text: Described by Victor Hugo as a `` gigantic and delicate marvel '' , and by Goethe as a `` sublimely towering , wide-spreading tree of God '' , the cathedral is visible far across the plains of Alsace and can be seen from as far off as the Vosges Mountains or the Black Forest on the other side of the Rhine .
simplified: Victor Hugo described it as a `` gigantic and delicate marvel '' . The cathedral is visible far across the plains of Alsace and can be seen from as far off as the Vosges mountains or the Black Forest on the other side of the Rhine .