Strasbourg

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The next morning Viking Sigrun docked in Kehl, Germany, directly across the Rhine from Strasbourg, France. The morning shore excursion was to Strasbourg. Again this was an amazing sight. Strasbourg had been fought over by France and Germany for centuries up to World War II. Now all was peaceful The regional tram system seamlessly connects Strasbourg and Kehl and there has been discussion of consolidating the municipalities. Who would have imagined it?

The motorcoach took us across the Pont de l’Europe. The old customs area is closed. Our first stop was the Place de la République with the grand Palais du Rhin. Today it houses the cultural affairs office for Grand Est, but it was built during the German occupation as the Kaiser's residence in Strasbourg. The coach let the group off at the Place de la République and a walking tour with a local guide began. At the other side of the Pont du théatre was the Opéra de Strasbourg. The opera house opened in 1821 and is Strasbourg's principal music venue. From here, we followed the Place Broglie to Rue du Dôme. As one might expect, this street led directly to Strasbourg Cathedral.

We had to get inside the cathedral in time to see the ringing of the Astronomical Clock. There was a long queue to see it, but we made it. When it is set off, 18 figures move around it and a rooster crows. After that, there was free time to explore the cathedral and its environs. Susan and I went back out to the Place de la Cathédrale to admire it and the half-timbered buildings. It was now raining and we ducked into a souvenir shop. Once the crowd at the cathedral had lessened, we returned inside to see more of the interior. Strasbourg Cathedral was built beginning in 1015 on the site of a Carolingian era church that may have been on the site of a Roman building. Originally built in the Romanesque style, tastes had changed to Gothic by 1284 when it was rebuilt and enlarged. It is somewhat unusual in that it has only one tower (two were planned). The nave is Gothic and the 13th century Pillar of the Angels in the nave dates from the same era and workshop as the west façade. The apse is a mix of Romanesque and Gothic with some 19th century elements added.

The group rendezvoused at the west façade, headed to Place Gutenberg (Johannes Gutenberg was in residence in Strasbourg in 1434 to 1444) and then walked along Rue du Vieux-Marché-aux-Poissons to reach the motorcoach on the other side of the Ill River. The historic center of Strasbourg, Grande Ȋle, is an island formed by a division of the Ill River.

