Alsace: geography, history, culture and modern administration

The name Elsass refers to a landscape and political entity already attested in the early Middle Ages. Early Latinized mentions are in pago alsacense (772) and in pago alisacense (774), pure German the name appears as elisazon for the first time in a document of 877. It derives from early High German ali-sāzzo "inhabitant of the other (to add:) Rhine bank" or, elliptically shortened, from early High German ali-land-sāzzo "inhabitant in a foreign country" and is thus a composition of Old High German ali-, eli- "other, foreign", at best land "country" as well as sāzzo "sitter, dweller". Among the "inhabitants of the foreign land", one is most likely to think of the new Frankish settlers who, after the Battle of Zülpich in 496, were settled by the Frankish monarchy on the left bank of the Rhine between Basel and the Palatinate, where they encountered Romans and Alemanni.

Due to the changeable history of Alsace between the Germanic (German) and Romance (French) cultural area, designations based on this arose. Since Alsace was German-speaking and it is still partly today, Welschi or Walschi stands or stood in Alsace for Innerfranzosen in general as well as for the Romansh (Lorraine/French) language enclaves on the eastern side of the Vosges (pays welche) in particular and their language. The Alsatians are also colloquially and pejoratively referred to as Wackes by the German-speaking neighbouring regions, which in Alsatian dialect initially meant country people or unemployed people and partly corresponds to the reverse term Boche.

Alsace borders Germany (Rhineland-Palatinate to the north, Baden-Württemberg to the east) and Switzerland (cantons of Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft, Solothurn and Jura). To the west, Alsace borders Lorraine, and to the south the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region.

Today's Alsace has a north-south extension of 190 kilometres, while the west-east extension is only 50 kilometres. In the east, Alsace is bordered by the Rhine, in the west over long stretches by the main ridge of the Vosges. In the north, the Bienwald and Pfälzerwald mark important border areas, in the south the northern edge of the Jura and in the southwest, in the open gateway landscape of the Burgundian Gate, the border, which dates back to 1871, approaches the watershed between the Rhone and Rhine.

The geological history extends from the Precambrian to the Quaternary.

Alsace has the following main natural units:

• Most of it is occupied by the Alsatian Plain (Plaine d'Alsace), which forms the southern part of the Upper Rhine Graben with Breisgau and Ortenau on the German side, and the Petit and Grand Ried on the Alsatian side. It is crossed by the Ill River and is dominated by cereal farming. There are also large forest areas such as the Hagenauer Forst in the north and the Harthwald in the south. In addition to wide plains, undulating to hilly areas occur (for example Kochersberg northwest of Strasbourg, western Sundgau and eastern Burgundian Gate, area between Hagenau Forest and Bienwald).
• To the west, the landscape is dominated by the Vosges, criss-crossed by the wide valleys of the Ill tributaries. Here you will find high pastures (Hautes Chaumes) alternating with forests. The Große Belchen (Grand Ballon) is the highest peak in Alsace and the Vosges, at 1424 m. In France, the areas north of the Zabern Valley are also counted as part of the Vosges (Vosges du Nord), but they form a natural unit with the Palatinate Forest.
• A narrow foothill zone mediates between the plain and the Vosges (analogous to the western edge of the Black Forest). Wine growing is typical for this "Piedmont of the Vosges".
• In the very south, Alsace also has a share of the Jura (Pfirter Jura).