Nicolas Sarkozy slip puts French Alsace 'in Germany'

[cowcommander]

Source: BBC

French President Nicolas Sarkozy made a gaffe while addressing a group of farmers in a French border region, saying he was "in Germany".

Mr Sarkozy dropped the clanger while delivering an address in Alsace - the region won back by France from Germany in World War II.

He quickly corrected his mistake, but was booed by some in the crowd.

Nationality in Alsace is sensitive as the region has been annexed by both France and Germany over the centuries.


Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12225642

[Odin2005]

1. Well, he was ethnically, Alsantians are ethnic Germans.

If you run unto a Frenchman with a German-looking name he/she is almost certainly from Alsace or Lorraine.

[formercia]

7. I believe it's Hungarian

once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was in his Genes to say that. Hitler is dancing a jig, those coals must be hot.

[dipsydoodle]

2. History of Alsace-Lorraine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alsace-Lorraine

[closeupready]

6. I've been to Lorraine - it's very hilly and pretty, and kind of isolated.

Or it was 20 years ago - not sure about now, but it was a bit like stepping into the 19th Century when I was there. :)

[AndyTiedye]

10. Sounds Like the Best of Both Countries

[iandhr]

3. I did a semester in Strasbourg

The largest city in Alsace.

The region has gone back and forth between France and Germany. France won it from Germany in 1648. Germany one it back in 1871 during the wars of German unification. France won it back at the end of WWI. Germany invaded in 1940 and it returned to France after the end of WWII . Strasbourg is a beautiful city where there are both French and German influence in the architecture.

[enuegii]

4. Alsace to Sarkozy: "Casse-toi, pov'con!"

Tiny bit of context.

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. Wow..cool link!

Merci for the French english newspaper site.

[RobinA]

8. Interesting

My father's "German" relatives came from Alsace in the 1760s when it was technically part of France. They identified as German, spoke German, and settled with other Germans in an area of PA that apparently included many other Alsatians. I learned recently that what they left was France and took to calling myself "French" just for the hell of it. Don't know about the actual bloodlines, as our history only goes back to those that came over on the boat. This might explain the distinctly non-Aryan swarthiness running through that side of the family. My grandfather could have been the younger twin brother of ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau.

[bikebloke]

9. I bike trekked through there.

In the bloody rain and cold. Plus, plowing headwinds and climbing hills. Though the people were friendly, cheering me on.

[BigAnth]

11. This doesn't surprise me.

Several years ago I had a business trip planned to Alsace. I told my French coworker Francois that I was going to France, and he asked where I was going in France. When I told him "Alsace" Francois replied "That's not really France.".

[Hardrada]

12. The correct German term for the region is "Elsass-Lothringen."

It was one of the centers of the German Protestant Reformation.