24 Facts About Strasbourg

Strasbourg is one of the de facto four main capitals of the European Union, as it is the seat of several European institutions, such as the European Parliament, the Eurocorps and the European Ombudsman of the European Union.

Together with Basel, Geneva, The Hague and New York City, Strasbourg is among the few cities in the world that is not a state capital that hosts international organisations of the first order.

Strasbourg is immersed in Franco-German culture and although violently disputed throughout history, has been a cultural bridge between France and Germany for centuries, especially through the University of Strasbourg, currently the second-largest in France, and the coexistence of Catholic and Protestant culture.

Economically, Strasbourg is an important centre of manufacturing and engineering, as well as a hub of road, rail, and river transportation.

The port of Strasbourg is the second-largest on the Rhine after Duisburg in Germany, and the second-largest river port in France after Paris.

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Strasbourg is situated at the eastern border of France with Germany.

In spite of its position far inland, Strasbourg has an oceanic climate, though with less maritime influence than the milder climates of Western and Southern France.

Between 362 and 1262, Strasbourg was governed by the bishops of Strasbourg; their rule was reinforced in 873 and then more in 982.

In 2016, Strasbourg was promoted from capital of Alsace to capital of Grand Est.

Strasbourg played an important part in the Protestant Reformation, with personalities such as John Calvin, Martin Bucer, Wolfgang Capito, Matthew and Katharina Zell, but in other aspects of Christianity such as German mysticism, with Johannes Tauler, Pietism, with Philipp Spener, and Reverence for Life, with Albert Schweitzer.

Strasbourg has been the seat of European Institutions since 1949: first of the International Commission on Civil Status and of the Council of Europe, later of the European Parliament, of the European Science Foundation, of Eurocorps, and others as well.

The largest baroque building of Strasbourg though is the 150-metre-long 1720s main building of the Hopital civil.

Strasbourg offers high-class eclecticist buildings in its very extended German district, the Neustadt, being the main memory of Wilhelmian architecture since most of the major cities in Germany proper suffered intensive damage during World War II.

The Jardin botanique de l'Universite de Strasbourg was created under the German administration next to the Observatory of Strasbourg, built in 1881, and still owns some greenhouses of those times.

Collections in Strasbourg are distributed over a wide range of museums, according to a system that takes into account not only the types and geographical provenances of the items, but the epochs.

Universite de Strasbourg is in charge of a number of permanent public displays of its collections of scientific artefacts and products of all kinds of exploration and research.

Strasbourg is the seat of internationally renowned institutions of music and drama:.

Strasbourg, well known as centre of humanism, has a long history of excellence in higher-education, at the crossroads of French and German intellectual traditions.

Strasbourg has its own airport, serving major domestic destinations as well as international destinations in Europe and northern Africa.

Strasbourg is the seat of over twenty international institutions, most famously of the Council of Europe and of the European Parliament, of which it is the official seat.

Strasbourg is considered the legislative and democratic capital of the European Union, while Brussels is considered the executive and administrative capital and Luxembourg the judiciary and financial capital.

Strasbourg is the seat of the following organisations, among others:.

The women's tennis Internationaux de Strasbourg is one of the most important French tournaments of its kind outside Roland-Garros.

In chronological order, notable residents of Strasbourg include: Johannes Gutenberg, Hans Baldung, Martin Bucer, John Calvin, Joachim Meyer, Johann Carolus, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz, Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, Georg Buchner, Louis Pasteur, Ferdinand Braun, Albrecht Kossel, Georg Simmel, Albert Schweitzer, Otto Klemperer, Marc Bloch, Alberto Fujimori, Marjane Satrapi, Paul Ricœur and Jean-Marie Lehn.