Timeline of Strasbourg

Ancient History

12th century BC – Area settled by proto-Celts.

3rd century BC – Celts develop township.

12 BC – Drusus Claudius Nero establishes Argentoratum as a military fort on the western bank of the Rhine River in preparation for his planned invasion of Germania.

90 CE – Legio VIII Augusta stationed in Argentoratum.

4th century CE - Catholic diocese of Strassburg established.

357 – Battle of Argentoratum.

407 AD - Vandals, Sueves, and Alans attack the city after crossing the frozen Rhine on New Year's Eve 406 AD. Sometime later that year, the city is reclaimed by the rebel forces of the usurper Constantine III.

451 AD - Attila the Hun takes Argentoratum during his Gallic campaign.

Prior to 14th century

5th century – Franks in power.

842 – Oaths of Strasbourg.

923 – City acquired by the Holy Roman Empire.

1230 – Saint Stephen’s Church opened

1250 – Ponts Couverts opened

1262 – City gains Reichsfreiheit.

14th-16th centuries

1307 – Monastery of Hermits of Saint William built. Gottfried von Hagenau introduces the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in Strasbourg.

1332 – Straßburger Revolution.

1348 – Bubonic plague.

1349 – Pogrom.

1354 – Three Kings clock erected.

1362 – Fritsche Closener writes Straßburger Chronik, a history of the city.

1415 - Paper mill established.

1427 – Kammerzell House built.

1439 – Strasbourg Cathedral finished.

1440s - Johannes Gutenberg develops printing technique.

1458 – Johannes Mentelin opens print shop (approximate date).

1464 – Heinrich Eggestein opens print shop (approximate date).

1468 - World's "first" printed advertisement published in Strasbourg.

1483 – Hans Grüninger printer in business.

1518 – Dancing Plague.

1521 – St. Thomas finished.

1523 – Protestant Reformation (approximate date).

1538 – Lutheran Gymnasium founded.

1570 – Christkindelsmärik begins.

1574 – Astronomical clock erected, designed by Christian Herlin.

1585 – Neubau inaugurated

1588 – Grosse Metzig built.

1592 – Strasbourg Bishops' War breaks out over disputed election to the bishopric

17th-18th centuries

1605 – Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien newspaper in publication.

1619 – Jardin botanique de l'Université de Strasbourg established.

1621 – University founded.

1681 – City annexed by France.

1684 – Citadel built.

1690 – Barrage Vauban opened.

1697 – French annexation recognised by the Holy Roman Empire.

1701 – Opera house opens.

1725 – New Hospital completed

1728 – World's first school for midwives opened in Strasbourg

1732 –- Hôtel du grand doyenné inaugurated

1736 – Hôtel de Hanau built. Hôtel de Klinglin built.

1742

Palais Rohan inaugurated.

Place Broglie laid out.

1755 – Hôtel Gayot built

1770 – Marie-Antoinette in Strasbourg.

1771 – Goethe in Strasbourg.

1778 – Mozart in Strasbourg.

1772 – Place Kléber built.

1790 – City becomes part of the Bas-Rhin souveraineté.

1792

"La Marseillaise" composed by Rouget de Lisle.

University closed.

1793 - Population: 47,254.

19th century

1801 – Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg collection founded.

1805 – Napoleon in Strasbourg (also in 1806 and 1809).

1821 – Théâtre Municipal opens.

1832 - Société des Amis des arts founded.

1836 – Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte in Strasbourg

1843 – Astronomical clock erected, designed by Jean-Baptiste Schwilgué.

1846 – Gare de Strasbourg opens.

1849 – Wagner in Strasbourg (also in 1853, 1858 and 1872).

1853 – Marne–Rhine Canal opens.

1855 – Orchestra and Société pour la conservation des monuments historiques d'Alsace founded.

1861 – Rhine Bridge, Kehl built.

1862 - Association philomathique d'Alsace et de Lorraine founded.

1870 – Siege of Strasbourg; art museum and city library destroyed.

1871 - City becomes part of Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen, German Empire.

1872

Bibliothek established.

University reopens as Kaiser-Wilhelms-Universität.

Verlag Karl J. Trübner (publisher) in business.

Population: 85,654.

1873 – Théâtre Municipal rebuilt.

1874 – Fort Rapp and other fortifications built.

