Short answers, pulled from the story.
Strasbourg became the seat of European institutions beginning in 1949, first hosting the Council of Europe and later the European Parliament from 1952. Its position on the French-German border made it a symbolic choice for post-war European cooperation, and it is now considered the legislative and democratic capital of the European Union.
Strasbourg is a Germanic name meaning town at the crossing of roads. The Stras- element is related to the German Strasse and English street, from the Latin strata (paved road), while -bourg connects to the German Burg and English borough, from a Proto-Germanic root meaning hill fort. Before this name, the city was called Argentoratum, a Celtic Gaulish name meaning fortified enclosure near silver or precious metals.
Strasbourg became French in 1681 after Louis XIV conquered Alsace, then passed to Germany after the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 as part of the Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine. It returned to France at the end of World War I in 1918, was captured and annexed by Nazi Germany in June 1940, and was liberated by the 2nd French Armoured Division under General Leclerc in November 1944.
Strasbourg's historic city centre, the Grande Ile (Grand Island), was classified a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. The newer Neustadt district, built during the German period between 1871 and 1918, was added to the designation in 2017.
Strasbourg was one of the earliest centres of European printing, where Johannes Gutenberg worked before his better-known period in Mainz. Johannes Mentelin and Heinrich Eggestein also operated printing presses in the city. In 1605, Johann Carolus printed what is described as the world's first newspaper in Strasbourg.
The University of Strasbourg is the second-largest university in France. The three separate institutions that previously made up the university merged in 2009 to form a single Universite de Strasbourg. With nineteen Nobel prizes in total, it is the most eminent French university outside Paris, and its alumni have included Goethe, Metternich, and Montgelas.