Strasbourg - An Amazing Clock and Storks!

Strasbourg Canal Cruise

Known as the "Crossroads of Europe" because of its location halfway between Paris and Prague, Strasbourg is the capital and principal city in the Alsace region of France. We started our tour of Strasbourg with a canal cruise in a water taxi.  For about an hour, we cruised through the canals passing under several covered bridges linked by Medieval watchtowers.  We also saw some quaint neighborhoods with cobblestone streets and half-timbered houses...and lots of swans!

Cathedral Notre Dame - Astronomical Clock

After the canal cruise, our next stop was the Cathedral Notre Dame in Strasbourg, which was built between 1176 and 1439. It is an impressive 466 feet tall, which makes it the sixth tallest church in the world.  The interior has beautiful stained glass, tapestries and mural paintings.  It also houses one of the most unique things I have ever seen in a cathedral...an astronomical clock. The clock was invented by various artists, mathematicians, Swiss watchmakers, sculptors and painters.  The present clock dates from 1842 and stands almost 60 feet tall.  It shows official time, solar time, the day, week month and year, the zodiac signs, moon phases and position of the planets.  There is also a lot of automation, including two angels who ring a bell and tip the sands of time.  The clock also shows a view of different stages of life, which are shown through a a child, a teenager, an adult and an old man, who pass before Death. Above all of this are the apostles who walk before Christ, with their passage shown by the beatings of wings and the song of a large rooster. In front of the clock is the  Pillar of Angels, which represents the Last Judgment.  There is so much going on with this clock,  I could have studied it for hours! The whole "performance" of the clock begins at 12:30 p.m. and we were lucky enough to see it.  NOTE:  Originally, the scene began at the twelve strokes of noon, but in 1954, the priests became annoyed at people leaving mass early to view the clock  and changed the scene to 12:30!

 



Alsace Storks

Another thing I found interesting about the Alsace region is that their symbol is the stork.  We were told that the legend of storks delivering babies started here, but I can't confirm that.  Alsatian custom  used to have a child who wanted a little brother or sister place a piece of sugar on the window ledge to attract the stork, in the hope it would leave a baby in exchange for the sugar. There are lots of  storks and preserved stork nests. Years ago the storks were about to become an endangered species and "stork parks" were created.  Now many of the storks don't even leave in the winter, as they have become so comfortable in their new homes! Many of the local linens, pottery and tourist items include the stork and most tourists leave with at least a stuffed stork (yes...I'm one of them)!