In the city of Strasbourg, capital of the Bas-Rhin departement of the Grand Est région in eastern France

 Early in World War II, the collapse of France in 1940 was followed by the second German annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, which was again returned to France in 1945.

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(in the Grand Est region of eastern France, at the border with Germany in the historic region of Alsace) The city of Strasbourg, capital of the Bas-Rhin departement of the Grand Est région in eastern France lies 2.5 miles (4 km) west of the Rhine River on the Franco-German frontier.

+ The city was originally a Celtic village, and under the Romans it became a garrison town called Argentoratum. It was captured in the 5th century by the Franks, who called it Strateburgum, from which the present name is derived. In 842 Charles II (the Bald), king of the West Franks, and Louis II (the German), king of the East Franks, took an oath of alliance here, the Serment de Strasbourg, a text of which is the oldest written document in Old French. After a struggle for power between its citizens and the bishops in the Middle Ages, Strasbourg became a free city within the Holy Roman Empire.

+ The city of Strasbourg is traversed by the Ill River, which divides and surrounds the Grand Île (Big Island) on which the Old Town and most of the city’s famous buildings are situated. The island was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1988. Strasbourg’s 11th–15th-century Cathedral of Notre-Dame, damaged in 1870 and again in World War II, has been carefully restored. Built of red Vosges sandstone, it is a harmonious edifice despite the variety of its architectural styles. It has an asymmetrical facade (mainly 13th century) with fine sculptured portals and only one tower, which has a tall (455 feet [139 meters]) and graceful 15th-century spire. Some of the cathedral’s sculptures, together with vestiges from other old French churches, are exhibited in the Maison de l’Oeuvre Notre-Dame, next to the cathedral. The 18th-century Château des Rohan, a former episcopal palace, houses three museums. The La Petite district of the city has several well-preserved old streets with wooden houses, as well as some picturesque canals.

+ Strasbourg is one of the de facto four main capitals of the European Union (alongside Brussels, Luxembourg and Frankfurt), as it is the seat of several European institutions, such as the European Parliament, the Eurocorps, and the Ombudsman of the European Union. The city is the seat of many non-European international institutions such as the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine and the International Institute of Human Rights. It is the second city in France in terms of international congress and symposia, after Paris. Strasbourg is immersed in Franco-German culture and although violently disputed throughout history, has been a cultural bridge between France and Germany for centuries, especially through the University of Strasbourg, currently the second-largest in France, and the coexistence of Catholic and Protestant culture.