Alsace Blog

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  Alsatian Christmas Cookies - The Traditional Bredele of Advent

  Posted in: Christmas in Alsace

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  The Bredele are the quintessential Alsatian Christmas cookies. Every year, from the first Sunday of Advent, the kitchens of Alsace fill with the scents of cinnamon, anise and vanilla. A delicious family tradition to cherish and pass on.

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  Alsatian Christmas Markets - A Comparative Guide to the Most Beautiful

  Posted in: Alsatian Heritage & Culture, Christmas in Alsace

  5859 Views 3507 Liked

  Alsace is one of Europe's richest regions for Christmas markets. From Strasbourg to Colmar, from Obernai to Kaysersberg, each market has its own character, atmosphere and specialities. This comparative guide helps you choose - and plan your visit.

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  Strasbourg Christmas Capital - A Story Beginning in 1570

  Posted in: Alsatian Heritage & Culture, Christmas in Alsace

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  Strasbourg proudly calls itself the Christmas Capital - and for good reason. Since 1570, its Christmas market, the Christkindelsmärik, has lit up the city's squares every December. A look back at more than four centuries of a tradition that has made Strasbourg one of the world's great festive destinations.

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  Saint Nicholas in Alsace - Traditions of 6 December

  Posted in: Christmas in Alsace

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  On 6 December, Alsace celebrates Saint Nicholas Day with remarkable enthusiasm. Torch-lit processions, Mannele brioche, gingerbread and lively markets - a popular family celebration that marks the true beginning of the Christmas season in Alsace.

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  Alsatian Christmas Cookies - Recipes for the 8 Classic Varieties

  Posted in: Alsatian Recipes, Christmas in Alsace

  3596 Views 2453 Liked

  Spritzbredele, Zimtsterne, Schwowebredele, Leckerli... Alsatian Bredele come in dozens of varieties, each with its own flavours and secrets. Here are the recipes for the 8 classic varieties for an authentically Alsatian Advent.

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  Alsatian Calendar Tea Towels - Alsatian Textile Art Through the Months

  Posted in: Practical Guides & Tips

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  The Alsatian calendar tea towel is a gift idea that is as original as it is practical - combining the region's textile tradition with the art of the illustrated calendar. Printed on quality fabric, it decorates your kitchen throughout the year with colourful Alsatian illustrations. Landscapes, storks, villages, traditions... a beautiful piece of Alsace to hang up or give as a gift !

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  Alsatian Glasses and Carafes - The Art of the Alsatian Table

  Posted in: Practical Guides & Tips

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  Alsatian wine-growing tradition extends all the way to the glasses ! Discover our selection of Alsatian glasses and carafes : screen-printed wine glasses with stork, Hansi or grape motifs, decorated carafes, Alsatian crystal and water, beer or champagne glasses. Authentic artisan creations to enhance your table and bring a beautiful piece of Alsace home.

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  The Witches of Bergheim - True History or Legend?

  Posted in: Alsatian Heritage & Culture

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  From 1582 to 1683, in Bergheim - the very village voted France's Favourite Village in 2022 - 40 women were accused of witchcraft and burned alive. This is no legend. This is history. A journey into the darkest and most fascinating chapter of Alsatian history.

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  Alsatian Cuisine - The Complete Guide to Dishes and Specialities

  Posted in: Events, Alsatian Wines & Gastronomy

  3707 Views 2484 Liked

  Between French traditions and Germanic influences, Alsatian cuisine is one of the richest, most generous and most distinctive in France. Choucroute, flammekueche, baeckeoffe, kougelhopf, bretzel, munster - every dish tells a story, a terroir, a way of life. The complete guide to the unmissables.

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  The Most Beautiful Villages in Alsace - The Complete Guide

  Posted in: Events, Practical Guides & Tips

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  Between golden vineyards, cobbled lanes and colourful half-timbered houses, Alsace is home to some of the most beautiful villages in France - and Europe. Three Alsatian villages have been voted "Favourite Village of the French". Our selection of unmissable stops, from north to south.

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  What to Do in Obernai in a Day? The Complete Guide

  Posted in: Events, Practical Guides & Tips

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  The second most visited destination in Bas-Rhin after Strasbourg, Obernai packs everything Alsace has to offer into a few cobbled streets : half-timbered houses, a medieval square, belfry, ramparts, vineyards and a sacred mountain. The complete guide to a perfect day in Obernai.

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  The Alsace Wine Route - The Complete Guide

  Posted in: Events, Practical Guides & Tips

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  170 kilometres, over 70 communes, 7 emblematic grape varieties, 51 Grands Crus and hundreds of half-timbered villages - inaugurated in 1953, the Alsace Wine Route is the oldest wine trail in France. From Marlenheim to Thann, at the foot of the Vosges, it crosses some of Europe's most beautiful landscapes and villages. The complete guide.

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  The Kappelturm of Obernai - History of the Belfry and the Market Square

  Posted in: Events, Alsatian Heritage & Culture

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  For more than seven centuries, the Kappelturm has dominated Obernai's Market Square with its 60 metres of Vosges sandstone. Former bell tower of the Chapel of the Virgin, civic belfry, watchtower, guardian of medieval bells - this monument is the beating heart of one of Alsace's most beautiful squares. A journey through history and architecture.

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  The Pagan Wall of Mont Sainte-Odile - What Is It Really?

  Posted in: Events, Alsatian Heritage & Culture

  2733 Views 1159 Liked

  11 kilometres long, 5 to 6 metres high, 2 metres thick, 300,000 cyclopean sandstone blocks linked by unique dovetail wooden tenons - the Pagan Wall surrounding Mont Sainte-Odile is one of Alsace's most impressive and mysterious archaeological structures. Who built it? When? Why? Historians are still debating.

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  The History of Alsatian Half-Timbered Houses - Why These Colourful Homes?

  Posted in: Events, Alsatian Heritage & Culture

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  With their exposed beams, colourful facades and flat-tiled roofs, half-timbered houses are Alsace's most recognisable architectural symbol. But why the exposed wood? Why the vivid colours? And what did they really mean? A journey into the fascinating history of a living heritage.

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  Saint Odile, Patron Saint of Alsace - Who Was She Really?

  Posted in: Events, Alsatian Heritage & Culture

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  Born blind around 660, probably in Obernai, rejected by her father the Duke of Alsace Etichon-Adalric, miraculously healed at her baptism, founder of the abbey of Hohenbourg on the mountain that bears her name, canonised in 1049 and proclaimed patron saint of Alsace in 1946 - Saint Odile is one of the most fascinating spiritual figures of the Middle Ages.

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  The Stork in Alsace - History, Legends and Remarkable Return

  Posted in: Events, Alsatian Heritage & Culture

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  With its white plumage, black wingtips and long red bill, the white stork is Alsace's most iconic bird. But this symbol came close to vanishing forever : by the 1970s, only a handful of breeding pairs remained in the region. The story of a fascinating bird, caught between medieval legends, ecological crisis and a remarkable comeback.

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  Soufflenheim vs Betschdorf Pottery - What's the Difference?

  Posted in: Events, Practical Guides & Tips

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  Soufflenheim and Betschdorf are Alsace's two great pottery villages, just a few kilometres apart - yet completely different. Colourful glazed earthenware on one side, grey and cobalt-blue salt-glazed stoneware on the other. Two traditions, two histories, two aesthetics. A complete guide to understanding both and choosing the right one.

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