Kiwanis Strasbourg: behind the Grand Christmas Tree on Place Kléber

It was an ambitious project that required great courage and determination to overcome the many technical challenges it entailed.

With the support of the RAGGI company, they did not hesitate to travel to the Bitche forest to select a 32-meter-tall fir tree and transport it all the way to Place Kléber.

The project was a tremendous success, and this very first Great Christmas Tree — which has since inspired many cities across France — was inaugurated by Madame Catherine Trautmann, Mayor of Strasbourg, for the 1994 Christmas Market.

The Kiwanis Club of Strasbourg also had the idea of setting up a small chalet at the foot of the tree to sell mulled wine — marking the beginnings of what would become the Village of Sharing.

Twenty years after his passing, Kiwanis Strasbourg wishes to honor André Boursin and carry on his legacy by being present every year at the Village of Sharing, serving the original and much-loved mulled wine recipe of Madame Boursin, as well as at the Santa Claus Chalet, also located on Place Kléber, where children come to have their photo taken.