Is there a real capital of Europe?

Answer 1

Carola Hein narrates the untold saga of Europe's search for a capital city, an adventurous enterprise engaged decades before the creation of the first European community in 1952. Politicians, planners and architects worked on dozens of locations and urban concepts before selecting the tri-city pattern involving Strasbourg, Luxembourg and Brussels. Thanks to innumerable archival sources, encounters with witnesses and on-site investigation, Carola Hein has documented this process, unearthing scores of unknown and sometimes spectacular designs, from monumental schemes to modernist statements. This pursuit of an elusive center reveals, thanks to her analysis, the intensity of the competitive exchange that has produced contemporary European architectural culture."
Description:
What makes up a capital city? In this first comprehensive look at the architectural and urban visions for a European capital, Hein examines how these visions compare to the reality of the three headquarter cities for the European Union: Strasbourg, Luxembourg, and Brussels. Tracing the history of the EU and its creation of the new political entity of the polycentric capital, Hein explores the impact that European unification has on visionary projects and the transformation of EU member cities. Widely researched, the book also brings in architectural projects that have remained largely unknown until now.

Using architectural and urban history as a lens, Hein examines the past five decades of European unification. Also analyzed for the first time are the debates, plans, projects, and constructions--both realized and failed--that accompanied this process. Looking to the future, Hein asserts that the task of these three capital cities is to balance the needs of a collective Europe with national, local, and--increasingly--regional demands.

http://www.greenwood.com/catalog/C7874.aspx

An absorbing and intimate history of the City of Lights. Willms, a senior editor of the newspaper Sddeutsche Zeitung, combines the intellectual rigor of the historian with the accessibility of the journalist in this study of the French capital. The locus of French culture during the ancien r‚gime, Paris became the undisputed center of European politics during the revolutionary and Napoleonic periods. Carefully tracing the evolution of the metropolis, Willms demonstrates how political, economic, and cultural currents converged to make Paris the ``capital of Europe.'' More than London, Berlin, or Rome, Paris became the major protagonist in the history of its nation-state. Whereas Italy was divided into fiercely independent cities, England influenced by the landed gentry, and Germany dominated by Prussia, the fortunes of France were more strongly tied to its capital city. We can only witness the dynamism and expansion of the city with awe; its inhabitants have been unceasingly at work for centuries shaping and reshaping their physical environment. The city, as Willms presents it, becomes a living, breathing construction, reflecting the foibles, fantasies, and desires of its citizens. As Willms points out, it was in Paris, rather than London or New York, that the social and moral phenomena of modern life (including the rise of urban planning, an aggressive new version of nationalism, and a heightened emphasis on such matters as race and health) first appeared in the 19th century. The city has prospered and suffered because of this for the last century. The city's coat of arms depicts a sailing ship with the motto Fluctuat, nec mergitur (tossed by the waves, it does not sink). And while the 20th century did not sink Paris, the First World War did begin the long process of its displacement as the capital of Europe. Based on a wide range of sources, this is a work that will delight the specialist and the tourist alike. (maps and illustrations, not seen) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0841912459/002-9980692-9423202?v=glance&n=283155

confusing
london too is an aspirant.

Answer 2

Europe is a continent. A continent is usually, although antartica is an exception, made up of multiple countries. Each of these individual countries has a capital, or at least most of them do. Continents, however, do not have capitals. Now Europe might change that soon with the European Union and all, but in the mean time there is no capital, real or fake, for the continent of Europe.

Answer 3

The European Union, which is made up of 25 member countries, does have a capital: Brussels, Belgium. That's where the Council of the EU meets. The EU government is not concentrated in Brussels, though, because the European Parliament meets in Strasbourg, France, and the Court of Justice meets in Luxembourg. But by and large, Brussels is considered the capital of the EU.

Answer 4

no there isn't, because europe consists of 49 countries and each has its own capital. 25 countries are EU members and brussels is the administrative centre of the EU

Answer 5

Np. each country in Europe has its own capital

Answer 6

No. Europe is a continent composed of many soveriegn nations (France, Spain, Germany to name a few). Each nation has its own government and its own capital.

Answer 7

When there is a "real capital" of Europe, it must be Rome, i think.

In History the roman Empire occupied most of the european countries. The latin language influenced most of the european languages.

Answer 8

Brussels the Capital city of the European Union.
The European Union (EU) is an intergovernmental and supranational union of 25 democratic member states from the European continent.
Capital city (unofficial) Brussels
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union

Answer 9

yeah but its a bunch of countries in the continent of europe that have the capitals --- AND THERES MORE THAN ONE

Answer 10

NO!!!