1877 – Elsäßische Neueste Nachrichten begins publication.

1880 - Population: 104,471.

1881 – Observatory inaugurated.

1883 – Kunstgewerbe Museum founded.

1884 – Palais Universitaire built.

1889 – Kaiserpalast inaugurated.

1890 - Hohenlohe-Museum, Cabinet des estampes et des dessins collection, and Fussball Klub Straßburg founded.

1891 - Population: 123,500.

1893 – Musée zoologique de la ville de Strasbourg building constructed.

1897 – St. Paul's Church built.

1898 – Palais de Justice built.

20th century

1900 – FC Frankonia 1900 Straßburg (football club) formed.

1901 – Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune Protestant Church restored.

1903 – Sängerhaus inaugurated

1904 – Hôtel Brion built

1905 – Population: 167,678.

1906 – Fußball Club Neudorf founded.

1907

Musée alsacien opens.

Sainte-Madeleine Church rebuilt.

1911 - Population: 178,891.

1914 – Stade de la Meinau opens.

1918 – Alsace returns to France.

1919 – Institut Européen d'Etudes Commerciales Supérieures de Strasbourg established.

1920

Musée historique de Strasbourg founded.

City designated headquarters of Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine.

1928

Aubette redecorated.

Strasbourg Illkirch Graffenstaden Basket formed.

1931

Musée de l'Œuvre Notre-Dame founded.

Population: 181,465.

1935 – Strasbourg Airport opens.

1940 – Alsace annexed to Germany. Adolf Hitler in Strasbourg.

1941 – Reichsuniversität Straßburg formed.

1944

23 November: City liberated from Germans.

27 November: Charles Frey becomes mayor.

1945 – Institut d'études politiques de Strasbourg established.

1947 – Parts of the municipal art collections destroyed by accidental fire in Palais Rohan.

1949 – Council of Europe headquartered in Strasbourg.

1954

Amis du vieux Strasbourg (historical society) founded.

Population: 200,921.

1959

Pierre Pflimlin becomes mayor.

City designated headquarters of European Court of Human Rights.

1965 – City designated Seat of the European Parliament.

1967 – Urban Community of Strasbourg established.

1969 – International Institute of Human Rights founded.

1972

Administration of Urban Community of Strasbourg and City of Strasbourg merged into one entity.

Opéra du Rhin formed.

1974

European Science Foundation established.

Discovery of Johann Sebastian Bach's personal copy of the printed edition of the "Goldberg Variations" with the hitherto unknown fourteen canons, BWV 1087.

1975 – Palais de la musique et des congrès built (twice expanded afterwards: 1989, 2015)

1977 – Palace of Europe built.

1982 - Strasbourg becomes part of the Alsace region.

1984 – City hosts UEFA European Football Championship.

1987 – Internationaux de Strasbourg tennis tournament begins.

1988 – Pope John Paul II addresses the European Parliament and the Council of Europe

1989

Human Frontier Science Program established.

City designated headquarters of Eurimages.

1990 - Population: 252,338.

1991 – École nationale d'administration relocates to Strasbourg.

1992

City designated headquarters of European Audiovisual Observatory and Eurocorps.

Arte television begins broadcasting.

Musée archéologique renovated.

1994 – Trams begin operating.

1995 – Nuits Européennes begins.

1998 – Strasbourg Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art building opens.

1999 – Louise Weiss building inaugurated.

21st century

2000 – Étoile Noire de Strasbourg ice hockey team formed.

2001

Fabienne Keller becomes mayor.

13 killed and 97 injured by a fallen platanus in Parc de Pourtalès.

2005

Strasbourg-Ortenau eurodistrict formed.

Patinoire Iceberg rink and Le Vaisseau open.

2006 – Population: 272,975.

2007 – Musée Tomi Ungerer/Centre international de l'illustration opens.

2008

École européenne de Strasbourg opens.

Le Festival européen du film fantastique de Strasbourg begins.

Roland Ries becomes mayor.

2009 – City hosts NATO Strasbourg–Kehl summit.

2011 –- Population: 272,222.

2012 – Population: 274,394

2014

Pope Francis addresses the European Parliament and the Council of Europe.

March: Strasbourg municipal election, 2014 held.

2015 - December: Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine regional election, 2015 held.

2016 - Strasbourg becomes part of the Grand Est region.