96-708: The Scheur ( Dutch pronunciation: [sxøːr] ; Dutch for "The Rip") is a branch of the Rhine - Meuse delta in South Holland , Netherlands , that flows west from the confluence of the Oude Maas and Nieuwe Maas branches past the towns of Rozenburg and Maassluis . It continues as the Nieuwe Waterweg (New Waterway) to the North Sea. Originally, the Scheur was
192-413: A domestication that served goals such as reducing stagnant bogs that fostered waterborne diseases, making regions more habitable for human settlement, and reduce high frequency of floods. Not long before Tulla went to work on widening and straightening the river, heavy floods caused significant loss of life. Four diplomatic treaties were signed among German state governments and French regions dealing with
288-579: A neo-classical castle and a small zoo ; the Parc de la Citadelle , built around impressive remains of the 17th-century fortress erected close to the Rhine by Vauban ; the Parc de Pourtalès , laid out in English style around a baroque castle (heavily restored in the 19th century) that now houses a small three-star hotel, and featuring an open-air museum of international contemporary sculpture. The Jardin botanique de l'Université de Strasbourg (botanical garden)
384-468: A number of permanent public displays of its collections of scientific artefacts and products of all kinds of exploration and research. The commune of Strasbourg proper had a population of 291,313 on 1 January 2021, the result of a constant moderate annual growth which is also reflected in the constant growth of the number of students at its university (e. g. from 42,000 students in 2010 to 52,000 students in 2019). The metropolitan area of Strasbourg had
480-539: A population of 853,110 inhabitants in 2019 (French side of the border only), while the transnational Eurodistrict had a population of 1,000,000 in 2022. In the Middle Ages , Strasbourg (a free imperial city since 1262), was an important town. According to a 1444 census , the population was circa 20,000; only one third less than Cologne , then a major European city. Strasbourg is the seat of internationally renowned institutions of music and drama: Other theatres are
576-591: A population of 860,744 in 2020, making it the eighth-largest metro area in France and home to 14% of the Grand Est region's inhabitants. The transnational Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau had a population of roughly 1,000,000 in 2022. Strasbourg is one of the de facto four main capitals of the European Union (alongside Brussels , Luxembourg and Frankfurt ), as it is the seat of several European institutions, such as
672-605: A predominantly westerly direction and flows into the Netherlands where it eventually empties into the North Sea . It drains an area of 9,973 km . Its name derives from the Celtic Rēnos . There are two German states named after the river, North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate , in addition to several districts (e.g. Rhein-Sieg ). The departments of Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin in Alsace (France) are also named after
768-619: A waterway in the Holy Roman Empire . Among the largest and most important cities on the Rhine are Cologne , Rotterdam , Düsseldorf , Duisburg , Strasbourg , Arnhem , and Basel . The variants of the name of the Rhine (Latin Rhenus; French Rhin, Italian Reno, Romansh Rain or Rein, Dutch Rijn, Alemannic Ry, Ripuarian Rhing) in modern languages are all derived from the Gaulish name Rēnos , which
864-722: Is a Central German development of the early modern period , with the Alemannic name R(n) keeping the older vocalism. In Alemannic, the deletion of the ending -n in pausa is a recent development; the form Rn is largely preserved in Lucernese dialects. Rhing in Ripuarian is diphthongized, as is Rhei, Rhoi in Palatine . While Spanish has adopted the Germanic vocalism Rin- , Italian, Occitan, and Portuguese have retained
960-689: Is a tertiary establishment for research and education in Ethics . This center is located at the premises of the old faculty of medicine in Strasbourg. The Center’s name in French is CEERE ( Centre européen d’enseignement et de recherche en éthique ). International schools include: Multiple levels: For elementary education: For middle school/junior high school education: For senior high school/sixth form college: The Bibliothèque nationale et universitaire (BNU) is, with its collection of more than 3,000,000 titles,
1056-463: Is also an adjacent church Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux Protestant ) serves as a shrine for several 15th-century wood-worked and painted altars coming from other, now destroyed churches and installed there for public display; especially the Passion of Christ . Among the numerous secular medieval buildings, the monumental Ancienne Douane (old custom-house ) stands out. The German Renaissance has bequeathed
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#17328513298791152-564: Is among the few cities in the world that is not a state capital that hosts international organisations of the first order. The city is the seat of many non-European international institutions such as the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine and the International Institute of Human Rights . It is the second city in France in terms of international congress and symposia, after Paris . Strasbourg's historic city centre,
