe01/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Neustadt (German for New Town) is a district of Strasbourg, Bas-Rhin, France. In 2017, the heart of the district was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, as an extension of the site including the older city centre (Grande Île) and Strasbourg Cathedral. The district is a unique example of city planning, merging the Haussmannian model with elements of German architecture and urban planning.   read more…

Petite France in Strasbourg

25 March 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  12 minutes

place Benjamin-Zix © Claude Truong-Ngoc/cc-by-sa-3.0

place Benjamin-Zix © Claude Truong-Ngoc/cc-by-sa-3.0

La Petite France, in Alsatian dialect: Französel (also known as the Quartier des Tanneurs; German: Gerberviertel; “Tanner’s Quarter”) is the south-western part of the Grande Île of Strasbourg in Alsace in eastern France, the most central and characteristic island of the city that forms the historic center. The district is bounded to the north by the Quai de la Bruche (Brischstade), the rue du Bain-aux-Plantes, the Place Benjamin-Zix and the rue des Dentelles; to the east by the Rue du Pont-Saint-Martin, the Pont Saint-Thomas (Thomas Bridge) and the Mills footbridge; to the south by the Channel of Zorn-Mühle; to the west by the Covered Bridges.   read more…

European Quarter in Strasbourg

18 March 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, EU blog post series, European Union Reading Time:  5 minutes

European Parliament © Jose Huwaidi/cc-by-sa-4.0

European Parliament © Jose Huwaidi/cc-by-sa-4.0

The European Quarter is spread over an area covering the districts of Wacken, Orangerie and Robertsau in the north-west of Strasbourg, France, and comprising the intersection of the River Ill and the Marne-Rhine Canal and has held the European Heritage Label since 2015. The first specific European building in the area was the Council of Europe‘s Palace of Europe in 1949, with the Rhine Commission being located towards the centre of the city. The European Audiovisual Observatory and the Institute for Human Rights are the only institutions in the quarter to have moved into pre-existing premises: a 1900 villa and an 18th-century former postal relay station and inn turned conventual building, respectively. The Arte headquarters, previously disseminated on several buildings across the town, were united in a single spacious building close to the Louise Weiss building in 2003.   read more…

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