Another popular dish is tarte flambée, also called flammekueche, which is composed of dough, similar to that of a pizza, rolled out very thin and topped with crème fraiche, sliced onions and lardons (cubes of fatty pork). Perhaps the most famous dish of the region is choucroute – sauerkraut, or fermented cabbage, eaten with a selection of pork-based meats, such as knacks (a sausage typical of the region), smoked pork, salt pork and back bacon. It is notoriously heavy, as it features potatoes and spaetzle, a Germanic mini-pasta, as its main carbohydrate, often served with meat, cheese and cream. To me, the best part of any new culture is the food, and Alsatian cuisine is one of my favourites. Alsatian cuisine is neither completely French nor German I also learnt that if someone drinks a few too many blanches (wheat beers), they might quickly develop a 'beer buche', or beer belly to you and me.Ī fun fact is that Alsatian is still spoken by some Amish people in the state of Indiana in the US, who emigrated from the region in the 1830s.Ĥ. You can say 'ça geht's?' to your friends when you see them, which is a direct mixture of 'ça va?' in French and 'wie geht's?' in German, to mean 'how are you?'. Alsatian is influenced by French and German, and isn't just spoken in AlsaceĪlsatian plays with German and French words and can sometimes be a combination of the two. For example, I first learned the word 's’gilt', which means 'cheers', at a wine-tasting in the village of Obernai, and have since heard it used by both young and older people in bars in Strasbourg.ģ. This duality is also present in the names of certain tram stops, such as Langstross/Grand Rue, where the French translation follows the Alsatian, which is arguably more recognisable.Īlthough I have been told by almost every French person I’ve met in Strasbourg that it is only the older generations who speak Alsatian fluently, many Alsatian words have made their way into young people’s everyday vocabulary. The first time I came across it was on my first few walks around the city, when I noticed that most roads had two names – one in French and the other in Alsatian. I knew very little about Alsatian before arriving in Strasbourg. In 1985, Alsatian was recognised as one of the country’s regional languages and, in 1999, the national statistical agency counted 548,000 adult speakers in France, making it the second most-spoken regional language in the country after Occitan, which is spoken in southern France and Monaco. Even though the French government forbade the use of Germanic languages in schools in 1945, the dialect saw something of a revival in the 1970s when a number of independent movements fought against the state's crackdown on regional languages. Almost half of the regional population speaks AlsatianĪlsatian is a Germanic dialect spoken in Alsace. During this time, people from Alsace were made German citizens by decree from the Nazi government. The region was then occupied once by Germany during the Second World War. The occupation lasted until 1918 when, after Germany's defeat in the First World War, the region was ceded to France under the Treaty of Versailles. In 1871, Alsace was annexed to the new German Empire following its victory in the Franco-Prussian War. In 2011, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy made an awkward slip when he commented on being in Germany, when he was actually in the Alsatian town of Truchtersheim.Įven though Alsace is part of France, it is sometimes perceived as a cultural exception, in part due to its long periods spent under German influence.
The relationship between Alsace and the rest of France remains complex to this day. Alsace is not Germany, but not quite France either The region has been passed between French and German control several times since 1681, when Strasbourg was conquered by French forces.Īs a result, Alsatian culture is a unique mix of French and German influences. Here are a few things you might not know about the region.ġ. Although Alsace is part of France, its borders have not always been clear. Laura Leichtfried, a language assistant in Alsace, France, tells us about the region.Īlsace is a region in north-eastern France that borders Switzerland and Germany. In fact, it is so close to Germany that you can travel by tram from the regional capital Strasbourg, to Kehl, the nearest German city, in just 15 minutes.
Being an English language assistant gives you insight into a new culture.
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