1248-1040: Is chiefly known for its sandstone Gothic Cathedral with its famous astronomical clock , and for its medieval cityscape of Rhineland black and white timber-framed buildings, particularly in the Petite France district or Gerberviertel ("tanners' district") alongside the Ill and in the streets and squares surrounding the cathedral, where the renowned Maison Kammerzell stands out. Notable medieval streets include Rue Mercière , Rue des Dentelles , Rue du Bain aux Plantes , Rue des Juifs , Rue des Frères , Rue des Tonneliers , Rue du Maroquin , Rue des Charpentiers , Rue des Serruriers , Grand' Rue , Quai des Bateliers , Quai Saint-Nicolas and Quai Saint-Thomas . Notable medieval squares include Place de la Cathédrale , Place du Marché Gayot , Place Saint-Étienne , Place du Marché aux Cochons de Lait and Place Benjamin Zix . In addition to
1344-746: Is one of the major European rivers . The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps . It forms the Swiss-Liechtenstein border and partly the Swiss-Austrian and Swiss-German borders. After that the Rhine defines much of the Franco-German border , after which it flows in a mostly northerly direction through the German Rhineland . Finally in Germany, the Rhine turns into
1440-582: Is significantly shortened from its natural course due to a number of canal projects completed in the 19th and 20th century. The "total length of the Rhine", to the inclusion of Lake Constance and the Alpine Rhine is more difficult to measure objectively; it was cited as 1,232 kilometers (766 miles) by the Dutch Rijkswaterstaat in 2010. Its course is conventionally divided as follows: The Rhine carries its name without distinctive accessories only from
1536-750: Is sometimes called Rhinesee ("Lake Rhine"). Besides the Seerhein , the Radolfzeller Aach is the main tributary of Untersee . It adds large amounts of water from the Danube system to the Untersee via the Danube Sinkhole . Reichenau Island was formed at the same time as the Seerhein, when the water level fell to its current level. Lake Untersee is part of the border between Switzerland and Germany , with Germany on
1632-678: Is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France , at the border with Germany in the historic region of Alsace . It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin department and the official seat of the European Parliament . The city has about three hundred thousand inhabitants, and together Greater Strasbourg and the Arrondissement of Strasbourg have over five hundred thousand. Strasbourg's metropolitan area had
1728-628: Is the second-longest river in Central and Western Europe (after the Danube ), at about 1,230 km (760 mi), with an average discharge of about 2,900 m /s (100,000 cu ft/s). The Rhine and the Danube comprised much of the Roman Empire 's northern inland boundary , and the Rhine has been a vital navigable waterway bringing trade and goods deep inland since those days. The various castles and defenses built along it attest to its prominence as
1824-577: The Grande Île (Grand Island), was classified a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988, with the newer " Neustadt " being added to the site in 2017. Strasbourg is immersed in Franco-German culture and although violently disputed throughout history, has been a cultural bridge between France and Germany for centuries, especially through the University of Strasbourg , currently the second-largest in France, and
1920-900: The Hôpital civil . As for French Neo-classicism , it is the Opera House on Place Broglie that most prestigiously represents this style. Strasbourg also offers high-class eclecticist buildings in its very extended German district, the Neustadt , being the main memory of Wilhelmian architecture since most of the major cities in Germany proper suffered intensive damage during World War II. Streets, boulevards and avenues are homogeneous, surprisingly high (up to seven stories) and broad examples of German urban lay-out and of this architectural style that summons and mixes up five centuries of European architecture as well as Neo-Egyptian, Neo-Greek and Neo-Babylonian styles. The former imperial palace Palais du Rhin ,
2016-518: The Aare . The Aare more than doubles the Rhine's water discharge, to an average of slightly more than 1,000 m /s (35,000 cu ft/s), and provides more than a fifth of the discharge at the Dutch border. The Aare also contains the waters from the 4,274 m (14,022 ft) summit of Finsteraarhorn , the highest point of the Rhine basin . Between Eglisau and Basel , the vast majority of its length,
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#17328513298792112-639: The Anterior Rhine and the Posterior Rhine join and form the Alpine Rhine. The river makes a distinctive turn to the north near Chur . This section is nearly 86 km long, and descends from a height of 599 meters to 396 meters. It flows through a wide glacial Alpine valley known as the Rhine Valley ( German : Rheintal ). Near Sargan a natural dam, only a few meters high, prevents it from flowing into
2208-877: The European Parliament , the Eurocorps and the European Ombudsman of the European Union . An organization separate from the European Union, the Council of Europe (with its European Court of Human Rights , its European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines most commonly known in French as "Pharmacopée Européenne", and its European Audiovisual Observatory ) is also located in the city. Together with Basel ( Bank for International Settlements ), Geneva ( United Nations ), The Hague ( International Court of Justice ) and New York City (United Nations world headquarters), Strasbourg
