Straatsburg audiotours

Strasbourg has been French and German five times between them, which gives the city a dual identity that was probably exhausting to live through but is remarkable to walk around. The cathedral, begun in 1015 and completed in pink Vosges sandstone over four centuries, was the tallest building in the world from 1647 to 1874. Its single completed tower is still the dominant element in a skyline that has not materially changed since the 18th century, viewed from the viewing platforms or from the Petite France neighbourhood below.

Johannes Gutenberg lived and worked in Strasbourg from 1434 to 1444, during which period he developed the movable type press that he would perfect in Mainz.

The Gutenberg Museum does not exist in Strasbourg, but the city has a certain quiet pride in the connection. More explicitly, Strasbourg is the seat of the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, and the European Court of Human Rights, a concentration of European institutions that reflects the city's geographical and symbolic position on the Franco-German border. The Parliament building by Architecture Studio, completed in 1999, is open for visitor gallery access when the Parliament is in session.