Strasbourg

Situated in eastern France, Strasbourg is the seventh-largest city in France and the Alsatian capital. It sits on the Ill River near its junction with the River Rhine. There are around 650,000 inhabitants living in the metropolitan area. The signs are displayed in French and German.

Like New York and Geneva, Strasbourg is the seat of international institutions, but not a capital city. The city is used as an administrative center for the European Union, and houses the European Parliament--at the Louise Weiss building--which serves for 12 four-day plenary sessions per year--the Council of Europe, and the European Commission for the Rights of Man.

Places to visit

Palais de Rohan-Rohan Palace

This elegant 18th-century palace (right) houses three museums: Musée des Beaux Arts, Musée Archéologique and Musée des Arts Décoratifs--the Decorative Arts Museum, the Fine Arts Museum and the Archaeological Museum.

On the first floor of the Rohan Palace, the Museum of Fine Arts houses Italian, French, Spanish, Flemish and Dutch paintings from the 14th to the late 19th century, such as art from Botticelli, Rafael, Rubens, Van Dyck, Goya and Delacroix.

The Decorative Arts Museum on the ground floor is divided into two sections--the cardinals' apartments that are furnished in the styles of late baroque, Rococo and Napoleonic Empire, while the other half showcases Alsatian porcelain, and art of gold--and silversmith masters from between 1681 and 1870.

The Archeology Museum, which is situated in a basement, covers Alsatian history from prehistoric times to A.D. 800. As well as a large collection of Roman artifacts, the museum also displays Celtic and Merovingian artifacts, as well as finds on Paleolithic human activities. There is also an audio guide available in many languages.

Address:

2 place du Chateau,

67000 Strasbourg

Tel: +33-(0)3-88-52-50-00.

Opening times: Open daily except Tuesday; Cost: €4 per museum; Concessions €2; Opening hours: Wed-Mon 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Musée Alsacien-Alsace Museum

This museum explores the historic culture of Strasbourg and the rest of Alsace through exhibits of clothing and other household artifacts.

The Alsatian museum was founded in 1902 with the aim of stressing the region's unique identity with its German and French influences. Housed in three former Strasbourg residences linked by a maze of stairways and passageways, the museum displays more than 5,000 items representing the daily life of the Alsatian people during the 18th and 19th centuries.

The museum's 30 exhibition rooms include furniture, domestic items, toys, traditional costumes, tools, religious items and pictures. Reconstructions of indoor settings from the various areas of Alsace, in addition to craft workshops, all contribute to the unique atmosphere of this museum.

Open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays and holidays, and every day except Tuesday in January, February, March, July and August.

Address:

23-25 quai St-Nicolas,

67000 Strassbourg

Tel: +33-(0)3-88-52-50-01.

Entrance fee: €4; reduced: €2; Free for children under 18 and members of the Historical Society of Israelites of Alsace and Lorraine.

Famous people in Strasbourg

Marcel Marceau

Marcel Marceau (left)--the world's most famous exponent of mime--was born in Strasbourg in 1923 His family moved to Lille when he was four years of age, but he returned to Strasbourg when he was in his early teens. After France entered World War II, Mr. Marceau and his Jewish family was forced to flee from Strasbourg to Limoges. However his father, Charles Mangel, was sent to Auschwitz in 1944, where he died.

Marcel and his older brother, Alain, adopted Marceau as their surname-a reference to a general of the French Revolution, François Séverin Marceau-Desgraviers. The two brothers later joined Charles de Gaulle's Free French Forces and saved children from deportation by altering their identity cards to make them appear too young. As a result of Mr. Marceau's strong command of spoken English, he worked as a liaison officer with the army of U.S. General George Patton.

In the subsequent decades he achieved international acclaim as he popularized the "art of silence" and in 1978, he was made officier de la Légion d'honneur-an officer of the Legion of Honor, the highest award given by the French Republic for outstanding service to France.

• John Calvin (1509-1564) Reformation leader

• Marie Tussaud (1761-1850)-known for her wax sculptures and Madame Tussaud's, the wax museum she setup in London

• Ludwig I (1786-1868)-king of Bavaria from 1825 until the 1848 revolutions in the German states.

• Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) microbiologist and chemist

• Paul Gustave Doré (1832-1883) was a French artist, engraver, and illustrator.

• Marcel Marceau (born Marcel Mangel) (1923-2007)-world's most well-known mime artist.

• Arsène Wenger, OBE (born 1949)-French and Alsatian football manager for London team Arsenal Football Club

• Petit (born 1975)-born Armando Gonçalves Teixeira, footballer born to Portuguese parents)

Sport

Racing Club de Strasbourg-football team more commonly known as RC Strasbourg, RCS Strasbourg). The history the RCS has always closely mirrored the history of Alsace-it has changed three times of nationality in less than 30 years. Founded in what was then a part of the German Empire in 1906, the club has since its inception insisted on its Alsatian and popular roots. When Alsace went back to France in 1919, the club changed its name from "1. FC Neudorf" to the current "Racing club de Strasbourg" to imitate Pierre de Coubertin's Racing Club de France as a gesture of francophilia. Mr. De Coubertin was a founding member of the International Olympic Committee.

Web: www.rcstrasbourg.fr

RC Strasbourg also has links with Arsenal Football Club in London-manager Arsène Wenger (left). Mr. Wenger, a native of Strasbourg, began as a defender for various amateur clubs while studying at the Robert Schuman University in Strasbourg. Mr. Wenger turned professional in 1978, making his debut for RC Strasbourg against Monaco.