The Sainte-Madeleine Church ( ; ) is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

church in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, which was built in

Gothic style Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved from Romanesque ar ...

in the late 15th century, but largely rebuilt in a style close to

Jugendstil (; "Youth Style") was an artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, that was influential primarily in Germany, Austria and elsewhere in Europe to a lesser extent from about 1895 until about 1910. It was the German and Austrian cou ...

after a devastating fire in 1904. Destroyed again during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the church was re-constructed in its modern form. This is the fourth building dedicated to

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...

built in the city since the 13th century. The church is classified as a

historic monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

by a decree of 6 December 1898. Eglise Sainte-Madeleine

History and architecture

The first

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

dedicated to Mary Magdalene was built in 1225 on the outskirts of the city of Strasbourg, on the site of the current ''

place de la République The Place de la République (; English: Republic Square; known until 1879 as the Place du Château d'Eau, ) is a square in Paris, located on the border between the 3rd, 10th and 11th arrondissements. The square has an area of .Warner, p. 250 ...

''. The institution, which welcomed repentant prostitutes, was evacuated and then destroyed around 1470, since the city feared imminent invasion by the armies of the

Duke of Burgundy Duke of Burgundy () was a title used by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, from its establishment in 843 to its annexation by the Crown lands of France, French crown in 1477, and later by members of the House of Habsburg, including Holy Roman E ...

. A new convent was rebuilt in the Krutenau district. The Gothic church of the convent of the sisters of the order of St. Mary Magdalene (''Ordo Sanctae Mariae of magdalenae poenitentia''), completed in 1478, was destroyed by fire in 1904. All that remains of this church, the last Gothic structure built in Strasbourg, is the

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

housing fragments of some frescoes. It now serves as a chapel, dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament. Remains of the once abundant

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows vy

Peter Hemmel of Andlau Peter Hemmel of Andlau (c. 1420–1506) was a late Gothic stained glass artist, whose workshop in Strasbourg was active between 1447 and 1501. Sometimes working alone and sometimes in collaboration with other stained-glass artists in the city ...

that decorated the church are shown in the Musée de l’Œuvre Notre-Dame.

John Calvin John Calvin (; ; ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French Christian theology, theologian, pastor and Protestant Reformers, reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of C ...

had made sermons and directed

services Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a ...

in that church . The current church, which is perpendicular to the earlier building, was built in 1907 according to plans by

Fritz Beblo Friedrich Karl Ewald Beblo (10 November 1872, in Breslau – 11 April 1947, in Munich) was a German city planner, architect and painter. Early life and education His father, Emil Beblo, was a secondary school teacher. Fritz was a class comrade ...

and is more spacious and airy. It has a

barrel vault A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...

, based on the model of

St. Michael's Church, Munich St. Michael's is a Jesuit church in Munich, capital city of the state of Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest Renaissance church north of the Alps. The style of the building had an enormous influence on Southern German early Baroque architecture. ...

, and a conspicuous belltower. Severely damaged by Anglo-American bombing on 11 August 1944, it was rebuilt, true to Beblo's original, in 1958. A part of the former cloisters from the earlier convent can still be seen, surrounding the adjacent school building.

Furniture

Pipe organs

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

was purchased from

Andreas Silbermann Andreas Silbermann (16 May 1678 – 16 March 1734) was a German organ builder, who was involved in the construction of 35 organs, mostly in Alsace. Andreas also established the Silbermann family tradition of organ building, training his brother Go ...

on 17 February 1716 and was completed in 1718. It had a manual and an

echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

– on a specific

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

– and separate

pedals A pedal (from the Latin '' pes'' ''pedis'', "foot") is a lever designed to be operated by foot and may refer to: Computers and other equipment * Footmouse, a foot-operated computer mouse * In medical transcription, a pedal is used to control ...

. The instrument was sold in 1799 to the city of

Lampertheim Lampertheim () is a town in the Bergstraße district in Hesse, Germany. In 1984, the town hosted the 24th '' Hessentag'' state festival. Geography Location Lampertheim lies in the southwest corner of Hesse in the Rhine rift at the Biedensand Co ...

, before vanishing in 1876. The church then owned a first Roethinger organ, which was destroyed during the bombing of 1944. It was then endowed with a second Roethinger organ, which was inaugurated by

Michel Chapuis Chapuis is a French-language surname of the Arpitan region of eastern France and Francophone Switzerland with various spellings. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernard Chapuis (born 1945), French writer * Charles Bertin Gaston Chapuis d ...

and Robert Pfrimmer on 28 November 1965. It was completely rebuilt by Michel Wolf of ''Manufacture d'orgues alsacienne'' in 1997 and 1998, but the

harmonization In music, harmonization is the chordal accompaniment to a line or melody: "Using chords and melodies together, making harmony by stacking scale tones as triads". A harmonized scale can be created by using each note of a musical scale as a r ...

was not modified. Work was done on the cabinet in 2004. The organ was then restored by the firm of Alfred et Daniel Kern, which replaced the keyboards. The Gothic side chapel of the current 20th-century church, that used to serve as the choir of the medieval church, houses another much smaller organ. This instrument from 1719, built by

, was originally designed for Marmoutier Abbey and was installed in its current location in 2012. It is classified as a

Monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

since 1976.

Adoration of the Shepherds

The church choir's rear wall is adorned by a large painting (oil on canvas, high, wide) representing the Adoration of the Shepherds. This 18th-century work was initially displayed in

Strasbourg Cathedral Strasbourg Cathedral or the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg (, or ''Cathédrale de Strasbourg'', ), also known as Strasbourg Minster (church), Minster (), is a Catholic cathedral in Strasbourg, Alsace, France. Although considerable parts of ...

and moved into Sainte-Madeleine either after 1904 or 1944. It is classified as a

since 1980.

Stations of the Cross

Sainte-Madeleine owned a set of fifteen oil on canvas paintings by Joseph Melling, representing all the

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

. Only four of these paintings had officially survived the fire of 1904, until a fifth surviving painting was rediscovered in 2017.

Gallery

Fr Strasbourg Eglise Sainte Madeleine Nativity paiting - detail.jpg, Adoration of the Shepherds (detail) Strasbourg SteMadeleine09.JPG, Main pipe organ from 1965 Strasbourg Sainte-Madeleine orgue positif André Silbermann 1719 a.jpg, Side chapel pipe organ from 1719

References

External links

View of the steeple of the church
{{Church buildings in central Strasbourg 1904 fires Art Nouveau architecture in Strasbourg Art Nouveau church buildings in France Gothic architecture in Strasbourg Monuments historiques of Strasbourg Roman Catholic churches completed in 1907 Madeleine 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in France