3. Gambsheim to Strasbourg

The Wantzenau Biological Reserve has just been expanded into a new biological reserve at the Confluence Ill-Rhine. A remarkable and protected natural area on the banks of these two rivers with their turbulent history.
For more information, click here.

The Via Columbani arrives in the old city of Strasbourg via the Parc de l'Orangerie.
The city's oldest park is a favourite meeting place for lovers, joggers and Sunday strollers. Children love its playgrounds, its vintage car circuit, its mini-farm and its zoo (free of charge).
It is here that the once endangered stork has been successfully reintroduced. More than 800 storks have seen the light of day since 1971. The beautiful bird, symbol of Alsace, can be admired here in all seasons.
At the western end of the park, you can admire the Palais de l'Europe, which can only be visited by registration.

More information : Strasbourg Tourist Office

The Council of Europe has been based in Strasbourg since its foundation in 1949.
Bringing together forty-seven countries (almost all the countries of the European continent) and representing more than 800 million citizens, the Council of Europe, which has been based in Strasbourg since its foundation in 1949, needed a seat that would fit the bill.
The first "house of Europe" was only a temporary building, and the construction of a genuine "Palais de l'Europe" in 1977 marked the start of the foundation of a vast district devoted to Europe and international relations, on the edge of the large Orangery Park.
At first glance, the Palace of Europe may seem severe: built by the French architect Henry Bernard, it was designed to "affirm, through the muscularity of its exterior plastic, that unity is strength, while at the same time demonstrating, through its smiling and serene interior atmosphere where curves dominate, the confident cordiality necessary for the free confrontation of ideas". The nearby Agora, inaugurated in 2008, fortunately contrasts with this austerity, with its large glass façade and its two atriums around which copper-clad conference rooms are arranged.

At the time of the German occupation at the end of the 19th century, a district of the city was developed as part of a comprehensive urban planning programme which was to symbolise the greatness of Germany.
Five prestigious buildings were erected there: the Imperial Palace, the Diet Palace of Alsace-Lorraine, the National and University Library of Strasbourg and the two buildings of the Ministry of Alsace-Lorraine, combining different architectural styles (Italian Renaissance, Baroque, Classical) and forming one of the only examples of a "Berlin monumental" type complex.
Further information: Wikipedia

Saint Colomban and his companions probably stopped in Strasbourg in an Irish community during their exile around 611.
There are two other Saint-Pierre churches in Strasbourg: the church of Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux, which is actually a complex of two churches, one Catholic and the other Protestant, and the church of Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune Catholic, with its imposing neo-Romanesque dome, which dates from the end of the 19th century.
The Protestant church of Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune is located in Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune Square in the historic centre of the town. It is one of the most remarkable in Strasbourg from the point of view of the history of art and architecture. The church has been Lutheran since 1524, but its history dates back to the 7th century, the century of the expansion of Luxovian monasticism, spurred by the monastery founded by Saint Colomban in Luxeuil. According to tradition, in the marshes north of Strasbourg (La Wantzenau) the monastery of Honau was founded by Irish monks at the end of the 6th century. In the 7th century the monks practised the rule of the good fathers Benedict and Colomban according to the custom practised in Luxeuil.
The church of Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune, which you are discovering, replaced other buildings whose tradition dates back to the 7th century, spiritually dependent on the monastery of Honau whose patron saints were Peter and Paul, it was during the second half of the 7th century that the name of Saint Colomban appeared.
Before visiting the Romanesque collegiate church and its rich history, we invite you to admire the fresco of Saint Colomban (15th century) on the wall in front of you as you enter the church.
This church houses a reliquary of St. Bridget of Killdare. Worship of this Irish saint, part of the trilogy of Irish Patrons, St. Patrick, St. Bridget and St. Columba of Iona, was brought by Irish monks in the time of St. Columba to the banks of the Rhine.
In the 21st century the cult continues in Germany and in several parishes north of Strasbourg including the parish of Kilstett near Gambsheim.
Diese Kirche beherbergt eine Reliquie der heiligen Bridget von Killdare. Die Verehrung dieser irischen Heiligen, Teil der Trilogie der irischen Schutzpatrone, St. Patrick, St. Bridget und St. Columba von Iona, wurde von irischen Mönchen in der Zeit von St. Columba an das Rheinufer gebracht.
Im 21. Jahrhundert setzt sich der Kult in Deutschland und in mehreren Gemeinden nördlich von Straßburg fort, darunter die Gemeinde Kilstett bei Gambsheim.
Guide to visit the church of Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune

The statue of Johann Gensfleich Gutenberg was erected in 1840. Although the inventor of the printing press, with individual, melted down characters on demand, was born in Mainz, his discovery was made in Strasbourg a few steps away from his statue around 1435.
Behind the statue you can admire the Strasbourg Chamber of Commerce built in 1585.