St-Pantaléon (Gueberschwihr)
The Roman Catholic Church of Saint-Pantaléon is a neo-Romanesque sacral building from the Alsatian late Romanesque period from 1882 in the municipality of Gueberschwihr in the Haut-Rhin department in the Grand Est region (until 2015 Alsace ) on the Romanische Strasse , also known as the Route Romane d'Alsace " called. The church bears the patronage of St. Pantaleon . Only the tower of the medieval Romanesque predecessor church has been preserved and has been a listed building since 1841.
Medieval church
The Romanesque church of the first third of the 12th century was commissioned by the knight Burkhard von Gueberschwihr, the founder of the Abbey of Marbach , and was originally St. Himera, the first abbot in the tradition of Sigismundzell (Benedictine abbey that belonged to the diocese of Strasbourg ) dedicated. It stood at an old Christian cult site, which can be seen from the few remaining sarcophagi from the Merovingian and Franconian times in the old cemetery around the church. Behind the church are the remains of the Saint-Michel chapel, where the bones of the dead were kept.
In the middle of the 14th century, at the time of the great plague, the St. Pantaleon building was rededicated. In 1394 the new big bell was consecrated.
From the beginning the church of Gueberschwihr was richly endowed. Before the revolution, she owned almost 4 hectares of vineyards.
New building from the 19th century
In the late 18th century, the old Romanesque church proved too small due to the increase in population. In 1835 the expansion work began under the direction of the architect Pétin from Kientzheim , as a result of which dangerous cracks soon appeared on the new building. In 1863 the prefecture decided to demolish the entire building, with the exception of the bell tower, which was consolidated. From 1874 to 1878 the church was redesigned in the neo-Romanesque style by the architect Jean-Baptiste Schacre , but with a larger nave .
The current church building in neo-Romanesque style dates from 1882. It was rebuilt slightly to one side and turned the Romanesque tower into a free-standing campanile .
Medieval church tower
Only the 36 meter high bell tower from 1130 with a typical Alsatian gable roof, strong cornices, round arch and diamond friezes and blind arcades is still there from the original Romanesque building, which was built in the 12th century. Originally it was the crossing tower of the church built in the 12th century. Its upper four floors are particularly well coordinated: there the window niches increase in rhythm from floor to floor - blind wall arches change to paired and finally to three-part open window arches. The construction of this tower - including its typically Alsatian saddle roof - is reminiscent of similar tower structures in Meyenheim, Murbach, Soultzmatt and the like. a.
literature
- Cathrin Rummel: Alsace Lorraine. Michelin travel guide, Munich 2015, ISBN 3834289221
- Hans Haug, Robert Will: Alsace novels. (2nd edition), Editions Zodiaque, ISBN 2736900642 , 1982
Web links
Coordinates: 48 ° 0 ′ 17.5 ″ N , 7 ° 16 ′ 30.7 ″ E