In one of my visits to Strasbourg, we visited the Ligne Maginot. This is a line of hidden fortifications, that France built after the World War I in order to protect the country from a potential attack from Germany, especially in what referred to Lorraine and Alsace, two regions that have changed nationality several times in the history.
This defines line was made up of 45 main forts, and 97 smaller ones, and pursued several specific goals: serve as early alarm, hide the mobilisation of the French army, and protect the country in case of an attack through that border.
The mentioned forts consisted of underground bunkers, where the soldiers lived, waiting for an attack. Its construction employed a 25% of the whole country budget, between 1930 and 1935, and was made of the highest quality, with plenty of electrical appliances.
We visited one of these forts, and could imagine the life there. 580 men, called themselves, crew, as life in those forts was more similar to a submarine than a “regular” fort. This fort had 6 towers on the surface to attack (with guns) and to surveil, and more than 500 meters of underground tunnels. Other forts had several km of tunnels, though.
In the end, this line did not prevent the invasion of France, as Germany took the “long way” through the Netherlands and Belgium, and France could not check the effectiveness of such a large investment.
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Strasbourg is a French city, hosting the European Parlament, next to the Rhine river, and being a border city with Germany (is border still a valid word in the EU?). The region where it lies (Alsace) has been changing hands from the French to the Germans, and vice versa since the Romans were around. The last exchange took place in the beginning of the 20th Century, so not that long ago.
This is why Strasbourg was chosen as the host city for the European Parliament: this region has lived more wars (can you live a war? isn’t that totally impossible?) than any other region in the continent, and is therefore a perfect example of what EU is all about (in its origin: peace).
In fact, both sides of the Rhine have a massive park linked by a bridge to show this unification spirit.
Walking in the city you will notice examples proving this is one of the cities with the highest income in France: everything is clean, in perfect conservation state, and parks are full of attractions for the children and some grown-up. If you woke up in the beautiful small city centre, you would think you are in a German town for several reasons: the architecture cannot hide the German influence, it is crowded with German tourists, and even the dishes you can see in the restaurants are very similar to the food on the other side of the Rhine: Riesling wine, choucroute, flammkuchen, …
You can also find some additional signs of old installations that make a German speaking time clear.
One of the best things of this region is, without any kind of doubt, their white wine. Names as Riesling or Gewurzträminer varieties are well known for anyone who is properly advised in the wine world. There is a wine route well organized going south from Strasbourg, where you can stay as many days as you can while visiting the vineyards and tasting the different ones. We took only a part of it, and visited Obernai, where we had the opportunity to taste several wines, buy some, and have a walk around the vineyards.
If you want to take a deeper look to these cities, check the following slideshows: Strasbourg and Obernai