Religious heritage

Eglise de l'Emm

 

Churches and chapels of the valley of Munster

The coat of arms of Munster, showing a church façade with two towers, remind of the now disappeared Saint Grégoire abbey. Some fragments carved in roman style are kept in the city hall of Munster. They were found during archeological research on the site (South-East angle of the current marketplace); it was destroyed at the beginning of the 19th century. You now have to go to Saint-Jean-Baptiste church of Soultzbach-les-Bains to visit a gothic choir built for the Hattstatt powerful lords, during the 14th century. Last witnesses of the medieval architecture: Sainte-Catherine chapel built in the 15th century inside the fortifications of Soultzbach and an ossuary under a chapel devoted to Saint Michael, built about 1500 inside the cemetery of Wihr-au-Val.  Among the numerous churches that were built during the 19th century and that remained through WW1, the neo-gothic Saint-Martin church of Wihr-au-Val is remarkable (1869-73, architect: V. Heilmann). Remarkable too, the Protestant church of Munster, mainly inspired from roman architecture, and financed by the textile manufacturers Hartmann (1869-73, architect: F. L. De Rutté).  Starting in 1920, the Reconstruction movement appeals to architects that get inspiration from various styles to create new places for cult: the votive church Notre-Dame-de-l’Emm in Sondernach (1928-31, architect: P. Kirchacker-Demant), devoted to dead soldiers, and Notre-Dame-de-l’Immaculée-Conception in Mittlach (1927-29, architect: Ch. Schoffit) have roman attributes. Saint-Barthélemy church in Muhlbach-sur-Munster (1927-29, architect: Ch. Schoffit), which is very coloured, is directly inspired from baroque religious architecture of Southern-Germany.Source: « Service de l’Inventaire et du Patrimoine – Région Alsace »

The art of Catholic and Protestant religions

Few objects prior to the French Revolution are available and these are not significant of the furnishing and decoration of the Abbey and its church. However some sculpture works are remarkable, and most of them are in the Saint-Jean-Baptiste church in Soultzbach-les-Bains: Saint Christophe tabernacle, the tombstone of Jacques de Hattstatt and Marguerite de Rathsamhausen, and the statue of Saint Sébastien (secondary altar South) come from the first quarter of the 15th century. A tombstone showing a noblewoman, married to a knight of Hattstatt is part of the 14th century artwork. In Notre-Dame-de-l’Emm in Sondernach, the Vierge de Pitié (Lady of Mercy) makes doubtful: if the drapery looks like 1500’s, it could be a good copy of the 1900’s. In Soultzbach-les-Bains, since 1715-20, some excellent woodsmen and sculptors give their share to baroque art. Jean Antoine Werlé’s workshop made the well decorated altars of Soultzbach-les-Bains and Wihr-au-Val (only 4 statues remain here), the Calvary of chapel Sainte-Croix in Wihr-au-Val and chapel Sainte-Catherine in Soultzbach-les-Bains. After 1918, it is Joseph Driesbach’s workshop in Munster that makes new furniture for most churches, never using the Art Déco style. The Catholic churches of Muhlbach-sur-Munster and Stosswihr (Ampfersbach) have altars and chairs in the 18th century Rhenan style, as well as the office furniture. In Notre-Dame-de-l’Emm in Sondernach, it is the Italian sculptor Gino Cavallini who was chosen to make the main altar in Carrare marble, as well as the choir that is turned into people’s altar. All glasswork was changed in the 19th and 20th century to close the openings. The workshop Ott Frères in Strasburg, mostly worked for the Catholic community but delivers the Crucifixion for the choir of Munster’s Protestant church in 1927 (after skectches of Louis-Philippe Kamm). On his side, the master glassman Jacques Ehrismann is appealed by the Protestant community, and his most interesting work (appart from the windows of Munster city hall) is to be seen Muhlbach-sur-Munster church.Source: « Service de l’Inventaire et du Patrimoine – Région Alsace »