Strasbourg astronomical clock

Strasbourg Cathedral or the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg (French: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg, or Cathédrale de Strasbourg, German: Liebfrauenmünster zu Straßburg or Straßburger Münster), also known as Strasbourg Minster, is a Catholic cathedral in Strasbourg, Alsace, France. Although considerable parts of it are still in Romanesque architecture, it is widely considered to be among the finest examples of Rayonnant Gothic architecture. Architect Erwin von Steinbach is credited for major contributions from 1277 to his death in 1318, and beyond through his son Johannes von Steinbach, and his grandson Gerlach von Steinbach, who succeeded him as chief architects. The Steinbachs's plans for the completion of the cathedral were not followed through by the chief architects who took over after them, and instead of the originally envisioned two spires, a single, octagonal tower with an elongated, octagonal crowning was built on the northern side of the west facade by master Ulrich von Ensingen and his successor, Johannes Hültz. The construction of the cathedral, which had started in the year 1015 and had been relaunched in 1190, was finished in 1439.At 142 metres (466 feet), Strasbourg Cathedral was the world's tallest building from 1647 to 1874 (227 years), when it was surpassed by St. Nikolai's Church, Hamburg. Today it is the sixth-tallest church in the world and the highest still standing extant structure built entirely in the Middle Ages. Described by Victor Hugo as a "gigantic and delicate marvel", and by Goethe as a "sublimely towering, wide-spreading tree of God", the cathedral is visible far across the plains of Alsace and can be seen from as far off as the Vosges Mountains or the Black Forest on the other side of the Rhine. The reddish-brown sandstone from the Vosges mountains gives the cathedral its distinctive colour.The construction, and later maintenance, of the cathedral is supervised by the Fondation de l'Œuvre Notre-Dame ("Foundation of Our Lady") since at least 1224. The Musée de l'Œuvre Notre-Dame, a municipal museum located in the Foundation's buildings, displays original works of art from the cathedral, such as sculptures and stained-glass, but also the surviving original medieval buildings plans. In 1988, the Strasbourg Cathedral was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List along with the historic centre of the city (called the "Grande Île") because of its outstanding Gothic architecture.

The Archdiocese of Strasbourg (Latin: Archidioecesis Argentoratensis o Argentinensis; French: Archidiocèse de Strasbourg; German: Erzbistum Straßburg; Alsatian: Ärzbischofsìtz Strossburi(g)) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France, first mentioned in 343 AD. It is one of nine archbishoprics in France that have no suffragan dioceses, and it is the only one of those to be exempt to the Holy See in Rome and not within a metropolitan's ecclesiastical province. It has been headed by Archbishop Luc Ravel since February 2017.

In December 2000, an al-Qaeda-linked plot to bomb the Strasbourg Christmas market, at the feet of the Strasbourg Cathedral, on New Year's Eve was discovered. The plot was foiled by French and German police after a terrorist network based in Frankfurt, Germany, the "Frankfurt group", was unravelled. A total of fourteen people were convicted as part of the plot; four in Germany and ten in France, including the operational leader, Mohammed Bensakhria (a.k.a. "Meliani"), thought to be a European deputy to Osama bin Laden. The alleged mastermind of the plot was thought to have been Abu Doha, who was detained in the United Kingdom.

Argentoratum or Argentorate was the ancient name of the city of Strasbourg. The name was first mentioned in 12 BC, when it was a Roman military outpost established by Nero Claudius Drusus. From 90 AD the Legio VIII Augusta was permanently stationed there.

The Cabinet des estampes et des dessins (Print room) is a museum in Strasbourg in the Bas-Rhin department of France. It is dedicated to the municipal collection of prints (estampes) and drawings (dessins), but also woodcuts and lithographs, covering a period of five centuries from the 14th to the 19th. The municipal collections of graphic art since 1870 are displayed in the Musée d'art moderne et contemporain and in the Tomi Ungerer Museum. The collection was founded in 1890 by Wilhelm von Bode during his rebuilding and reorganisation of the city's art collections. It includes works by Albrecht Dürer, Albrecht Altdorfer, Hans Baldung, Hendrik Goltzius, Antonio del Pollaiuolo, Honoré Daumier, Philip James de Loutherbourg and the Master of the Drapery Studies. The Cabinet des estampes et des dessins was estimated to house 200,291 pieces as of 31 December 2015, and was notably enriched in 2019 by a major donation of 33 drawings and 5 engravings by artists such as Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Jacques Callot, and Rembrandt.

The Musée de l'Œuvre Notre-Dame (or Frauenhausmuseum in German) is the city of Strasbourg's museum for Upper Rhenish fine arts and decorative arts, dating from the early Middle Ages until 1681. The museum is famous for its collection of original sculptures, glass windows, architectural fragments, as well as the building plans of Strasbourg Cathedral. It has a considerable collection of works by Peter Hemmel von Andlau, Niclas Gerhaert van Leyden, Nikolaus Hagenauer, Ivo Strigel, Konrad Witz, Hans Baldung and Sebastian Stoskopff.

