20241023_Rhine River Cruise_4884 crop Strasbourg, France sRGB
Shore excursion: Strasbourg Highlights.
In the middle of the Place de la République stands the Strasbourg War Memorial erected in 1936 in memory of the town’s children killed in World War I. The sculpture depicts a mother (Strasbourg) holding her dying sons (one French and one German but indistinguishable without their uniforms) whose hands are joined. The pedestal is simply inscribed “A NOS MORTS” (“TO OUR DEAD”) with the dates of World War I (1914-1918). Over time, dates of subsequent wars were added: World War II (1939-1945), the French-Indochina War (1945-1954), and the Algerian War (1952-1962).
The Place de la République was originally Imperial Square (Kaiserplatz), part of Germany’s vast urban plan— the Neustadt (New Town)—for Strasbourg when it annexed Alsace-Lorraine following the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. The square was completed in 1887. In 1911 an equestrian statue memorializing Kaiser Wilhelm I (the first German Emperor who died in 1888) was erected on the eastern edge (front entrance) of the square.
Strasbourg reverted back to France in 1918 at the end of World War I. During World War II, the German army captured the city in June 1940. French forces liberated it in November 1944.
Strasbourg, Grande-Île [the historic old town] and Neustadt [the new town designed and built by the Germans from 1871 to 1918], was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988.
On Google Earth:
Strasbourg War Memorial 48°35'14.08"N, 7°45'14.26"E
20241023_Rhine River Cruise_4884 crop Strasbourg, France sRGB
Shore excursion: Strasbourg Highlights.
In the middle of the Place de la République stands the Strasbourg War Memorial erected in 1936 in memory of the town’s children killed in World War I. The sculpture depicts a mother (Strasbourg) holding her dying sons (one French and one German but indistinguishable without their uniforms) whose hands are joined. The pedestal is simply inscribed “A NOS MORTS” (“TO OUR DEAD”) with the dates of World War I (1914-1918). Over time, dates of subsequent wars were added: World War II (1939-1945), the French-Indochina War (1945-1954), and the Algerian War (1952-1962).
The Place de la République was originally Imperial Square (Kaiserplatz), part of Germany’s vast urban plan— the Neustadt (New Town)—for Strasbourg when it annexed Alsace-Lorraine following the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. The square was completed in 1887. In 1911 an equestrian statue memorializing Kaiser Wilhelm I (the first German Emperor who died in 1888) was erected on the eastern edge (front entrance) of the square.
Strasbourg reverted back to France in 1918 at the end of World War I. During World War II, the German army captured the city in June 1940. French forces liberated it in November 1944.
Strasbourg, Grande-Île [the historic old town] and Neustadt [the new town designed and built by the Germans from 1871 to 1918], was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988.
On Google Earth:
Strasbourg War Memorial 48°35'14.08"N, 7°45'14.26"E