STRASSBURG, A city of Ger many, the capital of Alsace-Lorraine. It is situated at the junction of the Breusch and the Ill, two miles west of the Rhine, 28 miles east of the French frontier, and SS miles by rail north of Basel (Map: Germany, B 4). The Ill divides into five arms in the city. Strassburg is a fort ress of the first class, and possesses a garrison of ]5.000 men. A circle of fourteen forts and an inner rampart defend the city. The centre of the city forms an oval, and is surrounded by two arms of the Ill. Here the streets are narrow' and crooked, and the picturesque ancient houses and frequent specimens of pure mediaeval architec ture, reflect a period when the city was both art loving and wealthy. In this section, on the south east, rises the structure for which 1-Arassburg is best known—the cathedral, or Minster. It is said to have been founded about 600. The pres ent edifice dates from 1176. The fore part of the cathedral is Romanesque, and the rest (the nave, 435 feet long) Gothic. The remarkable façade, the work of Erwin of Steinbach, with its galleries and rose window, especially commands admiration. Noteworthy also is the late Romanesque smith portal, which is embel lished with images. The tower is 465 feet high. A scarcely less celebrated feature of the Minster is its astronomical clock, the mechanism of which was constructed in 1839-42 to replace that of the famous clock of the sixteenth century. (See CLocK.) Southwest of the cathedral is the Protestant Saint Thomas Church, a composite edifice embracing the Gothic and Romanesque, begun about 1200. It contains a marble monu ment to Marshal Saxe, executed by Pigalle. Near the cathedral is the ancient episcopal palace, identified with the Rohans, and now containing the unimportant municipal art museum. In the Grosse Metzig—the market ball—dating from 1588 is the valuable Museum of Industrial Art.
North of the Ill extend the handsome new quarters of the city. where, in the Kaiserplatz, may be seen the splendid Imperial Palace, in Florentine Renaissance. It was completed in ISM, and has a cupola 115 feet high. The mod
ern Hall of the Provincial Diet and the provin cial and university library are near by. The library has some 700,000 volumes. Farther on in a northeasterly direction is the Contades Park. Some little distance east of the city, and reached by the fine Ruprechtsauer AlfBe, lie the beauti ful municipal grounds of the Orang,erie—a pleas ure -garden with Oriental features and lovely promenades. South of the town formerly stood the important citadel, built by Vauban, and de stroyed during the siege of 1870. Between it and the city is the extensive arsenal. Strass. burg, has a statue of General KliTher. who was horn there, and 'of Gutenberg; also a bust of Goethe, which marks the house where the poet lived as a student.
The university (see STRASSBURG, UNIVERSITY or) is situated across the Ill to the south east of the city. There are, in addition, the important Protestant Gymnasium, the acad emy with its collections, a lyceum, a Roman Catholic seminary, a very fine municipal con servatorium of music, a mechanics' school of art, and an industrial art school. The municipal theatre is an admirable institution. The Frauen haus contains an architectural and sculptural col lection. The city archives are very valuable. The numerous excellent hospitals are mostly situ ated in the southern part of the city.
The city government is administered by the burgomaster, with six as,ociates, and a council of 36 members. The city is divided into four cantons. Strassburg is commercially important, having of late greatly increased its trade, a con siderable part of the traffic between France, Ger many, and Switzerland passing through the city. The Ill is canalized; the Rhine-Marne and other canals traverse the city; and Strassburg is a railway centre. The new port covers upward of 300 acres, with wharves and quays on the Rhine. Latterly manufactories have grown up to some extent and include foundries, locomotive works, tobacco factories, tanneries, piano factories, chemical works, etc. 1\ Inch jewelry is manu factured. The population in 1900 was 151,041, of whom one-half or more were Roman Catholics.