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70-646: Lower Alsace (northern Alsace ) was a landgraviate of the Holy Roman Empire held ex officio by the Bishop of Strasbourg . Prior to is acquisition by the bishopric, it was held by the counts of Hüneburg . In 1174 Count Gottfried of Hüneburg was the landgrave when he got into a dispute with the Abbey of Neuburg near Hagenau . In the late Middle Ages the unity of Lower Alsace was lost. Strasbourg became an imperial city , owing allegiance to nobody save

140-508: A continental climate at high altitude. There is fairly low precipitation because the Vosges protect it from the west. The city of Colmar has a sunny microclimate ; it is the second driest city in France, with an annual precipitation of around 700 mm (28 in), making it ideal for vin d'Alsace ( Alsatian wine ). Since 2021, Alsace has been a territorial collectivity called

210-620: A Celtic tribe allied to Rome, appealed to the Roman Senate and Julius Caesar for aid. In 58 BCE, after negotiations with Ariovistus failed, Julius Caesar routed the Suebi at the foot of the Vosges near what became Cernay in southern Alsace. There followed a "long period of security ... for the Gauls along the middle and upper Rhine." From the time of Augustus to the early fifth century AD,

280-700: A lack of work for young people. Thus, it is not surprising that people left Alsace, not only for Paris – where the Alsatian community grew in numbers, with famous members such as Georges-Eugène Haussmann – but also for more distant places like Russia and the Austrian Empire , to take advantage of the new opportunities offered there: Austria had conquered lands in Eastern Europe from the Ottoman Empire and offered generous terms to colonists as

350-527: A port on the Rhine route linking southern Germany and Switzerland to the Netherlands, England and Scandinavia , it became the political and economic center of the region. Cities such as Colmar and Hagenau also began to grow in economic importance and gained a kind of autonomy within the " Décapole " (or "Zehnstädtebund"), a federation of ten free towns. Though little is known about the early history of

420-445: A province (a procuratio , not a provincia ) to be ruled by ministeriales , a non-noble class of civil servants. The idea was that such men would be more tractable and less likely to alienate the fief from the crown out of their own greed. The province had a single provincial court ( Landgericht ) and a central administration with its seat at Hagenau . Frederick II designated the Bishop of Strasbourg to administer Alsace, but

490-656: A special legal oath for Jews was discontinued. Antisemitic local riots occasionally occurred, especially during the Revolution of 1848. The merger of Alsace into Germany in 1871–1918 lessened antisemitic violence. The constitution of the Reichsland of 1911 reserved one seat in the first chamber of the Landtag for a representative of the Jewish Consistory of Alsace–Lorraine (besides two seats respectively for

560-581: A third of the mortgages in Alsace. Official tolerance grew during the French Revolution, with full emancipation in 1791. However, local antisemitism also increased and Napoleon turned hostile in 1806, imposing a one-year moratorium on all debts owed to Jews. In the 1830–1870 era, most Jews moved to the cities, where they integrated and acculturated, as antisemitism sharply declined. By 1831, the state began paying salaries to official rabbis, and in 1846

630-929: A way of consolidating its hold on the new territories. Many Alsatians also began to sail to the United States, settling in many areas from 1820 to 1850. In 1843 and 1844, sailing ships bringing immigrant families from Alsace arrived at the port of New York. Some settled in Texas and Illinois, many to farm or to seek success in commercial ventures: for example, the sailing ships Sully (in May 1843) and Iowa (in June 1844) brought families who set up homes in northern Illinois and northern Indiana. Some Alsatian immigrants were noted for their roles in 19th-century American economic development. Others ventured to Canada to settle in southwestern Ontario , notably Waterloo County . In contrast to

700-522: Is Strasbourg , which sits on the present German international border. The city is the seat of several international organizations and bodies . The name Alsace can be traced to the Old High German Ali-saz or Elisaz , meaning "foreign domain". An alternative explanation is from a Germanic Ell-sass , meaning "seated on the Ill ", a river in Alsace. In prehistoric times, Alsace

