Alsace: Encyclopedia II - Alsace - Culture

Alsace - Culture

Historically part of the Holy Roman Empire, the region has passed between French and German control numerous times, resulting in a rich cultural blend. It traditionally belongs, however, to the German Kulturkreis, as any glance at traditional buildings in the towns and villages and at placenames will confirm.

Alsace - Language

In the beginning of the 21st century, the language most spoken in Alsace is standard French.

The traditional language of the region is Alsatian, an Alemannic dialect of Upper German. Alsatian is closest to Swiss German. Some Frankish dialects of West Middle German are also spoken in the extreme north of Alsace. Neither Alsatian nor the Frankish dialects have any form of official status, as is customary for regional languages in France, although both are now recognized as languages of France and can be chosen as subject in French high schools.

A few valleys in the west of Alsace, at the border with Lorraine, were always outside of the Germanic languages area, and dialects of Lorraine French were spoken there ever since the Middle Ages.

It is important to understand that since 1945 the influence of standard French has been ever increasing in Alsace, and today Alsace is largely a French-speaking area. More often assumed to be a bilingual area (French/Alsatian), Alsace is actually evolving fast toward a situation of total French unilingualism. People above 70 still speak Alsatian at home, but the younger generations use French even at home, and the vast majority of people below 30 do not understand Alsatian anymore. This situation has provoked a sort of desire to preserve the traditional Alsatian language, which is perceived as in danger in front of French, a situation paralleled in other regions of France with regional languages such as Brittany or Occitania. Alsatian is now taught in French high schools, but the overwhelming presence of French media make the survival of Alsatian uncertain among younger generations.

The linguistic situation of Alsace can be summed up like this: the region is fast evolving toward a situation where standard French is the only language used at home and at work, whereas an increasing number of people have a good knowledge of standard German as a foreign language learnt in school.

Alsace - Cuisine

Alsatian cuisine, strongly influenced by the Germanic culinary traditions, is marked by the use of pork in various forms. Traditional dishes include baeckeoffe, tartes flambées (flammekueche), choucroute, and fleischnackas. The south of Alsace, also called Sundgau, is characterized by carpe frite.

The festivities of the year's end involve the production of a great variety of biscuits and small cakes called brédalas as well as pain d'épice (gingerbread), which are given to children starting on Saint Nicholas Day.

A wine-producing region, Alsace wines are primarily white. Its wines, which have a strong Germanic influence, are called vins d'Alsace. It produces some of the world's most noted dry rieslings and is the only région in France to produce mostly varietal wines, typically from grapes also used in Germany.

Alsace is also the main beer-producing région of France, thanks primarily to breweries in and near Strasbourg. These include those of Kronenbourg, Fischer, Heineken, Météor, and Kanterbräu. Hops are grown in Kochersberg and in northern Alsace. Schnapps is also traditionally made in Alsace, but it is in decline because home distillers are becoming less common and the consumption of traditional, strong, alcoholic beverages is decreasing.

Additionally, Alsace is known for its fruit juices and its mineral and spring waters.

Alsace - Architecture

The traditional habitat of the Alsatian lowland is constituted of houses constructed with walls in half-timbering and cob and roofing in flat tiles. This type of construction can be seen in other areas of France, but their particular abundance in Alsace is owed to several reasons:

1. The proximity to the Vosges where the wood can be found.
2. Due to seismic risk, wood was more adapted than stone because it was more flexible, and resisted better.
3. During periods of war and plague, villages were often burned down, so to alleviate the collapse of the upper floors, stone ground floors were built and the upper floors built in half-timberings once the fire passed.

However, the half-timberings increased the risk of fire, which is why from the 19th century, they began covering them with rendering. In recent times, villagers started to paint the rendering white in accordance with Beaux-Arts movements. To discourage this, regional authorities gave financial grants to inhabitants, to paint the rendering in various colours, in order to return to the more ancient usage of the substance and many inhabitants accepted (more for financial reasons than by firm belief).

Alsace - Symbolism

The stork is a main feature of Alsace and was the subject of many legends told to children. The bird practically disappeared around 1970, but repopulation efforts are ongoing. They are mostly found on roofs of houses, churches and other public buildings in Alsace.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Culture", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki