Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux (Strasbourg)

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overall view
View of the catholic part
View of the Protestant part

The Église Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux is a church complex in Strasbourg , which consists of a Roman Catholic and an Evangelical Lutheran church within the Protestant Church of the Augsburg Confession of Alsace and Lorraine .

history

Origins and Middle Ages

For many historians, the church is the first Christian cathedral in Strasbourg. It was mentioned for the first time in 1130. In the south of the sacred building, Robert Jean Charles Will (1910–1998), long-time urban planning director of the municipal association, discovered the remains of walls from Roman and Merovingian times.

Built along one of the city's most important Roman roads, the Protestant part - once the nave of the original church - still houses some medieval wall paintings and tombstones. The authenticity of the relics of Amandus of Strasbourg kept here is disputed.

The Gothic construction that dominates today in the Protestant part was built in 1382. The flamboyant choir in the catholic part from 1455 by Jodokus Dotzinger (d. 1472), who made a name for himself as a master builder of the cathedral, was remarkable .

In 1398 the Honau monastery was moved here from Rheinau.

Separation: one church - two denominations

The free imperial city of Strasbourg played an important role in the Reformation and produced several evangelical thought leaders such as Matthäus Zell and Martin Bucer . In 1529 all the churches, including the cathedral and Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux, became Protestant. After Strasbourg became French under Louis XIV in 1681 , Catholicism, which dominated France, gained in importance. A compromise was sought in the use of the sacred buildings: at Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux, this consisted in the fact that both denominations share the church. The choir (Catholic part) was separated from the nave (Protestant area) by a 1.50 m thick wall .

The Catholic part of Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux

The increase in the number of Catholics led to the construction of a new larger Catholic Church. The then city planning director of Strasbourg, Jean-Geoffroy Conrath (1824-1892), built a new church in the neo-Gothic style in 1867, rotated 90 ° to the old building . A large part of the medieval choir was sacrificed. The plan for the design of the facade and the new tower was designed by the Wroclaw architect Fritz Beblo (1872–1947), who held the post of city planning director from 1910 to 1918.

At the beginning of the 20th century, precious winged altars from the late Gothic and early renaissance were erected in this Catholic church, which were rescued from demolished churches in Upper Alsace . In the choir there are ten paintings that deal with the Passion of Christ. They are mainly assigned to the painter Heinrich Lützelmann .

The evangelical part of Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux

The Protestant part has not changed much structurally since the division: the nave and the tower date from the 14th century. Noteworthy are the rood screen , which was created around 1500, and a relief from 1520 by Hans Wyditz depicting St. Anna .

The equipment also includes the historic organ , which was built in 1898 by the organ builder Eberhard Friedrich Walcker . Its case comes from an organ by Andreas and Gottfried Silbermann from 1709. Today's instrument has 24 registers on two manuals and a pedal. Since 2012, the church has been used more as a community hall. Services are only held on special occasions.

View of the historical prospectus of the Silbermann organ
I Grand Orgue C – f 3
Bourdon 16 ′
Principal 8th'
Dolce 8th'
Viole de gambe 8th'
Octave 4 ′
Flûte à cheminée 4 ′
Duplicate 2 ′
Tierce 1 35
Mixture IV 2 23
Trumpets 8th'
II Récit C – f 3
Violin principal 8th'
Lovely covered 8th'
Quintaton 8th'
Salicional 8th'
Voix céleste 8th'
Flauto dolce 4 ′
Nasard 2 23
Cor de nuit 2 ′
Cornet III-V
Cromorne 8th'
Pedale C – f 1
Soubasse 16 ′
Violoncello 16 ′
Octavebasse 8th'
Prestant 4 ′
  • Coupling : II / I, II 4 ′ / I, I / P, II / P

Ecumenism

The church, which is used by two denominations, has long since become a symbol of the Strasbourg ecumenical movement, which, like in neighboring Kehl, is characterized by its intensity.

In 2012, part of the dividing wall was symbolically torn down, so that there is now a passage between the Protestant and Catholic parts. Long before that there were regular ecumenical services.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Nikolaus Honold, Kurt Schütt: Chronicle of the City of Rheinau. 1988, pp. 350-352.
  2. More information on the Walcker organ ( memento of the original from January 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / decouverte.orgue.free.fr
  3. More information on [1]

literature

  • Maurice Moszberger et al .: Dictionnaire historique des rues de Strasbourg. Barr / Freiburg im Breisgau 2012.

Web links

Commons : Église Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux de Strasbourg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 48 ° 34 ′ 58 ″  N , 7 ° 44 ′ 24 ″  E