770-477: Is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France , on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,919,745. Alsatian culture is characterized by a blend of German and French influences. Until 1871, Alsace included the area now known as the Territoire de Belfort , which formed its southernmost part. From 1982 to 2016, Alsace

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840-623: Is also taught as a foreign language in local kindergartens and schools. There is a growing network of schools proposing full immersion in Alsatian dialect and in Standard German, called ABCM-Zweisprachigkeit (ABCM -> French acronym for "Association for Bilingualism in the Classroom from Kindergarten onwards", Zweisprachigkeit -> German for "Bilingualism"). However, the Constitution of France still requires that French be

910-646: The "hundred day" restoration of Napoleon I of France in 1815, Alsace along with other frontier provinces of France was occupied by foreign forces from 1815 to 1818, including over 280,000 soldiers and 90,000 horses in Bas-Rhin alone. This had grave effects on trade and the economy of the region since former overland trade routes were switched to newly opened Mediterranean and Atlantic seaports. The population grew rapidly, from 800,000 in 1814 to 914,000 in 1830 and 1,067,000 in 1846. The combination of economic and demographic factors led to hunger, housing shortages and

980-836: The EPCAAL (a Lutheran church) is France's second largest Protestant church, also forming an administrative union ( UEPAL ) with the much smaller Calvinist EPRAL . Unlike the rest of France, the Local law in Alsace–Moselle still provides for the Napoleonic Concordat of 1801 and the organic articles , which provides public subsidies to the Roman Catholic, Lutheran , and Calvinist churches, as well as to Jewish synagogues; religion classes in one of these faiths are compulsory in public schools. The divergence in policy from

1050-571: The Edict of Fontainebleau of 1685 that abolished their privileges in the rest of France. After the 1870–71 Franco-Prussian War , Alsace was annexed by Germany and became a part of the 1871 unified German Empire as a formal "Emperor's Land". After World War I the victorious Allies detached it from Germany and the province became part of the Third French Republic . Having been occupied and annexed by Germany during World War II , it

1120-560: The European Collectivity of Alsace ( collectivité européenne d'Alsace ). The European Collectivity of Alsace is divided into 2 departmental constituencies ( circonscriptions départementales ), 9 departmental arrondissements , 40 cantons , and 880 communes . Bas-Rhin Haut-Rhin Alsace's population increased to 1,919,745 in 2021. It has regularly increased over time, except in wartime and shortly after

1190-729: The Holy Roman Emperor , were collectively known as the "Immediate Nobles of Lower Alsace". On 14 April 1646, the imperial ambassador Maximilian von und zu Trauttmansdorff , during negotiations to end the Thirty Years' War , offered "Upper and Lower Alsace and the Sundgau, under the title of Landgraviate of Alsace" to the French. There was no such territory, since Alsace was at the time divided into several jurisdictions held by competing powers. The Archduke Ferdinand Charles held

1260-604: The Jews of Alsace , there is a lot of information from the 12th century onwards. They were successful as moneylenders and had the favor of the Emperor. As in much of Europe, the prosperity of Alsace was brought to an end in the 14th century by a series of harsh winters, bad harvests, and the Black Death . These hardships were blamed on Jews, leading to the pogroms of 1336 and 1339. In 1349, Jews of Alsace were accused of poisoning

1330-548: The Treaty of St. Omer  [ fr ] , Upper Alsace was sold by Archduke Sigismund of Austria to Charles the Bold , Duke of Burgundy. Although Charles was the nominal landlord, taxes were paid to Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor . The latter was able to use this tax and a dynastic marriage to his advantage to gain back full control of Upper Alsace (apart from the free towns, but including Belfort) in 1477 when it became part of

1400-555: The Treaty of Versailles . Policies forbidding the use of German and requiring French were promptly introduced. In order not to antagonize the Alsatians, the region was not subjected to some legal changes that had occurred in the rest of France between 1871 and 1919, such as the 1905 French law on the separation of Church and State . Alsace–Lorraine was occupied by Germany in 1940 during the Second World War. Although it