The Musée des Arts décoratifs (Museum of Decorative Art) of the city of Strasbourg, France, is found on the ground floor of the Palais Rohan, the former city palace of the Prince-Bishops from the Rohan family. One half of the museum is made up of the magnificent chambers in the late baroque, Rococo and Empire styles. The other half offers a broad overview of the art of Alsatian porcelain, gold- and silversmith masters between 1681 and 1870 (decorative arts from the region prior to the French conquest are displayed in the nearby Musée de l’Œuvre Notre-Dame.)

The Musée archéologique of Strasbourg, France is the largest of the numerous Alsacian museums displaying regional archeological findings from Prehistory to the Merovingian dynasty. It is located in the basement of the Palais Rohan. The museum goes back to the legacy of the historian Johann Daniel Schöpflin (1694–1771), who bequeathed his collection to the city of Strasbourg. The Société pour la conservation des monuments historiques d’Alsace (Society for the Conservation of the Historical Monuments of Alsace), founded in 1855, expanded and publicly displayed the municipal collections, of which a large number was however destroyed in 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War. During the reconstruction of the city and its museums, the musée archéologique moved to the premises that are still currently its own. In the 20th century, longtime directors Robert Forrer and Jean-Jacques Hatt worked on the systematic study of the Alsatian ground and the substantial enlargement of the collection. Between 1988 and 1992, the musée was thoroughly renovated. Its collections continue to grow steadily due to the numerous excavations made in and around Strasbourg since the beginning of the construction of the new Tramway network. The museum presents an overview of the human habitat in the region beginning with the earliest traces of Human dwelling and settling. A special focus is put on Argentoratum and its outposts along the Rhine like Seltz (Saliso). One of the museums most famous objects is the much studied stele of the legionary Caius Largennius. The museum also displays findings from the Gallo-Roman sanctuaries on the Mont Donon and in Mackwiller, as well as Merovingian findings made around Erstein.

The Palais Rohan (Rohan Palace) in Strasbourg is the former residence of the prince-bishops and cardinals of the House of Rohan, an ancient French noble family originally from Brittany. It is a major architectural, historical, and cultural landmark in the city. It was built next to Strasbourg Cathedral in the 1730s, from designs by Robert de Cotte, and is considered a masterpiece of French Baroque architecture. Since its completion in 1742, the palace has hosted a number of French monarchs such as Louis XV, Marie Antoinette, Napoleon and Joséphine, and Charles X. Reflecting the history of Strasbourg and of France, the palace has been owned successively by the nobility, the municipality, the monarchy, the state, the university, and the municipality again. Its architectural conception and its iconography were intended to indicate the return of Roman Catholicism to the city, which had been dominated by Protestantism for the previous two centuries. Thus the prelate's apartments face the cathedral, to the north, and many of the statues, reliefs and paintings reflect Catholic dogma.Since the end of the 19th century the palace has been home to three of Strasbourg's most important museums: the Archaeological Museum (Musée archéologique, basement), the Museum of Decorative Arts (Musée des arts décoratifs, ground floor) and the Museum of Fine Arts (Musée des beaux-arts, first and second floor). The municipal art gallery, Galerie Robert Heitz, in a lateral wing of the palace, is used for temporary exhibitions. The Palais Rohan has been listed since 1920 as a Monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.

The Kammerzell House (Alsatian: Kammerzellhüs, French: Maison Kammerzell, German: Kammerzellhaus) is one of the most famous buildings of Strasbourg and one of the most ornate and well preserved medieval civil housing buildings in late Gothic architecture in the areas formerly belonging to the Holy Roman Empire. Built in 1427 but twice transformed in 1467 and 1589, the building as it is now historically belongs to the German Renaissance but is stylistically still attached to the Rhineland black and white timber-framed style of civil (as opposed to administrative, clerical or noble) architecture. It is situated on the Place de la Cathédrale, north-west of the Strasbourg Cathedral, with whose rosy colour it contrasts in a picturesque way when seen from the opposite direction. The building's inside has been decorated on all floors by lavish frescoes by Alsatian painter Léo Schnug (1878-1933). It now houses a restaurant.

The Musée historique (Historical museum) de la ville de Strasbourg is a museum in Strasbourg in the Bas-Rhin department of France. It is located in the Renaissance building of the former slaughterhouse (Grande boucherie) and is dedicated to the tumultuous history of the city from the early Middle Ages until the contemporary period.

The Mikvah (or Jewish ritual bath) of Strasbourg is a historic site in Strasbourg, in the French department of Bas-Rhin. The site is unique as it connects to the Jewish heritage of Strasbourg that dates back to the Middle Ages.