[morphing libertarian]

side point

We have friends in Kingersheim north of Mulhouse; just west of the Rhine. The grandfather is still alive. When he was a kid the Germans had taken the land between the Voges and the Rhine. The schools were taught in German. At home they spoke French. The kids developed a hybrid language Alsacienne.

Apparently the language is dying out with the generation.

This land has been argued about for centuries. I love the region and the people and cuisine are great.

[EternalVigilance]

One of my great-great grandmothers was an Alsation. Of course, they cleared out of there for America about one hundred and fifty years ago.

Saved them a whole lot of trouble.

[henkster]

The purported author of the German memoir “Forgotten Soldier,” Guy Sajer, was Alsatian. He had trouble conversing with his fellow German soldiers. I say “purported” because there is some dispute whether Sajer actually existed.

I have enjoyed reading maps since I was very young. They say so much. One of the things you can see from maps of Alsace, Lorraine and the Ardennes is the “linguistic border” between France and Belgium on one side and Germany on the other just by tracing the linguistic changes in place names. Some of the larger places like Strasburg/Strasbourg are given alternate names, but the smaller villages and towns are not.

[colorado tanker]

The problems in this part of Europe go all the way back to the bequest of Charlemagne. It was the custom of his people to divide the inheritance among all the sons. They did not follow the rule of primogeniture. So, Charlemagne split his empire into thirds. One was the future France, one was the future Germany and the third was an unwieldy barbell shaped dominion squeezed in between.

Lothair's dominion was not militarily viable and Europeans fought over that middle land (and Northern Italy) for centuries.