1470-423: The Vosges mountains where it had been, leaving Alsace more economically oriented to neighbouring German-speaking lands. The German language remained in use in local administration, in schools, and at the (Lutheran) University of Strasbourg , which continued to draw students from other German-speaking lands. The 1685 Edict of Fontainebleau , by which the French king ordered the suppression of French Protestantism ,

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1540-645: The Waffen SS ., although they were outnumbered by conscripts of the 1926–1927 classes. Thirty of said Waffen SS were involved in the Oradour-sur-Glane massacre (29 conscripts, one volunteer). A third of the malgré-nous perished on the Eastern front. In July 1944, 1500 malgré-nous were released from Soviet captivity and sent to Algiers , where they joined the Free French Forces . Today,

1610-557: The région was self-ruling by legal status, as its constitution had stated it was bound to the sole authority of the Kaiser and not to the German state, France would allow no plebiscite, as granted by the League of Nations to some eastern German territories at this time, because the French regarded the Alsatians as Frenchmen liberated from German rule. Germany ceded the region to France under

1680-406: The " Republic of Alsace–Lorraine ". French troops entered Alsace less than two weeks later to quash the worker strikes and remove the newly established Soviets and revolutionaries from power. With the arrival of the French soldiers, many Alsatians and local Prussian/German administrators and bureaucrats cheered the re-establishment of order. Although U.S. President Woodrow Wilson had insisted that

1750-579: The 1697 Treaty of Ryswick that ended the War of the Grand Alliance . But Alsace still contained islands of territory nominally under the sovereignty of German princes and an independent city-state at Mulhouse. These enclaves were established by law, prescription and international consensus. The year 1789 brought the French Revolution and with it the first division of Alsace into the départements of Haut- and Bas-Rhin . Alsatians played an active role in

1820-527: The 2018 census, 69.9% of the inhabitants of Alsace were natives of Alsace, 16.0% were born in the rest of Metropolitan France , 0.5% were born in Overseas France , and 13.7% were born in foreign countries. Nearly 44% of the immigrants come from Europe, in particular from Germany (natives of Germany residing in Alsace where housing is cheaper), Italy, Portugal and Serbia. Since 2008, the number of Turkish immigrants living in Alsace has declined, whereas

1890-765: The French Revolution. On 21 July 1789, after receiving news of the Storming of the Bastille in Paris, a crowd of people stormed the Strasbourg city hall, forcing the city administrators to flee and putting symbolically an end to the feudal system in Alsace. In 1792, Rouget de Lisle composed in Strasbourg the Revolutionary marching song " La Marseillaise " (as Marching song for the Army of the Rhine ), which later became

1960-536: The French majority is because the region was part of Imperial Germany when the 1905 law separating the French church and state was instituted (for a more comprehensive history, see Alsace–Lorraine ). Controversy erupts periodically on the appropriateness of that legal disposition, as well as on the exclusion of other religions from the arrangement. Swabian German Swabian can be difficult to understand for speakers of Standard German due to its pronunciation and partly differing grammar and vocabulary. In 2009,

2030-485: The German annexation of 1871 (when many Alsatians who had opted to keep their French citizenship emigrated to France), by both natural growth and immigration . High population growth during the post-WW2 economic boom of the Trente Glorieuses ended after the 1973 oil crisis . Demographic growth picked up again in the 1990s and 2000s, but by the 2010s Alsace entered a new period of slow demographic growth. At

2100-694: The Kaiser in November 1918, which left Alsace–Lorraine without a nominal head of state. The sailors returned home and tried to found an independent republic. While Jacques Peirotes , at this time deputy at the Landrat Elsass–Lothringen and just elected mayor of Strasbourg , proclaimed the forfeiture of the German Empire and the advent of the French Republic , a self-proclaimed government of Alsace–Lorraine declared its independence as