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Photos

Maison Kammerzell
Maison Kammerzell. Built in 1427 and rebuilt in 1467 and 1589 when the Renaissance upper levels were added. The timbered structure is considered one of the most ornate and well preserved among late Gothic civil structures. Originally occupied by a draper and then by a cheese merchant. The ground level represents Medieval Gothic trading rows. Adaptive reuse as a restaurant.16 Place de la Cathédrale.
"The Münster-Platz, in front of the W. façade of the cathedral, contains several ancient examples of half-timbered architecture, the finest of which is the Kammerzell'sche Haus (15-16th cent.), recently well restored and fitted up as a wine-saloon (Stiftskeller)".--Baedeker 1911.
Part of Strasbourg, Grande-Île and Neustadt UNESCO World Heritage site.
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Villa
Villa built in 1904. At one time it was a restaurant, the Rheinfischer. Owned by the Port autonome de Strasbourg (Strasbour Port Authority) today. 5 Rue du Péage.
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Église orthodoxe de Tous-les-Saints de Strasbourg
Église orthodoxe de Tous-les-Saints de Strasbourg - All Saints Russian Orthodox Church. Consecrated in 2019. 106 Rue du Général Conrad.
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Palais du Rhin
Palais du Rhin. Built as the Kaiser-Palast during the German occupation of Strasbourg. It houses the Direction régionale des affaires culturelles of Grand Est. 2 Place de la République.
"In the Kaiser-Platz, adjoining the river, stands the Imperial Palace (Kaiser-Palast), built in 1883-89 in the Florentine Renaissance style from Eggert's designs".--Baedeker 1911
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Monument aux morts de Strasbourg
Monument aux morts de Strasbourg. World War I memorial installed in 1936. The sculpture represents a mother holding her two sons killed in the war. One son is represented as having fought for France and the other as having fought for Germany. Place de la République.
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Canal de Faux-Ramparts
Canal de Faux-Ramparts and Quai Schoepflin. View from the Pont du théâtre. The quay and canal once formed the northern boundary of Strasbourg.
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Opéra de Strasbourg
Opéra de Strasbourg. Home of the Opéra national du Rhin. Opened in 1821 as the Théâtre municipal. Place Broglie.
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Naissance de la civilisation
Naissance de la civilisation, ou Fontaine de Janus - Janus Fountain. The two faces of Janus are said to represent the two cultures and identities of the Alsatian region , French and German. The form of a Roman aqueduct recalls the city's origin as Roman Argentoratum. Installed in 2000.
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Monument à Kellermann
Monument à Kellermann - General Kellermann monument. The monument shows François Christophe Kellermann (1735-1820) celebrated for his victory over the Prussians in the battle of Valmy in 1792. Kellerman was born in Strasbourg. Installed in 1935. Place Broglie.
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Confiserie Chez Jean-Pierre
Confiserie Chez Jean-Pierre. Morning bread and pastry stall in Place Broglie, Strasbourg.
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Au Doux Pays de France
Chocolate and confections display at Au Doux Pays de France. 5 Rue du Dôme.
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Rue du Dôme
Spires of the Romanesque chevet of Strasbourg Cathedral from Rue du Dôme.
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Strasbourg Cathedral
Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg - Strasbourg Cathedral.West front. Built 1176-1439. It is the sixth-tallest church in the world and the highest extant structure built entirely in the Middle Ages.
"The Minster, or Monasterium Sanctae Mariae Virginis, is the cathedral of the see of Strassburg, said to have been founded about 600 and dedicated from the very first to the Holy Virgin. ... Repeated fires gave occasion for the erection of a new church, which was begun in 1176 under Bishop Conrad I, mainly on the existing foundations ... While the apse and transept were slowly progressing, Gothic architecture had become established in France, and, of course, exercised an influence on all buildings in course of construction".--Baedeker 1911.
Part of Strasbourg, Grande-Île and Neustadt UNESCO World Heritage site.
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Strasbourg Cathedral
Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg - Strasbourg Cathedral. West façade and main portal.
"The Façade, by Erwin of Steinbach, is justly the most admired part of the edifice, and presents a singular happy union of the style of N. France (horizontal members, and a fine rose-window, 44 ft. in diameter) with the perpendicular tendency peculiar to German cathedrals. The walls are covered with delicate tracery, and the entire building is embellished with numerous sculptures (many of them restored in the 19th cent.)".--Baedeker 1911
Part of Strasbourg, Grande-Île and Neustadt UNESCO World Heritage site.
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Strasbourg Cathedral
Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg - Strasbourg Cathedral. West main portal, Rose Window and tympanum.
"On the Main Portal are reliefs from the Passion and statues of prophets, with the Virgin and King Solomon, as the representatives of the highest earthly wisdom".--Baedeker 1911.
Part of Strasbourg, Grande-Île and Neustadt UNESCO World Heritage site.
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Strasbourg Cathedral
Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg - Strasbourg Cathedral. West main portal tympanum. Redemption. Detail.
"On the Main Portal are reliefs from the Passion and statues of prophets ...".--Baedeker 1911.
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Strasbourg Cathedral
The Master Builder may have depicted himself on the
west façade of Strasbourg Cathedral - Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg.
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Strasbourg Cathedral
Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg - Strasbourg Cathedral. Gothic nave. It was rebuilt into the Gothic style in 1220-1274.
"The architecture of the nave, begun about 1250 and finished in 1290, is almost exclusively Gothic. The name of the architect is unknown. We can gather, however, from the analogies of style, that he had been a diligent student of French architecture".--Baedeker 1911.
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Pulpit
Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg - Strasbourg Cathedral. Pulpit. he pulpit, attached to the fourth pillar of the north side of the nave, was sculpted in 1485 following a design by Hans Hammer.
"In the nave is the Pulpit, richly sculptured in stone, and executed in 1485-87 for John Geiler of Kaysersberg (d. 1510)".--Baedeker 1911.
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Astronomical Clock
Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg - Horloge astronomique. Strasbourg Cathedral - Astronomical Clock.
"The large astronomical Clock in the S. transept was constructed in 1838-42 by [Jean-Baptiste] Schwilgué, a clock-maker of Strassburg. ... The exterior attracts spectators at all times, especially at noon ... On the first gallery an angel strikes the quarters on a bell in his hand; while a genius at his side reverses his sand-glass every hour. Higher up, around a skeleton which strikes the hours, re grouped figures representing boyhood, youth, manhood and old age (the four quarters of the hour). Under the first gallery the symbolic deity of each day steps out of a niche, Apollo on Sunday, Diana on Monday, and so on. In the highest niche, a noon, the Twelve Apostles move around a figure of the Saviour. On the highest pinnacle of the side-tower, which contains the weights, is perched a cock, which flaps its wings, stretches its neck, and crows, awakening the echoes of the remotest nooks of the cathedral. The mechanism also sets in motion a planetarium, behind which is a perpetual calendar".--Baedeker 1911.
Part of Strasbourg, Grande-Île and Neustadt UNESCO World Heritage site.
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Astronomical Clock
Moving figures on the Astronomical Clock, Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg - Strasbourg Cathedral.
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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Strasbourg
Amazing architecture and detail.