2304-584: The Hôtel du Département facing it, as well as, in the outskirts, the tramway-station Hoenheim -Nord designed by Zaha Hadid . The city has many bridges, including the medieval and four-towered Ponts Couverts that, despite their name, are no longer covered. Next to the Ponts Couverts is the Barrage Vauban , a part of Vauban 's 17th-century fortifications, that does include a covered bridge. Other bridges are
2400-778: The Neckar in Mannheim and the Main across from Mainz. In Mainz, the Rhine leaves the Upper Rhine Valley and flows through the Mainz Basin. The southern half of the Upper Rhine forms the border between France ( Alsace ) and Germany (Baden-Württemberg). The northern part forms the border between the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate in the west on the one hand, and Baden-Württemberg and Hesse on
2496-452: The Obersee with the 30 cm lower Untersee . Distance markers along the Rhine measure the distance from the bridge in the old city center of Konstanz. For most of its length, the Seerhein forms the border between Germany and Switzerland. The exception is the old city center of Konstanz, on the Swiss side of the river. The Seerhein emerged in the last thousands of years, when erosion caused
2592-626: The Rhine knee , a major bend, where the overall direction of the Rhine changes from west to north. Here the High Rhine ends. Legally, the Central Bridge is the boundary between High and Upper Rhine. The river now flows north as Upper Rhine through the Upper Rhine Plain , which is about 300 km long and up to 40 km wide. The most important tributaries in this area are the Ill below of Strasbourg,
2688-400: The Rhine knee , the river turns north and leaves Switzerland altogether. The High Rhine is characterized by numerous dams. On the few remaining natural sections, there are still several rapids . Over its entire course from Lake Constance to the Swiss border at Basel the river descends from 395 m to 252 m. In the center of Basel, the first major city in the course of the stream, is
2784-671: The Théâtre jeune public , the TAPS Scala , the Kafteur ... Strasbourg, well known as a centre of humanism , has a long history of excellence in higher education, at the crossroads of French and German intellectual traditions. Although Strasbourg had been annexed by the Kingdom of France in 1683, it still remained connected to the German-speaking intellectual world throughout the 18th century, and
2880-723: The canton of Ticino is drained by the Reno di Medel , which crosses the geomorphologic Alpine main ridge from the south. All streams in the source area are partially, sometimes completely, captured and sent to storage reservoirs for the local hydro-electric power plants. The culminating point of the Anterior Rhine's drainage basin is the Piz Russein of the Tödi massif of the Glarus Alps at 3,613 meters (11,854 ft) above sea level. It starts with
2976-652: The confluence of the Rein Anteriur/Vorderrhein and Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein next to Reichenau in Tamins . Above this point is the extensive catchment area of the headwaters of the Rhine. This area belongs almost exclusively to the Swiss canton of Grisons ( Graubünden ), ranging from Saint-Gotthard Massif in the west via one valley lying in the canton of Ticino and Sondrio ( Lombardy , Italy) in
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3072-418: The " Hôtel de Hanau " (1736, now the city hall); the Hôtel de Klinglin (1736, now residence of the préfet ); the Hôtel des Deux-Ponts (1755, now residence of the military governor ); the Hôtel d'Andlau-Klinglin (1725, now seat of the administration of the Port autonome de Strasbourg ) etc. The largest baroque building of Strasbourg though is the 150-metre-long (490 ft) 1720s main building of
3168-498: The 1880s can be found along the newly reopened Rue du Rempart , displaying large-scale fortifications among which the aptly named Kriegstor (war gate). As for modern and contemporary architecture , Strasbourg possesses some fine Art Nouveau buildings (such as the huge Palais des Fêtes and houses and villas like Villa Schutzenberger and Hôtel Brion ), good examples of post-World War II functional architecture (the Cité Rotterdam , for which Le Corbusier did not succeed in
3264-412: The 19th century. While it was slightly modified during the Roman occupation, it was not until the emergence of engineers such as Johann Gottfried Tulla that significant modernization efforts changed the shape of the river. Earlier work under Frederick the Great surrounded efforts to ease shipping and construct dams to serve coal transportation. Tulla is considered to have domesticated the Upper Rhine,
3360-424: The Anterior Rhine and the Rhine as a whole. The Posterior Rhine rises in the Rheinwald below the Rheinwaldhorn . The source of the river is generally considered north of Lai da Tuma/Tomasee on Rein Anteriur/Vorderrhein , although its southern tributary Rein da Medel is actually longer before its confluence with the Anterior Rhine near Disentis . The Anterior Rhine arises from numerous source streams in