2170-560: The Rhine was victorious, tens of thousands fled east before it. When they were later permitted to return (in some cases not until 1799), it was often to find that their lands and homes had been confiscated. These conditions led to emigration by hundreds of families to newly vacant lands in the Russian Empire in 1803–4 and again in 1808. A poignant retelling of this event based on what Goethe had personally witnessed can be found in his long poem Hermann and Dorothea . In response to

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2240-594: The Roman Catholic Habsburgs who tried to eradicate heresy in Upper Alsace. As a result, Alsace was transformed into a mosaic of Catholic and Protestant territories. On the other hand, Mömpelgard (Montbéliard) to the southwest of Alsace, belonging to the Counts of Württemberg since 1397, remained a Protestant enclave in France until 1793. This situation prevailed until 1639, when most of Alsace

2310-742: The anthem of France. "La Marseillaise" was played for the first time in April of that year in front of the mayor of Strasbourg Philippe-Frédéric de Dietrich . Some of the most famous generals of the French Revolution also came from Alsace, notably Kellermann , the victor of Valmy , Kléber , who led the armies of the French Republic in Vendée , and Westermann , who also fought in the Vendée. Mulhouse (a city in southern Alsace), which had been part of Switzerland since 1466, joined France in 1798. At

2380-567: The area of Alsace was incorporated into the Roman province of Germania Superior . As a border province, the Romans built fortifications and military camps, many of which, including Argentoratum (Strasbourg), evolved into modern towns and cities. In 357 CE, Germanic tribes attempted to conquer Alsace but they were rebuffed by the Romans. With the decline of the Roman Empire , Alsace became

2450-463: The authority of the bishop was challenged by Count Rudolf of Habsburg , who received his rights from Frederick II's son Conrad IV . Strasbourg began to grow to become the most populous and commercially important town in the region. In 1262, after a long struggle with the ruling bishops, its citizens gained the status of free imperial city . A stop on the Paris - Vienna - Orient trade route, as well as

2520-675: The demesne of the Habsburg family, who were also rulers of the empire. The town of Mulhouse joined the Swiss Confederation in 1515, where it was to remain until 1798. By the time of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, Strasbourg was a prosperous community, and its inhabitants accepted Protestantism in 1523. Martin Bucer was a prominent Protestant reformer in the region. His efforts were countered by

2590-436: The difference in the formation of the past participle of 'sein' (to be) into gwäa and gsei. The Gsei group is nearer to other Alemannic dialects , such as Swiss German . It can be divided into South-East Swabian , West Swabian and Central Swabian . The Danube Swabians from Hungary, Romania, and former Yugoslavia have been speaking several different Swabian dialects, called locally Schwowisch , some being similar to

2660-511: The emperor, and the great noble families gradually became extinct, their lands being inherited by families from across the Rhine. Lower Alsace thus had closer political connections with the rest of Germany than did Upper Alsace . After the bishop, the greatest landholder was the Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg . These nobles held vast estates outside of Alsace. The lesser nobility, confined in their holdings to Lower Alsace, but being immediate vassals of

2730-557: The forest" for their crops and animals." By 100 BCE Germanic peoples, including eventually the Suebi and other tribes under Ariovistus , had begun to intrude into areas along the upper Rhine and Danube long settled by Celtic Gauls. Alsace itself had come to be occupied by the Triboci , a Germanic tribe allied with Ariovistus. In response to the threat posted by Ariovistus , the Aedui ,

2800-575: The inhabitants were Christianized. Alsace remained under Frankish control until the Frankish realm , following the Oaths of Strasbourg of 842, was formally dissolved in 843 at the Treaty of Verdun ; the grandsons of Charlemagne divided the realm into three parts. Alsace formed part of the Middle Francia , which was ruled by the eldest grandson Lothar I . Lothar died early in 855 and his realm

