One Hundred Years Ago

written by a mayor of Colmar, a significant city south of us, before 1918 and during a time in which the German rule in Alsace was a daily injury
"The Germans and the Alsatians can never meet upon common ground because the Teutonic mind is absolutely irreconcilable with the delicate sensibility of that of the Alsatian. The Teuton has absolutely no sense of humor and lacks tact...."

At the same time, some of the more French felt the Alsatians were too German, especially given that their dialect is Germanic. Napoleon didn't mind, though; when someone complained to him about it, he said, "What matters that? Though they speak German, they saber in French!"

Funny to read of how "French" the Alsatians felt 100 years ago (at least in one observer's perspective), while now they talk about France as a place somewhere else.

 from Alsace-Lorraine, by George Wharton Edwards, 1918