Why is the La Petite France area of Strasbourg so called when it looks so Germanic?
There are actually a number of different theories. The one in the first answer was simply copied from Wikipedia. Here’s another one; “A hospital was located in the district in the 1500’s to care for patients with veneral disease. Alsatians blamed the French for spreading it–particularly their military campaigns in Italy. So, the area was referred to disparagingly as “Little France,” a place where veneral disease was rampant.” I’ve also heard that simply, it was where the “French” workers hung out in town. They were considered a little less clean (Alsatians are fanatically clean so don’t take this as too harsh a judgement) so they were happy to keep them apart. This I learned on a tour of the area. Alsace was originally handed over to France in 1648 after the 30 years’ war. It went back to being German in 1870 after the Franco-Prussian war. After WWI, it briefly became French again only to have the Nazis take it back during WWII. Many Alsatians were forced to fight for the Germans. Als
