- published: 28 Jun 2016
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Alsace (French: Alsace [alzas]; Alsatian: Elsàss [ˈɛlsɑs]; German: Elsass, pre-1996: Elsaß, IPA: [ˈɛlzas]; Latin: Alsatia) is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area (8,280 km²), and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km² (total population in 2006: 1,815,488; 1 January 2008 estimate: 1,836,000). Alsace is located on France's eastern border and on the west bank of the upper Rhine adjacent to Germany and Switzerland. The political, economic and cultural capital as well as largest city of Alsace is Strasbourg. Because that city is the seat of dozens of international organizations and bodies, Alsace is politically one of the most important regions in the European Union.
The name "Alsace" can be traced back to the Old High German Ali-saz or Elisaz, meaning "foreign domain". An alternative explanation derives it from a Germanic Ell-sass, meaning "seated on the Ill", a river in Alsace. The region was historically part of the Holy Roman Empire. It was gradually annexed by France in the 17th century under kings Louis XIII and Louis XIV and made one of the provinces of France. Alsace is frequently mentioned in conjunction with Lorraine, because German possession of parts of these two régions (as the imperial province Alsace-Lorraine, 1871–1918) was contested in the 19th and 20th centuries, during which Alsace changed hands four times between France and Germany in 75 years.
Slowly moving onwards -
Perceive the light of day
Hazy in the distance -
No need for delay
A piercing ray of sunlight -
The moring will prevail
Horizons getting clearer -
The darkness lifts her veil
A myraid of colours -
A rainbow drop of dew
Scatters iron bridges -
Of thoughts I always knew
A turbulent upheaval -
The water froths and churns
As if the cool surroundings -
Is laughing as it burns
A river flowing to the sea
No way of knowing its destiny
Skipping over stones and telling stories
Of a life carried along
The water making up a song
Settling for the motions -
Of pathways preordained
All must travel onwards -
The riverbed maintained
Delight in our confinement -
Make haste and join the fray
The stone of life is rolling -
No time to halt and play
A river flowing to the sea
No way of knowing its destiny
Skipping over stones and telling stories
Of a life carried along
The water making up a song
A space opens before me -
A journey's at an end
Pain or true salvation -
What's waiting round the bend?
Mingling with the silence -
I hear a distant roar
The end I had imagined -
Is just another door
A river flowing to the sea
No way of knowing its destiny
Skipping over stones and telling stories
Of an end that never is