3456-401: The Austrian state of Vorarlberg , and the Swiss cantons of Thurgau and St. Gallen . The Rhine flows into it from the south following the Swiss-Austrian border. It is located at approximately 47°39′N 9°19′E / 47.650°N 9.317°E / 47.650; 9.317 . The flow of cold, grey mountain water continues for some distance into the lake. The cold water flows near
3552-403: The Gaulish word for fortified enclosures, cognate to the Old Irish ráth (see ringfort ) and arganto(n)- (cognate to Latin argentum , which gave modern French argent ), the Gaulish word for silver, but also any precious metal, particularly gold, suggesting either a fortified enclosure located by a river gold mining site, or hoarding gold mined in the nearby rivers. After the fifth century
3648-414: The German artillery to lay their guns. A librarian from Munich later pointed out "...that the destruction of the precious collection was not the fault of a German artillery officer, who used the French map, but of the slovenly and inaccurate scholarship of a Frenchman." The municipal library Bibliothèque municipale de Strasbourg (BMS) administers a network of ten medium-sized libraries in different areas of
3744-475: The German district include: Avenue de la Forêt Noire , Avenue des Vosges , Avenue d'Alsace , Avenue de la Marseillaise , Avenue de la Liberté , Boulevard de la Victoire , Rue Sellénick , Rue du Général de Castelnau , Rue du Maréchal Foch , and Rue du Maréchal Joffre . Notable squares of the German district include Place de la République , Place de l'Université , Place Brant , and Place Arnold . Impressive examples of Prussian military architecture of
3840-428: The Gothic Église protestante Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune with its crypt dating back to the seventh century and its cloister partly from the eleventh century; the Gothic Église Saint-Guillaume with its fine early-Renaissance stained glass and furniture; the Gothic Église Saint-Jean ; the part-Gothic, part- Art Nouveau Église Sainte-Madeleine etc. The Neo-Gothic church Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux Catholique (there
3936-420: The High Rhine forms the border between Germany and Switzerland . Only for brief distances at its extremities does the river run entirely within Switzerland; at the eastern end it separates the bulk of the canton of Schaffhausen and the German exclave of Büsingen am Hochrhein on the northern bank from cantons of Zürich and Thurgau , while at the western end it bisects the canton of Basel-Stadt . Here, at
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4032-454: The Latin Ren- . The Gaulish name Rēnos ( Proto-Celtic or pre-Celtic *Reinos ) belongs to a class of river names built from the PIE root *rei- "to move, flow, run", also found in other names such as the Reno in Italy. The grammatical gender of the Celtic name (as well as of its Greek and Latin adaptation) is masculine, and the name remains masculine in German, Dutch, French, Spanish and Italian. The Old English river name
4128-457: The Nazi occupation (atrocities such as the Jewish skull collection ) and the British and American bombing raids . Some other notable dates were the years 357 ( Battle of Argentoratum ), 842 ( Oaths of Strasbourg ), 1538 (establishment of the university ), 1605 (world's first newspaper printed by Johann Carolus ), 1792 ( La Marseillaise ), and 1889 (pancreatic origin of diabetes discovered by Minkowski and Von Mering ). Strasbourg has been
4224-471: The Posterior Rhine is joined by the Albula , from the east, from the Albula Pass region. The Albula draws its water mainly from the Landwasser with the Dischmabach as the largest source stream, but almost as much from the Gelgia , which comes down from the Julier Pass . Numerous larger and smaller tributary rivers bear the name of the Rhine or equivalent in various Romansh idioms, including Rein or Ragn , including: Next to Reichenau in Tamins
4320-453: The Rhine into Lake Constance forms an inland delta . The delta is delimited in the west by the Alter Rhein and in the east by the modern canalized section of the Alpine Rhine ( Fußacher Durchstich ). Most of the delta is a nature reserve and bird sanctuary . It includes the Austrian towns of Gaißau , Höchst and Fußach . The natural Rhine originally branched into at least two arms and formed small islands by precipitating sediments. In
4416-435: The Rhine opened in 2004 and is the most extended (60-hectare) park of the agglomeration. The most recent park is Parc du Heyritz (8,7 ha), opened in 2014 along a canal facing the hôpital civil . As of 2020, the city of Strasbourg has eleven municipal museums (including Aubette 1928 ), eleven university museums, and at least two privately owned museums ( Musée vodou and Musée du barreau de Strasbourg ). Five communes in
4512-431: The Vosges and Black Forest mountains, results in poor natural ventilation, making Strasbourg one of the most atmospherically polluted cities of France. Nonetheless, the progressive disappearance of heavy industry on both banks of the Rhine, as well as effective measures of traffic regulation in and around the city have reduced air pollution in recent years. Strasbourg is divided into the following districts: The city
