Franco-German capital of the EU — tarte flambée, Petite France canals, and Christmas markets
Strasbourg is one of Europe's most distinctive cities — Alsatian by character, French by nationality, German by history, and European by vocation, housing both the European Parliament and the Council of Europe. Its Petite France district of half-timbered houses along the Ill canals is one of the most photographed neighbourhoods in France, and its Christmas market (running since 1570) is Europe's oldest. Tarte flambée (flammekueche) — paper-thin dough with crème fraîche, onions, and lardons — is the defining local dish.
Strasbourg's name means 'road-fort' in Germanic — it has been a strategic crossing point on the Rhine since Roman times. The city was part of France from 1681, then Germany (as Strassburg, capital of the Reichsland Elsass-Lothringen) after 1871, then French again in 1918, then German again from 1940 to 1945. Its Alsatian identity — deeply rooted in Germanic dialect, Riesling winemaking, and sauerkraut — survived all changes of nationality. Strasbourg became home to the Council of Europe in 1949 as a deliberate symbolic choice: a symbol of reconciliation between France and Germany.