Strasbourg Hotels

Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in northeastern France. With 702,412 inhabitants in

2007, its metropolitan area is the ninth largest in France. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the

Bas-Rhin department.

Strasbourg is the seat of several European institutions such as the Council of Europe and the Eurocorps as well as the

European Parliament and the European Ombudsman of the European Union. Strasbourg is an important centre of

manufacturing and engineering, as well as of road, rail, and river communications. The port of Strasbourg is the second

largest on the Rhine after Duisburg, Germany. The city is the seat of the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine.

Strasbourg's historic city centre, the Grand Island, was classified a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1988, the

first time such an honor was placed on an entire city centre. Strasbourg is fused into the Franco-German culture, and

although violently disputed throughout history has been a bridge of unity between France and Germany for centuries,

especially through the University of Strasbourg, currently the largest in France, and the co-existence of Catholic and

Protestant culture.