Page 217 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

One of the colourful streets found in Colmar, Alsace

ALSACE

AND LORRAINE

First settled by the Celts, Alsace was conquered in
the 1st century BC by the Romans, who established
vineyards here. The region was subse quently ruled
by the Germanic Alemanni tribe, and then from
the 5th century by the Franks. Although France
took control of most of Alsace in 1648 following
the end of the Thirty Years’ War, provisions of the
Treaty of Westphalia provided for local customs,
including the use of German, to be respected. In
1681, the Alsatian capital, Strasbourg, at last came
under the control of the French state. Neighbouring
Lorraine, also at the intersection of Germanic and
French cultures, was taken over by France in 1766.
Both Alsace and Lorraine’s northern section
were annexed by Germany following the Franco-
Prussian War (1870–71); it was only after World
War I that these regions re-joined France. Annexed
yet again by Nazi Germany in 1940, they were
returned to France once more in 1945. Since then,
Strasbourg has become a symbol of post-war
Franco-German reconciliation and serves as the
seat of the the European Parliament, the Council
of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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