Initial Bombardment
Werder understood the value of capturing the city, and ruled out a lengthy siege of starvation. He instead decided on a quicker action, bombarding the fortifications and the civilian population into submission.
On 23 August Werder's siege guns opened fire on the city and caused considerable damage to the city and many of its historical landmarks. The Bishop of Strasbourg went to Werder to beg for a ceasefire, and the civilian population suggested paying 100,000 francs to Werder each day he did not bomb the city. Uhrich refused to relent, and soon enough Werder realized he could not keep up such a bombardment with the amount of ammunition he had.
On 24 August, the Museum of Fine Arts was destroyed by fire, as was the Municipal Library housed in the Gothic former Dominican Church, with its unique collection of medieval manuscripts, rare Renaissance books and Roman artifacts.
Read more about this topic: Siege Of Strasbourg
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