ConGen Strasbourg
History
The first American Consulate in Strasbourg was opened in 1866, in the building at 4 Place Broglie where the French national anthem, "the Marseillaise", was composed some 70 years earlier. When Germany incorporated Alsace after the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, the Consulate was relocated just across the Rhine in Kehl (Baden-Wurtemberg), because German authorities decided not to allow consular representation in Alsace-Lorraine.
After the restoration of Alsace to France at the end of World War I, the Consulate returned to Strasbourg in 1921. From 1925 to 1935, the Territory of Saar was included in the Strasbourg consular district, as it also was from 1949 to 1957. The Consulate was closed during World War II, but re-opened on March 23, 1946, shortly after the Allies liberated Strasbourg. It was designated a Consulate General in 1966.
The current Consulate building, at 15 Avenue d'Alsace, opened in 1950, was built by the U.S. government and houses all U.S. offices in Strasbourg.
Regional information
Strasbourg has been an important Rhine port for almost 2000 years. Originally a Gallic town, Argentoratum it became the Roman Strategurgum, an important international crossroads under Julius Caesar. Later, "Strassburg" was an Imperial Free City under the Holy Roman Empire. The City became French in the seventeenth century under Louis XIV. Germany captured it in 1870 and returned it to France in 1918. Again taken over by Germany during World War II, Strasbourg was liberated on November 23, 1944 by General LeClerc's French 2nd Armored Division, a part of the Seventh Army.
Since the Second World War, Strasbourg has become a symbol of European unity. It is the home of the Council of Europe Europe (COE); the European Court of Human Rights; the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE); the European Parliament; the European Science Foundation; the European Corps (a transnational military organization which brings together units from France, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium and Spain; and the five-nation Central Rhine Commission (Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, and Switzerland).
Strasbourg and several cities which, under the provisions of a 1966 French law, have formed an "Urban Community." This Community groups 26 suburban municipalities with Strasbourg, totaling about 440,000 people for administration and socio-economic development purposes.
Strasbourg is the largest city in the U.S. consular district of northeastern France. It is the cultural and commercial center of Alsace. It has rich and varied historical traditions and monuments, including the single-spired Strasbourg Cathedral, one of the most beautiful in Europe. For 400 years, the Cathedral was Europe's tallest landmark. Well-endowed with cultural attractions, Strasbourg boasts the outstanding Opera du Rhin, a fine city orchestra, and the only National Theatre and National University Library outside Paris. The University of Strasbourg, with nearly, 50,000 students from around the world, is a recognized leader in the fields of law, economics, and medicine.