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),
National Theatre of Strasbourg building to the city of Strasbourg, which in turn offered it to the Strasbourg music conservatory, at the behest of its new director Guy Ropartz, who was refusing to occupy the Palais du Rhin opposite. On 25 September 1944, the east wing of the building that contained the Chamber of the Assembly was destroyed by American bombing. It was reconstructed between 1950 and 1957, this time with a theatre auditorium replacing the assembly chamber. Michel Saint-Denis, the director of the National Theatre of Strasbourg at the time, entrusted this work to the architect Pierre Sonrel, who had recently worked with