Alsace-Moselle was part of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918, and was subsequently reoccupied by Germany from 1940 until its recapture by the Allies at the end of World War II.
Alsace–Moselle maintains its own local legislation, applying specific customs and laws on certain issues in spite of its being an integral part of France.
The region's German-language past is now, at the beginning of the 21st century, mostly evident in the names of towns, streets, villages and rivers.
It preserves those statutes made by the German authorities during annexation that were considered still to be beneficial in these territories following their return to France.
Alsace-Moselle is still governed by a pre-1905 French law established by the Concordat of 1801 which provides for the public subsidy to the Roman Catholic Dioceses of Metz and of Strasbourg, the Lutheran Protestant Church of Augsburg Confession of Alsace and Lorraine, the Calvinist Protestant Reformed Church of Alsace and Lorraine and the Jewish religion of the three local Israelite consistorial ambits of Colmar, Metz, and Strasbourg, as well as providing for public education in these faiths; although parents are now allowed to refuse religious education for their children.
The heads of the Lutheran and Calvinist churches are appointed by the prime minister, after being elected by the competent religious bodies.
This situation is unusual in a country like France where church and state are more strictly separated than in most other nations.
[3] Alsace-Moselle has two more public holidays (Good Friday and 26 December) than the rest of France and there are differences in the status of some crafts and trades, for example, winemakers and brewers.