Strasbourg, the venue for this year's ASTA World Travel Congress,
is a French place but it's also a German place. It has been one or
the other so many times in its history that families can remember
parents or grandparents who grew up German and became French or the
converse, depending on the period and the victor in a particular
war.
The city's location, a scant two kilometers from the German
border, accounts for its dual history. In this century alone, it
has changed nationality twice as a result of two world wars.
One hotelier here remembers that her great-grandfather opened
the hotel because he had been a German teacher when the city
reverted to France in 1918 and chose to get into the hotel business
to avoid having to switch to teaching French.
Strasbourg's duality is reflected in little details of everyday
life: menus in the restaurants are in two languages as are the
signs at sightseeing attractions, and most of the people speak both
languages fluently. It is common for people to live in France and
work in Germany or the reverse.
But along with its Franco-German character, Strasbourg also is
an American place, particularly for the older generation. They
recall that the U.S. Army was right behind the French in the battle
to liberate the city in the final months of the Second World War.
The French troops got here first but the GI's weren't far
behind.
One hotelier recalls his grandmother's saying that on a single
day in 1945, when the city was about to be freed from German
occupation, "she served the Germans breakfast, the French lunch,
and the Americans dinner."
In the magnificent cathedral, a plaque commemorates the bravery
of "American officers, noncommissioned officers and soldiers" who
fought here in 1944-45.
On Thursday, Nov. 11, the final day of the ASTA convention, the
efforts of the American soldiers will be remembered as the
cathedral's new memorial replaces the one that has been there for
many years.
Many of the American travel agents who are here for the
convention will be at the cathedral to share in that moment.