4608-402: The architectural contest) and, in the very extended Quartier Européen , some spectacular administrative buildings of sometimes utterly large size, among which the European Court of Human Rights building by Richard Rogers is arguably the finest. Other noticeable contemporary buildings are the new Music school Cité de la Musique et de la Danse , the Musée d'Art moderne et contemporain and
4704-442: The area around the river was made more habitable for humans on flood plains as the rate of flooding decreased sharply. On the French side, the Grand Canal d'Alsace was dug, which carries a significant part of the river water, and all of the traffic. In some places, there are large compensation pools, for example, the huge Bassin de compensation de Plobsheim in Alsace. The Upper Rhine has undergone significant human change since
4800-404: The canalized Rhine into the lake. Its water has a darker color than the Rhine; the latter's lighter suspended load comes from higher up the mountains. It is expected that the continuous input of sediment into the lake will silt up the lake. This has already happened to the former Lake Tuggenersee . The cut-off Old Rhine at first formed a swamp landscape. Later an artificial ditch of about two km
4896-399: The cathedral, Strasbourg houses several other medieval churches that have survived the many wars and destructions that have plagued the city: the Romanesque Église Saint-Étienne , partly destroyed in 1944 by Allied bombing raids ; the part-Romanesque, part-Gothic, very large Église Saint-Thomas with its Silbermann organ on which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Albert Schweitzer played;
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#17328513298794992-420: The centers Basel, Strasbourg and Mannheim-Ludwigshafen. Strasbourg is the seat of the European Parliament , and so one of the three European capitals is located on the Upper Rhine. The Upper Rhine region was changed significantly by a Rhine straightening program in the 19th century. The rate of flow was increased and the ground water level fell significantly. Dead branches were removed by construction workers and
5088-603: The changes proposed along the Rhine, one was "the Treaty for the Rectification of the Rhine flow from Neuberg to Dettenheim"(1817), which surrounded states such as Bourbon France and the Bavarian Palatinate . Loops, oxbows , branches and islands were removed along the Upper Rhine so that there would be uniformity to the river. The engineering of the Rhine was not without protest, farmers and fishermen had grave concerns about valuable fishing areas and farmland being lost. While some areas lost ground, other areas saw swamps and bogs be drained and turned into arable land. Johann Tulla had
5184-526: The city became known by a completely different name, later Gallicized as Strasbourg ( Lower Alsatian : Strossburi ; German : Straßburg ). That name is of Germanic origin and means 'town (at the crossing) of roads'. The modern Stras- is cognate with the German Straße and English street , both derived from Latin strata ("paved road"), while -bourg is cognate with the German Burg and English borough , both derived from Proto-Germanic *burgz ("hill fort, fortress"). Gregory of Tours
5280-416: The city of Argentoratum, which they now call Strateburgus "), where he was exiled. The Roman camp of Argentoratum was first mentioned in 12 BCE; the city of Strasbourg which grew from it celebrated its 2,000th anniversary in 1988. The fertile area in the Upper Rhine Plain between the rivers Ill and Rhine had already been populated since the Middle Paleolithic . Between 362 and 1262, Strasbourg
5376-420: The city some noteworthy buildings (especially the current Chambre de commerce et d'industrie , former town hall , on Place Gutenberg ), as did the French Baroque and Classicism with several hôtels particuliers (i.e. palaces ), among which the Palais Rohan (completed 1742, used for university purposes from 1872 to 1895, now housing three museums) is the most spectacular. Other buildings of its kind are
5472-411: The city took part in the Protestation at Speyer . It was also one of the first centres of the printing industry with pioneers such as Johannes Gutenberg , Johannes Mentelin , and Heinrich Eggestein . Among the darkest periods in the city's long history were the years 1349 ( Strasbourg massacre ), 1518 ( Dancing plague ), 1793 ( Reign of Terror ), 1870 ( Siege of Strasbourg ) and the years 1940–1944 with
5568-454: The coexistence of Catholic and Protestant culture . It is also home to the largest Islamic place of worship in France, the Strasbourg Grand Mosque . Economically, Strasbourg is an important centre of manufacturing and engineering, as well as a hub of road, rail, and river transportation. The port of Strasbourg is the second-largest on the Rhine after Duisburg in Germany, and the second-largest river port in France after Paris . Until
5664-607: The country alongside the industrial revolution. For the German state, making the river more predictable was to ensure development projects could easily commence. The section of the Upper Rhine downstream from Mainz is also known as the "Island Rhine". Here a number of river islands occur, locally known as "Rheinauen". Strasbourg Strasbourg ( UK : / ˈ s t r æ z b ɜːr ɡ / , US : / ˈ s t r ɑː s b ʊər ɡ , ˈ s t r ɑː z -, - b ɜːr ɡ / ; French: [stʁasbuʁ] ; German : Straßburg [ˈʃtʁaːsbʊʁk] ; )
