strasbourg the cathedral

Strasbourg Cathedral de Notre-Dame is known as one of the most beautiful gothic cathedrals in Europe. The Cathedral stands on the exact site of a Roman temple built on a little hill above the muddy ground.

The person who was in 1284 selected as an organizer of the whole procedure was Erwin von Steinbach (he himself wanted to donate some money for the building of the church, but as he was penniless, he donated his horse!). He imagined and designed the magnificent west front of the cathedral and its main entrance. By the time of his death, building had progressed – the rose window was being completed and so were his towers.

For the next four centuries, due to the height of its tower (142 m), the Strasbourg Cathedral was considered the tallest building in the modern world! Furthermore, it was unique because it was one of the few gothic churches equipped with only one tower.
Under the Reformation, in 1521, the cathedral became a Protestant church. After the incorporation of Strasburg into France in 1681, the cathedral was returned to the Catholics.
The cathedral has many other treasures: stained glass windows dating from the 12th to the 14th century...

...the tower of angels...


...and finally a very popular curiosity, the astronomical clock set up in its own 17th-century case decorated by Tobias Stimmer and using a 19th-century mechanism devised by Schwilgué.
Thank you to Howard for providing me with all this great information!

The nativity scene in the cathedral was absolutely beautiful.

strasbourg the city

Of course Strasbourg is a beautiful old city.

I loved the contrast that these buildings give.

As we were looking at these houses with their decorations we heard two German women talking about how the French use such tacky (kitschig) decorations! We had to smile.

strasbourg christmas market

On Saturday Howard and I went to the Christmas market in Strasbourg, France. This city once belonged to Germany and the German influence there is still very strong. It was a brutally cold and windy day and the market areas were packed to almost a standstill at times. But it was wonderful to wander over to the Russian market, get a bit of a break from the masses and see what the Russians have to offer at Christmas. We were not disappointed!

These little dolls are all hand painted. There was a lady sitting in one booth doing just that. The detail is absolutely amazing.
Of course this is all hand painted as well. It is so beautifully done.




Can you tell that I was quite fascinated by these works of art?!
I love the mouse (I think it's a mouse!) on the upper left of this picture!

st. nikolaustag

This morning began a very quiet St. Nikolaustag. Katy is away on a choir tour and has not yet seen her shoe (slipper) filled with candies. I am sure she will be very surprised when she gets home! As you know, "Nikolaustag" is celebrated by children setting their shoes (or boots!) outside their bedroom doors before they go to bed on the 5th of December. Then Nikolaus comes and fills their shoes with lots of goodies, all in anticipation of what amazing things they will receive on Christmas Day. The tradition goes back to a saint of the Catholic church: Nikolaus was bishop in Myra (Turkey). He died 6^th December 345. He was known for being very generous to the poor and especially to children.

such a strange climate

On Monday these flowers on our front porch still looked this good...

...but by Tuesday afternoon the "season" had changed completely. There is snow up on the Blauen but it's still green in town - just right for Christmas!

december 1

The countdown has officially begun. Advent calendars are a big part of the Christmas culture here and it's great fun for the whole family! (Well, at least for me and Katy this year!)

Tonight was the unveiling of the window across the street so there was a lot of activity over there this afternoon on this December 1st.
We had a personal invitation to come to the program and unveiling and once again it was not a disappointment.


Our neighbour told us this evening that he thought it would be a very good idea if this old church would travel to Canada with us when we leave here! So he no doubt will be sure to pass this handmade replica of a church in Poland (a former part of Germany) on to us before we leave.