Alsace-Lorraine. Alsace-Lorraine, German Elsass-Lothringen, area comprising the present French departments of Haut-Rhin, Bas-Rhin, and Moselle. Alsace-Lorraine was the name given to the 5,067 square miles (13,123 square km) of territory that was ceded by France to Germany in 1871 after the Franco-German War.