5760-415: The creek Aua da Russein (lit.: "Water of the Russein"). In its lower course, the Anterior Rhine flows through a gorge named Ruinaulta (Flims Rockslide). The whole stretch of the Anterior Rhine to the Alpine Rhine confluence next to Reichenau in Tamins is accompanied by a long-distance hiking trail called Senda Sursilvana . The Posterior Rhine flows first east-northeast, then north. It flows through
5856-499: The diverse post-graduate schools: The three institutions merged in 2009, forming the Université de Strasbourg . Its component schools include: Two American colleges have a base in Strasbourg: Syracuse University , New York, and Centre College , Kentucky. There is also HEAR ( Haute école des arts du Rhin ) the celebrated art school , and the International Space University in the south of Strasbourg ( Illkirch-Graffenstaden ). The European Center for Studies and Research in Ethics
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#17328513298795952-405: The fifth century AD, the city was known as Argantorati (in the nominative , Argantorate in the locative ), a Celtic Gaulish name Latinised first as Argentorate (with Gaulish locative ending, as appearing on the first Roman milestones in the first century) and then as Argentoratum (with regular Latin nominative ending, in later Latin texts). That Gaulish name is a compound of -rati ,
6048-444: The flow is diverted off the island of Mainau into Lake Überlingen. Most of the water flows via the Constance hopper into the Rheinrinne ("Rhine Gutter") and Seerhein. Depending on the water level, this flow of the Rhine water is clearly visible along the entire length of the lake. The Rhine carries very large amounts of debris into the lake – over three million cubic meters (110,000,000 cu ft) annually. In
6144-416: The goal of shortening and straightening the Upper Rhine. Early engineering projects the Upper Rhine also had issues, with Tulla's project at one part of the river creating rapids, after the Rhine cut down from erosion to sheer rock. Engineering along the Rhine eased flooding and made transportation along the river less cumbersome. These state projects were part of the advanced and technical progress going on in
6240-418: The lake level to be lowered by about 10 meters. Previously, the two lakes formed a single lake, as the name still suggests. Like in the Obersee, the flow the Rhine can be traced in the Untersee. Here, too, the river water is hardly mixed with the lake water. The northern parts of the Untersee (Lake Zell and Gnadensee) remain virtually unaffected by the flow. The river traverses the southern, which, in isolation,
6336-482: The local Alemannic dialect, the singular is pronounced "Isel" and this is also the local pronunciation of Esel (" Donkey "). Many local fields have an official name containing this element. A regulation of the Rhine was called for, with an upper canal near Diepoldsau and a lower canal at Fußach, in order to counteract the constant flooding and strong sedimentation in the western Rhine Delta. The Dornbirner Ach had to be diverted, too, and it now flows parallel to
6432-404: The metropolitan area also have museums (see below), three of them dedicated to military history. The collections in Strasbourg are distributed over a wide range of museums, according to a system that takes into account not only the types and geographical provenances of the items, but also the epochs. This concerns in particular the following domains: The Université de Strasbourg is in charge of
6528-498: The most political and thus heavily criticized of all German Strasbourg buildings epitomizes the grand scale and stylistic sturdiness of this period. But the two most handsome and ornate buildings of these times are the École internationale des Pontonniers (the former Höhere Mädchenschule , with its towers, turrets and multiple round and square angles and the Haute école des arts du Rhin with its lavishly ornate façade of painted bricks, woodwork and majolica . Notable streets of
6624-444: The mouth region, it is therefore necessary to permanently remove gravel by dredging. The large sediment loads are partly due to the extensive land improvements upstream. Three countries border the Obersee, namely Switzerland in the south, Austria in the southeast and the German states of Bavaria in the northeast and Baden-Württemberg in the north and northwest. The Seerhein is only 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) long. It connects
6720-459: The north bank and Switzerland on the south, except both sides are Swiss in Stein am Rhein , where the High Rhine flows out of the lake. The High Rhine ( Hochrhein ) begins in Stein am Rhein at the western end of the Untersee. Now flowing generally westwards, it passes over the Rhine Falls ( Rheinfall ) below Schaffhausen before being joined – near Koblenz in the canton of Aargau – by its major tributary,
6816-506: The north, or 650 kilometres (400 mi) as the river flows, whilst the head of navigation in Basel is some 100 kilometres (62 mi) to the south, or 150 kilometres (93 mi) by river. In spite of its position far inland, Strasbourg has an oceanic climate ( Köppen : Cfb ), though with less maritime influence than the milder climates of Western and Southern France . The city has warm, relatively sunny summers and cool, overcast winters. The third highest temperature ever recorded
