Editorial

Welcome on Strasbourg website!

Of course Strasbourg cannot be summed up in these few lines. The presentation of its history, its news, its plans contained in this file, far from being exhaustive, can only give a taster of some of the salient aspects of a city about which people often know little or have mistaken perceptions.

Its magnificent Cathedral, its fine food, "La Petite France" the typical quarter beloved of the tourists, not to mention the Grande-Ile, a UNESCO World Heritage site, have given it its reputation as a city anchored in History and Tradition.

This site will show you , through a few historical markers, how Strasbourg distinguished itself first of all by an exceptional openness to new ideas and technologies, aided by its status as a free city and its closeness to the major trading routes. Its economic prosperity , its reputation as an intellectual centre for religious tolerance over the centuries have attracted many great personalities, including Gutenberg, Calvin and Goethe, but have also enabled many anonymous people to find refuge there, to do business or simply devote themselves to study.

It contains information and figures that will enable you to get an idea at a glance of the size or the population of the city, of the way its political institutions operate or of its economic performance.