Saint William's Church (also called ''Wilhelmskirche'' in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and ''église Saint-Guillaume'' in French) is a Gothic

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

presently of the

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

Protestant Church of Augsburg Confession of Alsace and Lorraine The Protestant Church of the Augsburg Confession of Alsace and Lorraine (french: Église protestante de la Confession d’Augsbourg d’Alsace et de Lorraine, ''EPCAAL''; german: Protestantische Kirche Augsburgischen Bekenntnisses von Elsass und ...

located in Strasbourg,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. Slightly set back from the intersection of the

wharf A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring locatio ...

s of the shipbuilders and the

fishermen A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recreati ...

, the church is striking for its

picturesque Picturesque is an aesthetic ideal introduced into English cultural debate in 1782 by William Gilpin in ''Observations on the River Wye, and Several Parts of South Wales, etc. Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty; made in the Summer of the Year ...

location on the bank of the Ill river, the lopsided character of its exterior, and its sumptuous interior combining the Gothic and Baroque styles. Since the end of the 19th century, the excellent acoustics of the church has allowed it to serve as a venue for concerts of classical music, in particular for the ''

Passions ''Passions'' is an American television soap opera that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1999, to September 7, 2007, and on DirecTV's The 101 Network from September 17, 2007, to August 7, 2008. Created by screenwriter James E. Reilly and ...

'' of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

History of the Saint William's Church

Catholic period

Returning unharmed from

the Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

, the

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

Henri de

Müllenheim Müllenheim (international Muellenheim, french Mullenheim, wrongly Mühlenheim) was an old Strasbourg noble family. The noblemen, knights or '' Freiherren'' of Müllenheim belonged to the Alsatian old nobility. The family, which is still thriving ...

undertook the construction of a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

for the

Hermits of Saint William The Hermits of Saint William (Williamites) was a religious community founded by Albert, companion and biographer of William of Maleval, and Renaldus, a physician who had settled at Maleval shortly before the saint's death. It followed the practice ...

, an order of mendicant

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

s, in this

marshy A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

neighbourhood situated ''extra muros'', that is, beyond the city walls. The elongated building, consecrated in 1301 and realised in 1307, is the only remnant of this group. Entirely brick and unvaulted, the church corresponds well to the ideal of the order, namely by its single nave and the simplicity of its exterior form. Sheltered by a

pitched roof Roof pitch is the steepness of a roof expressed as a ratio of inch(es) rise per horizontal foot (or their metric equivalent), or as the angle in degrees its surface deviates from the horizontal. A flat roof has a pitch of zero in either insta ...

, its nave is topped and prolonged by a deep

polygonal In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two to ...

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

illuminated by high

window A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent mat ...

s, which betrays its original function as the monks' meeting room. In 1331, by reason of its proximity to the

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

and wharfs, the church was chosen as

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

by the newly established

corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and ...

of shipbuilders.

Lutheran period

The convent closed however, during the less than prosperous 15th century, before the reform movement arrived at the end of the century. The Church, including the Rood screen was classified a Monument historique in 1985.

The Wilhelmer Choir

Founded in 1885 by the organist

Ernst Münch Ernst Münch (26 November 1876 – 9 October 1946) was a German plant physiologist who proposed the Pressure Flow Hypothesis in 1930. He studied in Aschaffenburg, and then in Munich with Robert Hartig Robert Hartig (born: Heinrich Julius ...

(1859–1928) the Wilhelmer Choir, also known as the 'Chœur de Saint-Guillaume' has established itself as one of the leading choirs of the region. It has been led by several famous choirmasters, including Wilhelm Furtwangler,

John Eliot Gardiner Sir John Eliot Gardiner (born 20 April 1943) is an English conductor, particularly known for his performances of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Life and career Born in Fontmell Magna, Dorset, son of Rolf Gardiner and Marabel Hodgkin, Ga ...

and Charles and Fritz Munch the sons of the founder of the choir.

External links

Architecture

Choeur de St Guillaume website
{{Authority control

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

Gothic architecture in Strasbourg 14th-century churches in France Monuments historiques of Strasbourg