6912-775: The northern branch of the river around Rozenburg island and curved south a few kilometres past Maassluis to join the Nieuwe Maas again in the Maasmond ("Mouth of Meuse") estuary near Den Briel . When the Nieuwe Waterweg was completed in 1872, the Scheur was dammed off and connected to the east end of the Nieuwe Waterweg to form the new channelized main mouth of the Rhine-Meuse delta. 51°54′54″N 4°14′31″E / 51.915°N 4.242°E / 51.915; 4.242 Rhine The Rhine ( / r aɪ n / RYNE )
7008-506: The open Sztal valley and then through Lake Walen and Lake Zurich into the Aare . The Alpine Rhine begins in the westernmost part of the Swiss canton of Graubünden , and later forms the border between Switzerland to the west and Liechtenstein and later Austria to the east. As an effect of human work, it empties into Lake Constance on Austrian territory and not on the border that follows its old natural river bed called Alter Rhein ( lit. ' Old Rhine ' ). The mouth of
7104-543: The ornate 19th-century Pont de la Fonderie (1893, stone) and Pont d'Auvergne (1892, iron), as well as architect Marc Mimram 's futuristic Passerelle over the Rhine, opened in 2004. The largest square at the centre of the city of Strasbourg is the Place Kléber . Located in the heart of the city's commercial area, it was named after general Jean-Baptiste Kléber , born in Strasbourg in 1753 and assassinated in 1800 in Cairo . In
7200-481: The other hand, in the east and north. A curiosity of this border line is that the parts of the city of Mainz on the right bank of the Rhine were given to Hesse by the occupying forces in 1945. The Upper Rhine was a significant cultural landscape in Central Europe already in antiquity and during the Middle Ages . Today, the Upper Rhine area hosts many important manufacturing and service industries, particularly in
7296-541: The river to the German town Kehl . The historic core of Strasbourg, however, lies on the Grande Île in the river Ill , which here flows parallel to, and roughly 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from, the Rhine. The natural courses of the two rivers eventually join some distance downstream of Strasbourg, although several artificial waterways now connect them within the city. The city lies in the Upper Rhine Plain , at between 132 and 151 metres (433 and 495 ft) above sea level, with
7392-512: The river. Some adjacent towns are named after it, such as Rheinau , Rheineck , Rheinfelden (CH) and Rheinfelden (D). The International Commission for the Hydrology of the Rhine Basin (CHR) and EUWID contend that the river could experience a massive decrease in volume, or even dry up completely in case of drought, within the next 30 to 80 years, as a result of the climate crisis . The Rhine
7488-559: The seat of European institutions since 1949: first of the International Commission on Civil Status and of the Council of Europe , later of the European Parliament , of the European Science Foundation , of Eurocorps , and others as well. Strasbourg is situated at the eastern border of France with Germany. This border is formed by the Rhine , which also forms the eastern border of the modern city, facing across
7584-483: The second-largest library in France after the Bibliothèque nationale de France . It was founded by the German administration after the complete destruction of the previous municipal library in 1871 and holds the unique status of being simultaneously a students' and a national library. The Strasbourg municipal library had been marked erroneously as "City Hall" in a French commercial map, which had been captured and used by
7680-649: The south to the Flüela Pass in the east. The Rhine is one of four major rivers taking their source in the Gotthard region, along with the Ticino (drainage basin of the Po ), Rhône and Reuss (Rhine basin). The Witenwasserenstock is the triple watershed between the Rhine, Rhône and Po. Traditionally, Lake Toma near the Oberalp Pass in the Gotthard region is seen as the source of
7776-572: The square is a statue of Kléber, under which is a vault containing his remains. On the north side of the square is the Aubette (Orderly Room), built by Jacques François Blondel , architect of the king, in 1765–1772. Strasbourg features a number of prominent parks, of which several are of cultural and historical interest: the Parc de l'Orangerie , laid out as a French garden by André le Nôtre and remodeled as an English garden on behalf of Joséphine de Beauharnais , now displaying noteworthy French gardens,
7872-412: The surface and at first does not mix with the warmer, green waters of Upper Lake. But then, at the so-called Rheinbrech , the Rhine water abruptly falls into the depths because of the greater density of cold water. The flow reappears on the surface at the northern (German) shore of the lake, off the island of Lindau . The water then follows the northern shore until Hagnau am Bodensee . A small fraction of
7968-599: The three valleys named Rheinwald , Schams and Domleschg - Heinzenberg . The valleys are separated by the Rofla Gorge and Viamala Gorge. Its sources are located in the Adula Alps ( Rheinwaldhorn , Rheinquellhorn , and Güferhorn ). The Avers Rhine joins from the south. One of its headwaters, the Reno di Lei (stowed in the Lago di Lei ), is partially located in Italy. Near Sils
8064-602: The town. A six stories high "Grande bibliothèque", the Médiathèque André Malraux , was inaugurated on 19 September 2008 and is considered the largest in Eastern France. As one of the earliest centres of book-printing in Europe (see above: History), Strasbourg for a long time held a large number of incunabula — books printed before 1500 — in its library as one of its most precious heritages: no less than 7,000. After
