The Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau is a

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

eurodistrict A eurodistrict is a European administrative entity that contains urban agglomerations which lie across the border between two or more states. A eurodistrict offers a program for cooperation and integration of the towns or communes which it compr ...

, a cross-border administrative entity (''European Grouping for Territorial Cooperation'') sharing common institutions, established on 17 October 2005 and definitely functional since 4 February 2010. The district is formed by the Eurométropole de Strasbourg (centred on the city of Strasbourg), the Communauté de communes du Canton d'Erstein (a groupement of the urban communities of Rhinau,

Erstein Erstein (, ; gsw, label= Alemannic, Eerstain) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department, in the region of Grand Est, France. History An important necropolis from the Merovingian era (6th-7th century) has been excavated near Erstein in 1999– ...

and Benfeld) and the French State on the French side of the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

and the Ortenau district and the cities of

Achern Achern (; gsw, label= Low Alemannic, Achre) is a town in Western Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located approximately 18 km southwest of Baden-Baden and 19 km northeast of Offenburg. Achern is the fourth largest town in the distric ...

Kehl Kehl (; gsw, label= Low Alemannic, Kaal) is a town in southwestern Germany in the Ortenaukreis, Baden-Württemberg. It is on the river Rhine, directly opposite the French city of Strasbourg, with which it shares some municipal servicesfor exa ...

Lahr Lahr (officially Lahr/Schwarzwald since 30 September 1978) (); gsw, label= Low Alemannic, Lohr) is a town in western Baden-Württemberg, Germany, approximately 50 km north of Freiburg im Breisgau, 40 km southeast of Strasbourg, and 95&nb ...

, Oberkirch and

Offenburg Offenburg ("open borough" - coat of arms showing open gates; Low Alemmanic: ''Offäburg'') is a city located in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With nearly 60,000 inhabitants (2019), it is the largest city and the administrative capital ...

) in the

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

region on the German side.Bienvenue sur le site de l’Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau
district official website The population of the district is 958,421 as of 2019, and it covers an area of
Building on regional and Franco-German cooperation, it aims to develop bonds between citizens, associations, public administrations, educational establishments and corporations. It is also in the context of European integration, with the presence of

European institutions in Strasbourg There are a range of European institutions in Strasbourg (France), the oldest of which dates back to 1815. In all, there are more than twenty different institutions based in the Alsatian city.

, and has been compared to a European version of

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

The Eurodistrict's Council is composed of 30 members, with 15 each representing either the French or the German side.

History

The idea of a eurodistrict Strasbourg-Kehl (as it was called then) was officially launched on 22 January 2003, by then-

French President The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is ...

Jacques Chirac and then-

German Chancellor The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,; often shortened to ''Bundeskanzler''/''Bundeskanzlerin'', / is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the Ge ...

Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt "Gerd" Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German lobbyist and former politician, who served as the chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germa ...

during a meeting in the Élysée Palace; it was point 24 of the common declaration made on the 40th anniversary of the cooperation treaty between Germany and France. 22 January was furthermore declared "French-German day" (''journée franco-allemande'', ''deutsch-französischer Tag'') A common resolution to create the Strasbourg-Ortenau Eurodistrict was signed on 24 May 2003 in

by Fabienne Keller, the mayor of Strasbourg,

Robert Grossmann The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, the president of the Communauté urbaine de Strasbourg, the mayors of Kehl, Offenburg, Achern, Lahr and Oberkirch as well as the President (''Landrat'') of the Ortenau district. The resolution's aim was to present a viable version of the project at the upcoming French-German summit on 10 June 2003. On 30 June 2003, the French minister for European Affairs,

Noëlle Lenoir Noëlle Lenoir (born 27 April 1948) is a French lawyer, former judge, and politician. Career Noëlle Lenoir was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine. She is a graduate of Sciences Po and the Paris Law Faculty. She has been a professor in each of these i ...

, and her German colleague, Hans Martin Bury, signed the official document specifying the legal, political, economical, demographic etc. frameworks (''cadres'') within which the Eurodistrict was to be called into existence. The document also announced that further presentations of the project were to be made at the French-German summit in the following autumn, as well as during the crossborder flower festival on both banks of the Rhine held in Strasbourg and Kehl in the spring 2004. Mayor of Strasbourg

Roland Ries Roland Ries (born 11 January 1945) is a French politician from Alsace holding several posts on local, regional and national level since 1997. A member of the Socialist Party and mayor of Strasbourg between 2008 and 2020 Ries also serves as the f ...

, during and after his election campaign in 2007, proposed the strengthening of the district in order to maintain the presence of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

in the city (see

Location of European Union institutions The seven institutions of the European Union (EU) are seated in four different cities, which are Brussels ( Belgium), Frankfurt am Main ( Germany), Luxembourg ( Luxembourg) and Strasbourg ( France), rather than being concentrated in a single ...

) and making it more autonomous and akin to a European

capital territory A capital district, capital region or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any poli ...

. However the Ortenaukreis communities have been less enthusiastic about the Eurodistrict project. In late January 2010 the German State greenlighted the entity and the inaugural session of the Eurodistrict's Council took place on 4 February 2010. Roland Ries was elected as the council's first president.''Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau / Séance inaugurale du conseil''

Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace ''Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace'', commonly known as ''DNA'', is a regional daily French newspaper covering the Alsace region. History and profile ''DNA'' was created in November 1877 as ''Neueste Nachrichten'' by German Heinrich Ludwig Kays ...

, 5 February 2010

Transportation

The Eurodistrict is served by several cross-border transportation companies: Ortenau S-Bahn (railway),

TER Alsace TER Alsace was the regional rail network serving the région of Alsace, eastern France. In 2016 it was merged into the new TER Grand Est. Network Rail Road * Cernay – Sewen * Colmar – Turckheim – Munster – Metzeral * Colmar – ...

(railway),

Compagnie des Transports Strasbourgeois The Compagnie des Transports Strasbourgeois (CTS, en, Strasbourg Transport Company) is the company responsible for the comprehensive public transport network of the Eurométropole de Strasbourg, the urban community of the French city of Strasb ...

(tramway and buses).

References

External links

Official website
(German and French only)
Strasbourg Region
{{Authority control Geography of Strasbourg Ortenaukreis Eurodistricts Geography of Baden-Württemberg Transborder agglomerations Upper Rhine