STRASSBURG, stris'boorg, France, capi tal of Alsace-Lorraine, on the Ill, two miles west of the Rhine, on the French frontier, 350 miles southeast of Paris. It is ranked as a fortress of the first class. A massive inner rampart and 14 modern forts defend the city. It is cut by the Ill into several sections, and bears a quaint mediaeval aspect. It is divided into four cantons; and owing to the fact that through it in normal times passes most of the traffic between France, Germany and Switzer land, from the Strassburg side, the city is of very considerable commercial importance.
The minster or cathedral, the product of four centuries (10th to 14th), is one of the grandest Gothic churches of the Continent. The tall spire (466 feet) rises from the western front, which is richly embellished with statues and bas-reliefs. The screen of double tracery is the work of Steinbach (13th century). The majestic interior is also richly decorated, and of vast dimensions. In the south transept stands a wonderful astronomical clock (14th century), renovated in 1839-42. It includes a perpetual calendar; the relative position and movements of the planets forming the solar system and many automatic figures which act at stated in tervals. Other interesting features of the min ster are the beautiful stained glass and rose window (42 feet wide) ; choir-frescoes; and a pulpit of 1485. The Emperor William Univer sity (16th century) received a new foundation from the German emperor in 1872, the institu tion having been closed during the German occupation of Strassburg in 1870. It includes six faculties, has 172 teachers and an attendance of about 2,200 students. The library, which is one of the largest university collections in Ger man contains about 1,000,000 volumes, and manuscripts. The main facade faces the imperial palace. Beyond the principal buildings are the various institutes for the exact sciences, the observatory, etc. Others are for the study of experimental physiology, pathology, phar macy, surgery, eye-clinic, etc. The town also
contains several good churches, Hotel-du-coin merce, governor's palace, town-house, assembly room, various museums and collections, benevo lent institutions, excellent hospitals and a very large railway station.
Numerous public squares are embellished by
statues, fountains and historical monuments,
cluding busts of Goethe, Gutenberg and others.
The burgomaster, six associates and a conn-
ed of 36 members constitute the governing body
of the city. The most famous industry is the making of gates-de-foie-gnu (fat liver pies) whose annual export has sometimes reached $500,000. Other industries comprise tobacco, liquor, leather goods, clothing, furniture, car pets, machinery, musical and surgical instru ments, artificial flowers, gloves and the prod ucts of foundries, locomotive works, tobacco factories, tanneries, chemical works and piano factories. Transportation facilities by land and water are excellent. The town has always oc cupied an important military position and has been defended by fortifications of great strength and magnitude. Celts were the first inhabit ants, replaced by Romans, and subsequently by Teutons, and about the 6th century Strassburg became a Frankish possession. This was the commencement of its German connection. Bishops and citizens were in perpetual strife iu the early history of the town and the citizens finally obtained their independence (14th cen tury). In 1681 it was seized by Louis XIV and became a province of France. In 1870 it was besieged and captured by the Germans and was ceded with Alsace and Lorraine to Germany. By the Peace Treaty of 1919 it again came under French controL The population, which is about equally di vided between Protestants and Romap Catho
is 180000. Consult Enting,