Strasbourg Cathedral

Strasbourg Cathedral and its famous clock

At the heart of the historical center of Strasbourg, the superb Cathedrale of Notre Dame is like 'a pinky-red angel hovering over the city' in the words of the French poet and playwrite, Paul Claudel.

With its single tall spire pointing upwards like an admonishing finger, it dominates the landscape over much of Alsace, this Cathedral is the symbol of a proud and independent city which had been praised by Erasmus as possessing "a monarchy without tyranny, an aristocracy without factions, democracy without turmoil, wealth without luxury and prosperity without arrogance."



The west front looks particularly splendid on summer evenings, when the setting sun picks out every detail of the stonework.

Stendhal : "The vault of Strasbourg is one of the most striking monuments I have ever seen".

Goethe : "The more I contemplate the façade of the Cathedral, the more I am convinced of my first impression that its loftiness is linked to its beauty."

Victor Hugo : "The church portals are beautiful, particularly the Roman portal; there are truly superb figures on horseback, the rose-window is noble and well-cut, the entire front of the church is a clever poem. But the true triumph of this Cathedral is the spire. It is a veritable tiara of stone with its crown and its cross. It is a gigantic and delicate marvel. I have seen Chartres, I have seen Anvers, but I needed to see Strasbourg... From the belfry, the view is wonderful. Strasbourg lays at your feet, the old city of dentiled triangular roof tops and gable windows, interrupted by towers and churches as picturesque as those of any city in Flanders. Personally, I would go from one turret to another, admiring one by one, the view of France, Switzerland and Germany via one ray of sunshine."

Practical information

Open every day
from 7 am to 11.30 am and from 12.40 pm to 7pm
(free entrance). Cannot be visited during services.

What food is unique in Alsace : Onion Pie

ONION PIE

Ingredients
3 cups of peeled thinly sliced onion rings
3 tb of whipping cream or sour cream
3 eggs
3 tsp of butter
Sugar
Salt and pepper

Onion Pie Recipe (serve 6)

Step 1: Preheat oven at 375° F (190° C)

Step 2: Melt the butter and fry the onion rings until golden in a saucepan over medium heat, remove from fire when golden

Step 3: Beat the eggs with whipping cream or sour cream and add to the onion rings. Add salt and pepper and a hint of sugar

Step 4: Prick the pie shell with a fork. Pour the cream over the onions

Step 5: Spread onion ring mixture on pastry base

Step 6: Bake for 25/30 minutes at 355° F (180° C)

Serve hot!

Suggestion:
Remove from oven 10 minutes before end of baking time and sprinkle with gruyère cheese. Then bake for a further 10 minute

Find out what Food is unique in Alsace : Cherry Soup

CHERRY SOUP

Ingredients 1 3/4 lb black cherries (can be preserved)
3 tb sugar
2 tb butter
1 tb cornstarch or cornflour
Water
6 slices bread
2 tsp kirsch (cherry brandy)

Cherry Soup Recipe (serve 6)

Step 1: Clean and drain the cherries. Remove the stems.

Step 2: Place cherries in a sauce pan with sugar and kirsch. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook for 15 minutes.

Step 3: Melt 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet. Add bread slices and sauté until browned on both sides. Drain with paper towel. Add more butter if needed to brown all the slices.

Step 4: In a bowl, blend 1 tablespoon of cornflour and 1 tablespoon of water.

Step 5: Remove the cherries from the pan, using a spoon. Add to the pan the mixture of cornflour and water. Stir well over low heat for a few minutes.

Step 6: Return the cherries to the pan for a few seconds.

Serving: Put the bread slice in a bowl. Pour the soup over the bread.

Wine suggestion: Beaujolais, young red wine

History of Alsace

History of Alsace

map of Alsace bordered Germany and Switzerland

When the Romans conquered Alsace in 58 BC, they quickly established viticulture and Julius Ceasar himself claimed the wine made there was the best of wine produced in Gaul. With the decline of the Roman Empire, the region fell to the Allemans, a people who would give it its language. The Franks drove them out, and what is now Alsace was integrated in what was called Autrasia. After the Caroligians dynasty came the Merovigians kings. Under Charlemagne, the province prospered and the Church's power increased, unfortunately that would not last after his death. As the first European emperor, Charlemagne left a huge empire to his three sons. The division of this vast territory gave Alsace to Louis the Pious. For the next eight centuries, the fate of the province was held closely to that of the Holy Roman Empire.


The 12th and 13th centuries were the golden age of Alsace under the Hohenstaufen Emperors. One of them, Frederick the first (Barbarossa), claimed Alsace to be “the dearest of our family possessions”. It was a period of intense urbanization which saw the birth of a powerful merchant class with increasingly sophisticated tastes.
During the second half of this same century Alsace was embellished with many beautiful Romanesque churches. This artistic flowering took place at a time when Alsace could boast of a number of rapidly expanding towns and cities, each with a wealthy merchant class and powerful guilds and trade associations.

In the early years of the thirteen century Strasbourg won the privileged status of “free imperial city”. The city’s magnificent Gothic cathedral was built under the direction not of the bishop, but of a body controlled by the town council

French influence in Alsace began at the end of the 1500s during the Wars of Religion and increased during the Thirty Years War when Alsatian cities, caught betweens warring Catholic and Protestant armies, turned to France for much-needed assistance.

a picture of Alsace Village

Most of the region was attached to France in 1648, and by the time of the French Revolution, the Alsatian people felt more connected to France than to Germany. But Germany still held out hope for a foothold on the western bank of the Southern Rhine, and in 1870, the Franco-Prussian war was launched. It was a humiliating defeat for France, who was forced to cede Alsace and the northern part of Lorraine to the Second Reich. During the time of German rule, citizens were forbidden to speak French and all books, signs and other references to France were destroyed.

Following Germany's defeat in WWI, Alsace and Lorraine were returned to France, and the previous anti-French policies were reversed.. Simple policies of forbidding the use of German and requiring that of French were then begun. Curiously, the region wasn't 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. It was partly to prevent another German invasion and to defend this region that the Maginot line was created. It turned out to be totelly futile when Hitler's army went around it and invaded France, annexing Alsace and Lorraine in the process.

After the war, Alsace -Lorraine was again returned to France. To make Alsace a symbol of hope for future France-German (and indeed pan-european) cooperation, Strasbourg was chosen as the seat of the council of Europe and for the European parliament "