Strasbourg been populated since the middle Paleolithic. Between 362 and 1262, Strasbourg was governed by the bishops of Strasbourg; their rule was reinforced in 873 and then more in 982. In 1262, the citizens violently rebelled against the bishop's rule (Battle of Hausbergen) and Strasbourg became a free imperial city. It became a French city in 1681, after the conquest of Alsace by the armies of Louis XIV. In 1871, after the Franco-Prussian War, the city became German again, until 1918 (end of World War I), when it reverted to France. After the defeat of France in 1940 (World War II),
Strasbourg hotel, and featuring an open-air museum of international contemporary sculpture. The Jardin botanique de l'Université de Strasbourg (botanical garden) was created under the German administration next to the Observatory of Strasbourg, built in 1881, and still owns some greenhouses of those times. The "Parc des Contades", although the oldest park of the city, was completely remodeled after World War II. The futuristic "Parc des Poteries" is an example of European park-conception in the late 1990s. The "Jardin des deux Rives", spread over Strasbourg and Kehl on both sides of the Rhine opened in 2004 and is the most extended (60-hectare)