2870-609: The landgraviate of Upper Alsace, while a relative held the Landvogtei (bailiwick) of Hagenau with a protectorate over the Décapole (a league of ten imperial cities). Alsace Alsace ( / æ l ˈ s æ s / , US also / æ l ˈ s eɪ s , ˈ æ l s æ s / ; French: [alzas] ; Low Alemannic German / Alsatian : Elsàss [ˈɛlsɑs] ; German : Elsass ( German spelling before 1996 : Elsaß ) [ˈɛlzas] ; Latin : Alsatia )

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2940-743: The meaning of Muggeseggele in their Swabian dictionary in the Swabian-based TV series Ein Fall für B.A.R.Z. In many regions, the Swabian dialect is spoken with a unique intonation that is also present when native speakers speak in SHG. Similarly, there is only one alveolar fricative phoneme /s/ , which is shared with most other southern dialects. Most Swabian-speakers are unaware of the difference between /s/ and /z/ and do not attempt to make it when they speak Standard German. The voiced plosives,

3010-453: The new Imperial territory of Alsace–Lorraine was under the sole authority of the Kaiser , administered directly by the imperial government in Berlin. Between 100,000 and 130,000 Alsatians (of a total population of about a million and a half) chose to remain French citizens and leave Reichsland Elsaß–Lothringen , many of them resettling in French Algeria as Pieds-Noirs . Only in 1911 was Alsace–Lorraine granted some measure of autonomy, which

3080-401: The north and the east, Switzerland and Franche-Comté on the south and Lorraine on the west. Several valleys are also found in the région . Its highest point is the Grand Ballon in Haut-Rhin , which reaches a height of 1,424 m (4,672 ft). It contains many forests, primarily in the Vosges and in Bas-Rhin (Haguenau Forest). The ried lies along the Rhine . Alsace is

3150-427: The number of Maghreban immigrants has risen less than the number of European immigrants. The fastest growing groups of immigrants are those from Asia and from sub-Saharan Africa. Alsace is generally seen as the most religious of all the French regions. Most of the Alsatian population is Roman Catholic , but, largely because of the region's German heritage, a significant Protestant community also exists: today,

3220-428: The only official language of the Republic. Alsace has an area of 8,283 km , making it the smallest région of metropolitan France . It is almost four times longer than it is wide, corresponding to a plain between the Rhine in the east and the Vosges mountains in the west. It includes the départements of Haut-Rhin and Bas-Rhin (known previously as Sundgau and Nordgau ). It borders Germany on

3290-695: The original Swabian dialect, but also the Bavarian dialect, mostly with Palatine and Hesse mixed dialects. In this regard, the Banat Swabians speak the Banat Swabian dialect . The Baden-Württemberg Chamber of Commerce launched an advertising campaign with the slogan "Wir können alles. Außer Hochdeutsch." which means "We can [do] everything. Except [speak] Standard German" to boost Swabian pride for their dialect and industrial achievements. However, it failed to impress Northern Germans and neighboring Baden. Dominik Kuhn ( Dodokay ) became famous in Germany with Swabian fandub videos, dubbing among others Barack Obama with German dialect vocals and revised text. In

3360-427: The part of the plain of the Rhine located at the west of the Rhine , on its left bank. It is a rift or graben , from the Oligocene epoch , associated with its horsts : the Vosges and the Black Forest . The Jura Mountains , formed by slip (induced by the alpine uplift) of the Mesozoic cover on the Triassic formations, goes through the area of Belfort . Alsace has an oceanic climate at low altitude and

3430-515: The post-alveolar fricative, and the frequent use of diminutives based on " l " suffixes gives the dialect a very "soft" or "mild" feel, often felt to be in sharp contrast to the harder varieties of German spoken in the North. Swabian is categorized as an Alemannic dialect, which in turn is one of the two types of Upper German dialects (the other being Bavarian ). The Swabian dialect is composed of numerous sub-dialects, each of which has its own variations. These sub-dialects can be categorized by

3500-544: The region Grand Est. Alsatian is an Alemannic dialect closely related to Swabian , although since World War II most Alsatians primarily speak French. Internal and international migration since 1945 has also changed the ethnolinguistic composition of Alsace. For more than 300 years, from the Thirty Years' War to World War II , the political status of Alsace was heavily contested between France and various German states in wars and diplomatic conferences. The economic and cultural capital of Alsace, as well as its largest city,

