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Strasbourg
Situated provocatively on the Franco-German border, over the centuries, Strasbourg has been passed back and forward between these two countries. Annexed to France in 1681, after centuries of self-rule, Strasbourg was subject to German control from 1871 until the end of World War I and again between 1940 and 1944. The result is a city and people with a strong and distinctive local identity, combining the reputed efficiency and work ethic of the Germans with the lightness and sophistication of the French.
The name Strasbourg comes from Strateburgum, 'the city of the roads', because of its strategic geographical position on the west bank of the Rhine. Its intellectual and artistic heights were reached during the Renaissance. In 1566, the university was founded and leading figures of the Reformation settled in Strasbourg. Its symbolic significance as a major European city was confirmed when it was chosen as the seat of the Council of Europe in 1949, the European Court of Human Rights in 1994 and the European Parliament, the position of which was finally guaranteed in 1992. After Paris, Strasbourg is now France's most important diplomatic town.
Strasbourg is far enough away from the capital to be truly independent on a cultural level, with its own opera, France's only national theatre outside Paris, two international music festivals and Europe's only bi-national TV station, Arte. Its international student population, some 50,000 strong, keeps the city vibrant and intellectually alive.
The Grande Ile (Big Island) is the heart of the city, with the dominant landmark being the Cathédrale Notre-Dame in the Vieille Ville (Old Town), which has remained unchanged since the Middle Ages. Around the Cathedral, an impressive collection of museums is clustered. The Petite France area in the Grande Ile's southwestern corner, crossed by canals, is Strasbourg's medieval quarter and classed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Its half-timbered houses and narrow streets could not be more different from the ultra-modern City of Europe to the northeast of the city.
Strasbourg enjoys the semi-continental climate of the Alsace region, with sunny, warm and dry conditions.
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