Strasbourg, frequently named “European capital”, is a city in eastern France in Alsace on the left bank of the Rhine. The history of Strasbourg – Strateburgum, “town of roads” – predisposed for encounters, for its role as Europe’s Tower of Babel. The symbol of Franco-German reconciliation after the Second World War, Strasbourg has become the headquarters of multiple European and international institutions, notably the Council of Europe since 1949, to which the European Court of Human Rights and the European Pharmacopoeia are attached, the European Parliament since 1957 (official headquarters since 1992), the European Ombudsman, and also the home of the European television channel Arte.
In addition, Strasbourg is twinned with numerous cities in Europe and worldwide such as Boston (United States), Fes (Morocco), Jacmel (Haiti), Leicester (United Kingdom) and Ramat-Gan (Israel), Stuttgart and Dresden (Germany) and Vologda (Russian Federation), and maintains close relations with Antwerp and Rotterdam (The Netherlands), Vicenza (Italy) and Zurich (Switzerland). Thanks to these links and to the many exchanges organised with these towns, Strasbourg has enhanced its European character.