3570-552: The rest of France, the Jews in Alsace had not been expelled during the Middle Ages. By 1790, the Jewish population of Alsace was approximately 22,500, about 3% of the provincial population. They were highly segregated and subject to long-standing antisemitic regulations. They maintained their own customs, Yiddish language, and historic traditions within the tightly knit ghettos; they adhered to Jewish law. Jews were barred from most cities and instead lived in villages. They concentrated in trade, services, and banking. They financed about

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3640-413: The rivers Rhône and Meuse , and when those borders were reached, aiming for the Rhine. In 1299 the French proposed a marriage alliance between Blanche (sister of Philip IV of France ) and Rudolf (son of Albert I of Germany ), with Alsace to be the dowry; however, the deal never came off. In 1307, the town of Belfort was first chartered by the Counts of Montbéliard . During the next century, France

3710-423: The same time, some Alsatians were in opposition to the Jacobins and sympathetic to the restoration of the monarchy pursued by the invading forces of Austria and Prussia who sought to crush the nascent revolutionary republic . Many of the residents of the Sundgau made "pilgrimages" to places like Mariastein Abbey , near Basel , in Switzerland, for baptisms and weddings. When the French Revolutionary Army of

3780-427: The sum of 1.2 million Thalers . When hostilities were concluded in 1648 with the Treaty of Westphalia , most of Alsace was recognized as part of France, although some towns remained independent. The treaty stipulations regarding Alsace were complex. Although the French king gained sovereignty, existing rights and customs of the inhabitants were largely preserved. France continued to maintain its customs border along

3850-405: The territory is in certain areas subject to some laws that are significantly different from the rest of France, which is known as the local law . In more recent years, the Alsatian language is again being promoted by local, national and European authorities as an element of the region's identity. Alsatian is taught in schools (but is not mandatory) as one of the regional languages of France. German

3920-429: The territory of the Germanic Alemanni . The Alemanni were agricultural people, and their Germanic language formed the basis of modern-day dialects spoken along the Upper Rhine ( Alsatian , Alemannian, Swabian, Swiss). Clovis and the Franks defeated the Alemanni during the 5th century AD, culminating with the Battle of Tolbiac , and Alsace became part of the Kingdom of Austrasia . Under Clovis' Merovingian successors

3990-401: The two main Christian denominations). We Germans who know Germany and France know better what is good for the Alsatians than the unfortunates themselves. In the perversion of their French life they have no exact idea of what concerns Germany. The Franco-Prussian War , which started in July 1870, saw France defeated in May 1871 by the Kingdom of Prussia and other German states. The end of

4060-408: The war led to the unification of Germany . Otto von Bismarck annexed Alsace and northern Lorraine to the new German Empire in 1871. France ceded more than 90% of Alsace and one-fourth of Lorraine, as stipulated in the treaty of Frankfurt ; Belfort , the largest Alsatian town south of Mulhouse, remained French. Unlike other member states of the German federation, which had governments of their own,

4130-638: The wells with plague , leading to the massacre of thousands of Jews during the Strasbourg pogrom . Jews were subsequently forbidden to settle in the town. An additional natural disaster was the Rhine rift earthquake of 1356, one of Europe's worst which made ruins of Basel . Prosperity returned to Alsace under Habsburg administration during the Renaissance . Holy Roman Empire central power had begun to decline following years of imperial adventures in Italian lands, often ceding hegemony in Western Europe to France, which had long since centralized power. France began an aggressive policy of expanding eastward, first to

4200-488: The word Muggeseggele (a Swabian idiom ), meaning the scrotum of a housefly , was voted in a readers' survey by Stuttgarter Nachrichten , the largest newspaper in Stuttgart , as the most beautiful Swabian word , well ahead of any other term. The expression is used in an ironic way to describe a small unit of measure and is deemed appropriate to use in front of small children (compare Bubenspitzle ). German broadcaster SWR 's children's website, Kindernetz , explained

