Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Through the Middle Ages, Alsace was part of the Holy Roman Empire (in other
words,Germancultureandlanguageruled).AfterthedevastationoftheThirtyYears'War
(1618-1648), Alsace started to become integrated into France—revolutionaries took full
control in 1792. But in 1871, after France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, Alsace “re-
turned” to Germany. Almost five decades later, Germany lost World War I—and Alsace
“returned” to France. Except for a miserable stint as part of the Nazi realm from 1940 to
1945, Alsace has been French ever since.
Having been a political pawn for 1,000 years, Alsace has a hybrid culture: Natives
who curse do so bilingually, and the local cuisine features sauerkraut with fine wine
sauces. In recent years, Alsace and its sister German region just across the border have
been growing farther apart linguistically—but closer commercially. People routinely cross
the border to shop and work. And, while Alsace's mixed German/French dialects are fad-
ing, a recent agreement encourages schools on the German side to teach French as the
second language and schools on the French side to teach German as the second language.