8160-430: The university attracted numerous students from the Holy Roman Empire , with Goethe , Metternich and Montgelas , who studied law in Strasbourg, among the most prominent. With 19 Nobel prizes in total, Strasbourg is the most eminent French university outside of Paris. Until 2009, there were three universities in Strasbourg , with an approximate total of 48,500 students in 2007, and another 4,500 students attended one of
8256-566: The upland areas of the Vosges Mountains some 20 km (12 mi) to the west and the Black Forest 25 km (16 mi) to the east. This section of the Rhine valley is a major axis of north–south travel, with river traffic on the Rhine itself, and major roads and railways paralleling it on both banks. The city is some 397 kilometres (247 mi) east of Paris . The mouth of the Rhine lies approximately 450 kilometres (280 mi) to
8352-491: The upper Surselva and flows in an easterly direction. One source is Lai da Tuma (2,345 m (7,694 ft)) with the Rein da Tuma , which is usually indicated as source of the Rhine, flowing through it. Into it flow tributaries from the south, some longer, some equal in length, such as the Rein da Medel , the Rein da Maighels , and the Rein da Curnera . The Cadlimo Valley in
8448-512: Was 38.5 °C (101.3 °F) in August 2003, during the 2003 European heat wave . This record was broken, on 30 June 2019, when it reached 38.8 °C (101.8 °F) and then on 25 July 2019, when it reached 38.9 °C (102.0 °F). The lowest temperature ever recorded was −23.4 °C (−10.1 °F) in December 1938. Strasbourg's location in the Rhine valley, sheltered from strong winds by
8544-999: Was adapted in Roman-era geography (1st century BC) as Latin Rhenus , and as Greek Ῥῆνος ( Rhēnos ). The spelling with Rh- in English Rhine as well as in German Rhein and French Rhin is due to the influence of Greek orthography, while the vocalization -i- is due to the Proto-Germanic adoption of the Gaulish name as * Rīnaz , via Old Frankish giving Old English Rín , Old High German Rīn , early Middle Dutch ( c. 1200 ) Rijn (then also spelled Ryn or Rin ). The modern German diphthong Rhein (also used in Romansh ) Rein, Rain
8640-729: Was captured by the German army in June 1940 at the end of the Battle of France ( World War II ), and subsequently came under German control again through formal annexation into the Gau Baden -Elsaß under the Nazi Gauleiter Robert Wagner ; since the liberation of the city by the 2nd French Armoured Division under General Leclerc in November 1944, it has again been a French city. In 2016, Strasbourg
8736-486: Was created under the German administration next to the Observatory of Strasbourg , built in 1881, and still owns some greenhouses of those times. The Parc des Contades , although the oldest park of the city, was completely remodeled after World War II. The futuristic Parc des Poteries is an example of European park-conception in the late 1990s. The Jardin des deux Rives , spread over Strasbourg and Kehl on both sides of
8832-464: Was dug. It was made navigable to the Swiss town of Rheineck . Lake Constance consists of three bodies of water: the Obersee ("upper lake"), the Untersee ("lower lake"), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein ("Lake Rhine"). The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the Alps. Specifically, its shorelines lie in the German states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg ,
8928-654: Was governed by the bishops of Strasbourg ; their rule was reinforced in 873 and then more in 982. In 1262, the citizens violently rebelled against the bishop's rule ( Battle of Hausbergen ) and Strasbourg became a free imperial city . It became a French city in 1681, after the conquest of Alsace by the armies of Louis XIV . In 1871, after the Franco-Prussian War , the city, as part of the Imperial Territory of Alsace–Lorraine , became German again, until 1918 (end of World War I ), when it reverted to France. Strasbourg
9024-551: Was promoted from capital of Alsace to capital of Grand Est . Strasbourg played an important part in the Protestant Reformation , with personalities such as John Calvin , Martin Bucer , Wolfgang Capito , Matthew and Katharina Zell , but also in other aspects of Christianity such as German mysticism , with Johannes Tauler , Pietism , with Philipp Spener , and Reverence for Life , with Albert Schweitzer . Delegates from
9120-570: Was the first to mention the name change: in the tenth book of his History of the Franks written shortly after 590 he said that Egidius , Bishop of Reims , accused of plotting against King Childebert II of Austrasia in favor of his uncle King Chilperic I of Neustria , was tried by a synod of Austrasian bishops in Metz in November 590, found guilty and removed from the priesthood, then taken " ad Argentoratensem urbem, quam nunc Strateburgum vocant " ("to
9216-461: Was variously inflected as masculine or feminine; and its Old Icelandic adoption was inflected as feminine. The length of the Rhine is conventionally measured in "Rhine-kilometers" ( Rheinkilometer ), a scale introduced in 1939 which runs from the 0 km datum at Old Rhine Bridge in the city of Konstanz , at the western end of Lake Constance , to the Hook of Holland at 1,036.20 km. The river
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