A Look at Alsace

Alsace is an area of contradictions. It is the smallest region in continental France, but has one of the country’s most important cities, Strasbourg. Its landscape is as flat in some places as it is mountainous in others, and while its population is fiercely independent, they share many characteristics with their German and Swiss neighbors. Its strategic location along the west bank of the Rhine has made it the site of fierce battles over long centuries, and each painful chapter in the region’s history has played its part in defining Alsace, its people and their homes. Alsace remained largely under Germanic rule until 1648, when the Hapsburg family handed it over to France. Louis XIV was said to be so taken by his new territory that he exclaimed “What a beautiful garden!”, signaling the start to a very special relationship between France and Alsace.

By the time of the Revolution in 1789, Alsatians were in no doubt of their nationality. In fact, the French national anthem was written there by a French military officer, Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, who was stationed in Strasbourg in 1792 when France declared war on Austria. It was originally titled Le Chant de Guerre pour l’Armée du Rhin (The War Song of the Rhine Army); it became known as La Marseillaise when it was adopted a few months later by the militia of volunteers from Marseille as they marched north to join the fight.

During the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, Alsace fell once again to the Germans, with its men conscripted to fight against their former countrymen in World War I. French again from 1918 until 1939, occupied by Germany until 1945, Alsace found lasting peace only after World War II, with Strasbourg chosen in 1949 as the seat of the Council of Europe, and now also the site of the European Parliament and the European Court of Human Rights.

NORTH AND SOUTH

Alsace is composed of two departments, Bas-Rhin, or Lower Rhine, in the north, with Strasbourg as its major city, and Haut-Rhin, Upper Rhine, in the south, with Mulhouse and Colmar. (The upper and lower refer to the flow of the river.)

The countryside in between is still a garden, largely rural and unspoiled. With its highest point, the Grand Ballon, at 4,600 ft, only 15 miles northwest of Mulhouse, the Vosges mountain range offers more than 170 ski lifts during the winter, and hundreds of miles of tracks for walking, biking and exploring.

The foothills and plains below are equally beautiful, covered with vineyards along the famous, 105-mile Route des Vins, producing some 165 million bottles of wine a year. And if wine is not your tipple, there is also terrific Alsatian beer—Kronenbourg’s main brewery is in Obernai, Meteor is produced in Hochfelden, and there are scores of artisanal and micro-breweries throughout the region.

Property prices across Alsace are above the national average at €1,901 (approximately $2,445) per square meter, according to the latest figures released by the FNAIM (the French real estate agents’ association). But prices obviously vary considerably between major cities and small villages in the rural countryside.

Less than 2 and 1/2 hours from Paris on the TGV, with an international airport as well, Strasbourg is home to a prestigious university and many international corporations, including Eli Lilly and General Motors, as well as those major European Union institutions. That makes it the most expensive location in the region. But with lots of foreign employees and students looking for accommodation, Strasbourg apartments make ideal rental investments. With the financial crisis of the last few years, prices have come down by about 10%, according to FNAIM, but the average cost per square meter is still around €2,500.

Most properties for sale in Strasbourg are apartments, and available houses are rare. The charming city is centered around the stunning Gothic Notre Dame cathedral, with cobbled streets, beautiful half-timbered buildings, lovely squares and a small network of canals. Prices in the historic center are at a premium, but the general consensus among real estate agents is that these much sought-after properties don’t stay on the books for long. Sums up one agent, “Apartments in the historic city are particularly popular, but they don’t come up that often, and when they do there is a mad scramble to acquire them.”

The most picturesque area is La Petite France, with rows of attractive half-timbered houses with high ceilings on the banks of small canals. For the privilege of such exclusive surroundings, you can expect to pay up to €800,000 for a two-bedroom apartment. “The market has really picked up since the summer, and properties are selling very well,” says a spokesman for CG Immobilier. “We have a two-bedroom flat in La Petite France currently listed at €780,000, but not a lot else. The only other property, also two bedrooms, needs a lot of work, and that is going for €389,000. For a property of around 100 square meters (1,000 square feet), you are looking at prices of around €600,000.” Other expensive areas are the Orangerie, Quinze and the European Parliament districts, all in the northern sector of the city, where properties range up to €3,000 per square meter. If you are looking for something more affordable, head to southern districts such as Elsau, Meinau and Neudorf, where apartments and houses are much more reasonably priced. A 103-square-meter, three-bedroom house is currently listed with Leapfrog Properties for €269,000.

SLIGHTLY LESS

Obernai, 15 miles south of Strasbourg and just a 15-minute drive from the international airport, is a town of just over 11,000 people and surrounded by vineyards, giving it a rural feel. But it is by no means a country backwater. It’s host to many large international companies, as well as the Kronenbourg breweries, and is the second most-visited tourist destination in Alsace after Strasbourg.

Traditional half-timbered houses and newly built apartments offer buyers much more value for the money here. For example, an apartment that would cost almost €400,000 in La Petite France in central Strasbourg might be around €200,000 in Obernai. Julie Duro, a teacher who moved to a village just outside Obernai four years ago, said: “It’s a small town with a large soul—it’s got everything. And what we really appreciated, after living in the south of France, is that the houses are so much larger. I think that is something to do with the weather. It rains quite a lot, so people invest in their homes rather than in their outside space, as they do in the south. But the countryside is wonderful—it’s so green—and we like being closer to Paris,” she adds.

BETTER BARGAINS

Property in Haut-Rhin, south toward the Swiss border, tends to command significantly lower prices than the northern Bas-Rhin. The latest figures available indicate that buyers can expect to pay around €500 less per square meter than in Bas-Rhin, according to french-property.com.

The principal city is Mulhouse, just a few miles from the junction of France, Germany and Switzerland. Mathieu Zuchegna, of the real estate agency La Roseraie, says the most popular areas of Mulhouse are the suburban districts of Rebberg and Dornach. Here, a spacious three-bedroom apartment is currently on the market for a modest €85,000.

Nearby Colmar, in the center of the wine route, is another town with lots of appeal. The hometown of Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty, Colmar also has the distinction of being the driest town in France. Its position at the foot of the highest section of the Vosges mountains means that its average annual rainfall is slightly less than 21 inches.

Prices are a little higher than in Mulhouse but there are more types of properties available, according to Nicholas Gravier, of Immobilière Bartholdi, an agency that operates throughout the Haut-Rhin. “Prices are a little bit more expensive here, but you get everything—houses, apartments, land. The best areas for families, I would say, are in the southern part of the city, in districts like Sainte Marie. It’s calm, but five minutes from the center.” A covetable three-bedroom apartment, with high ceilings and spacious rooms, is currently for sale in this district for €450,000.

Originally published in the October 2010 issue of France Today