Did you know that the 2024 UNESCO World Book Capital is Strasbourg in France? The city is well qualified for this honour. It was once home to printing press pioneer Johannes Gutenberg and there is a fine statue of him in the city. Goethe, who was a student in Strasbourg in the 1770s admired the statue. Artist Gustave Doré was a native of the city and a big exhibition will be held celebrating the works of this prolific illustrator of books. Some of the earliest print shops in Europe were to be found in Strasbourg. It was the birthplace to Julie Doucet, a ground-breaking graphic novelist and visual artist. In 1605 the first modern newspaper appeared there.
For the rest of this year and until April next year, Strasbourg will host literary exhibitions, indie book emporiums, author readings, antiquarian book events, events that encourage children to take books home with them, and open-air book markets. It is the first time a French city has been awarded the ‘World Book Capital’ label, given to a city that is committed to promoting reading and literature in all its forms. The award was initiated in 2001.
Strasbourg is in Alsace in eastern France, close to the German border, is a very pretty place, with gingerbread houses, a cathedral, a university which has hosted 18 Nobel Prize winners within its walls, and an historic centre situated on several islands, Strasbourg is worth a visit at any time. However, with so many book events coming up over the next months, it now becomes even harder to resist.
Have you visited Strasbourg? Let me know by leaving a comment.
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John
I used to visit Strasbourg from Bath every year. It holds the “Strasbourg Ecumenical Institute”, which is the world’s top Lutheran ecumenical institute, hosting an annual summer seminar that I attended. The seminar was held in the Protestant Seminary, which is attached to St Thomas, where Albert Schweitzer was organist and which earlier was the base of the famous reformer Bucer. There are several beautiful and historic churches in Strasbourg, in addition to superb literary sites. it swapped between France and Germany several times and is now one of the two homes of the European Parliament, the other one being in Brussels. I heartily agree that it is eminently worth a visit. There are also many lovely sites nearby, in particular in the Alsace, including some fine wineries I believe, but also assorted historic sites, such as the home of Oberlin and a Catholic pilgrimage site up a mountain with a magnificent view of the Rhine valley, also a World War I battle site, and an excellent museum of 16th century humanism, and in a museum in Colmar, a stunning altar piece of the death and resurrection of Christ.