Desiring a quick surrender, the Germans began a terror bombardment to destroy the morale of the civilian population on 23 August.

[1] A shell shortage forced Werder to lower the intensity of the German fire on 26 August and switch to formal siege operations.

The Germans dug their way closer to the fortress through trench parallels and destroyed specific sections of the defenses with concentrated bombardments.

The siege progressed rapidly, French sortie attempts were defeated and by 17 September the enceinte wall had been breached.

[4] After the Battle of Wörth, Crown Prince Frederick detached General August von Werder to move south against the fortress of Strasbourg.

[6] The artillery parks at Vendenheim and Kork had a total of 366 guns and mortars, with 320,404 shells, case shot and shrapnel provided.

Marshal Patrice de MacMahon evacuated Alsace after Wörth and left only three battalions of regulars to hold Strasbourg.

[5] Stragglers from Wörth, various other remnant forces, 130 marine infantrymen and elements of the Garde Mobile and National Guard militia improved the garrison's strength to 23,000.

[10] 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 ancient Roman artifacts.

[12] To reconnoiter the fortress more closely and cover the main approach, the German lines of outposts moved forward on 27 August after dark between Königshoffen and the Aar to within 300 meters of the glacis.

[12] On the morning of 28 August, the lines of outposts were withdrawn back to their previous positions after pioneers had constructed sufficient cover in the rain.

[14] A company of the Konitz Landwehr Battalion crossed a pontoon bridge that had been erected by pioneers and threw out the French outposts on the island.

[14] Detachment from Illkirch approached the glacis and skirmished with the French to distract the garrison of the real axis of attack.

[14] The French outwork maintained a continuous fire on the German siege batteries at Königshoffen and the outposts at Lingolsheim.

This delegation brought in news of the defeat of the French at the Battle of Sedan, which meant no relief was coming to Strasbourg.

[15] The capture of Strasbourg and the fall of Toul advanced the railway terminus from Germany to the siege lines of Paris considerably to the west.

[20] The French garrison did not possess sufficient aggressiveness to disrupt the German preparations and left the most probable avenue of attack unprepared.

[20] The German siege lines were pushed energetically every day and failings were constantly critiqued and quickly corrected.

[20] The French lost 17,562 troops, 1,277 artillery pieces, 140,000 rifles, including 12,000 Chassepots, 50 locomotives and their supplies captured.