Learning Outside the Classroom: Straßurg and Mutzig

In Straßburg, our main focus was the European Parliament. However we got some free time to explore the city. The city is located in France, however is located close to the border with Germany, and is historically German-speaking. The city is known for its sandstone Gothic Cathedral with its famous astronomical clock, and for its medieval cityscape of Rhineland black and white timber-framed buildings. Following our time in the city we headed over to the Parliament building where we had a lecture, and then visited the hemicycle where the members sit. While we were there, Parliament members were speaking, however out of the 766 MEPs about 10-20 were there.

In Mutzig, we visited the Fort de Mutzig (also known as Feste Kaiser Wilhem II), which is located in France. It is one of the forts built by Germany at the end of the 19th century to defend Straßburg. The trip was part of our European Foreign and Security Policy Analysis class. We had about a 2-2.5 hour tour of the Fort, which consists of three portions. The 254-hectare fort comprised of 50 building, as about 40,000 square meters of underground space. It was one of the strongest forts in Europe, but it saw no significant fighting during the First World War.