4270-408: Was conquered by France to keep it out of the hands of the Spanish Habsburgs , who by secret treaty in 1617 had gained a clear road to their valuable and rebellious possessions in the Spanish Netherlands , the Spanish Road . Beset by enemies and seeking to gain a free hand in Hungary , the Habsburgs sold their Sundgau territory (mostly in Upper Alsace) to France in 1646, which had occupied it, for

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4340-423: Was divided into three parts. The part known as Lotharingia , or Lorraine, was given to Lothar's son. The rest was shared between Lothar's brothers Charles the Bald (ruler of the West Frankish realm) and Louis the German (ruler of the East Frankish realm). The Kingdom of Lotharingia was short-lived, however, becoming the stem duchy of Lorraine in Eastern Francia after the Treaty of Ribemont in 880. Alsace

4410-509: Was inhabited by nomadic hunters. Part of the province of Germania Superior in the Roman Empire, the area went on to become a diffuse border region between the French and the German cultures and languages. Long a center of the German-speaking world, after the end of the Thirty Years' War , southern Alsace was annexed by France in 1648, with most of the remainder conquered later in the century. In contrast to other parts of France, Protestants were permitted to practise their faith in Alsace even after

4480-407: Was manifested also in a flag and an anthem ( Elsässisches Fahnenlied ). In 1913, however, the Saverne Affair ( French : Incident de Saverne) showed the limits of this new tolerance of the Alsatian identity. During the First World War, to avoid ground fights between brothers, many Alsatians served as sailors in the Kaiserliche Marine and took part in the Naval mutinies that led to the abdication of

4550-412: Was never formally annexed, Alsace–Lorraine was incorporated into the Greater German Reich , which had been restructured into Reichsgaue . Alsace was merged with Baden , and Lorraine with the Saarland , to become part of a planned Westmark . During the war, 130,000 young men from Alsace and Lorraine were conscripted into the German armies against their will ( malgré-nous ). There were some volunteers for

4620-506: Was not applied in Alsace. France did endeavour to promote Catholicism. Strasbourg Cathedral , for example, which had been Lutheran from 1524 to 1681, was returned to the Catholic Church. However, compared to the rest of France, Alsace enjoyed a climate of religious tolerance . France consolidated its hold with the 1679 Treaties of Nijmegen , which brought most remaining towns under its control. France seized Strasbourg in 1681 in an unprovoked action. These territorial changes were recognised in

4690-445: Was returned to France by the Allies at the end of World War II . The presence of hominids in Alsace can be traced back 600,000 years. By 4000 BCE farming, in the form of Linear Pottery culture , arrived in the region from the Danube and the Hungarian plain. The culture was characterized by "timber longhouse settlements and incised pottery ... favoring floodplain edge situations for their permanent villages ... [and] small clearings in

4760-446: Was the smallest administrative région in metropolitan France , consisting of the Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin departments . Territorial reform passed by the French Parliament in 2014 resulted in the merger of the Alsace administrative region with Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine to form Grand Est . On 1 January 2021, the departments of Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin merged into the new European Collectivity of Alsace but remained part of

4830-417: Was to be militarily shattered by the Hundred Years' War , which prevented for a time any further tendencies in this direction. After the conclusion of the war, France was again free to pursue its desire to reach the Rhine and in 1444 a French army appeared in Lorraine and Alsace. It took up winter quarters, demanded the submission of Metz and Strasbourg and launched an attack on Basel . In 1469, following

4900-431: Was united with the other Alemanni east of the Rhine into the stem duchy of Swabia . At about this time, the surrounding areas experienced recurring fragmentation and reincorporations among a number of feudal secular and ecclesiastical lordships, a common process in the Holy Roman Empire . Alsace experienced great prosperity during the 12th and 13th centuries under Hohenstaufen emperors . Frederick I set up Alsace as

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