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The Church of Old Saint Peters (french: Église Saint-Pierre le Vieux) is a by simultaneum
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and
Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...
church building A church, church building or church house is a building used for Christian worship services and other Christian religious activities. The earliest identified Christian church is a house church founded between 233 and 256. From the 11th thro ...
in
Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the ...
,
Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
is first mentioned in 1130. In the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
it was one of Diocese of Strasbourg's nine parish churches. On 22 May 1398 the Chapter of the
Abbey of Honau The Abbey of Honau was a monastic foundation in Northern Alsace which flourished from the 8th century until 1290, when it succumbed to the flood-waters of the Rhine. The Abbey was founded by Irish and Scottish monks at the beginning of the 8th cen ...
, which had been in
Rhinau Rhinau (; ) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department of Grand Est in north-eastern France. Until 1398, the village was located on the bank of the Rhine. The present village dates from the sixteenth century. At periods of low water in the Rhin ...
since 1290, moved to Old St Peter's because of flooding in Rhinau. The Chapter stayed there until 1529, conducting its services in the choir, while the parish occupied the nave. When the Catholic rite was restored in 1683, the Chapter returned to the Church and stayed there until 1790, when it was wound up. On 20 February 1529, when Strasbourg openly joined the Reformation and suspended the practice of the mass, the Church became Lutheran.
Martin Bucer Martin Bucer ( early German: ''Martin Butzer''; 11 November 1491 – 28 February 1551) was a German Protestant reformer based in Strasbourg who influenced Lutheran, Calvinist, and Anglican doctrines and practices. Bucer was originally a me ...
and the other Strasbourg reformers had campaigned for several years to have Protestant services in all of Strasbourg's churches, but in 1525 the city council had voted to retain the mass in several churches, including Old St Peter's. In 1535, in the context of the Reform, a
Latin school The Latin school was the grammar school of 14th- to 19th-century Europe, though the latter term was much more common in England. Emphasis was placed, as the name indicates, on learning to use Latin. The education given at Latin schools gave gre ...
, or 'Middle school' was opened at Old Saint Peters. In 1683, two years after the annexation of Strasbourg by France,
Louis XIV Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...
ordered that part of the Church be returned to the Catholics and that a wall be constructed inside the church by the
rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, o ...
, to restrict the Protestant services to the Nave. It was not until 2012 that a door was opened in this dividing wall. In the 19th century, the Catholic part of the Church was extended. The extension was designed by the architect Conrath and opened in 1867. The 1762
pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks' ...
of the Catholic part was moved to the Church of Saint Maurice in
Soultz-les-Bains Soultz-les-Bains (; historical german: Sulzbad, ) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est, France. In 1682, the famous military engineer Vauban constructed the Canal de la Bruche between Soultz and Strasbourg. The canal was need ...
in 1865. The Catholic Church contains relics of
Brigit of Kildare Saint Brigid of Kildare or Brigid of Ireland ( ga, Naomh Bríd; la, Brigida; 525) is the patroness saint (or 'mother saint') of Ireland, and one of its three national saints along with Patrick and Columba. According to medieval Irish hagiogra ...
as well as a number of important works of art classified as ''
Monuments historiques ''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 coll ...
'' such as the "
Passion of Christ In Christianity, the Passion (from the Latin verb ''patior, passus sum''; "to suffer, bear, endure", from which also "patience, patient", etc.) is the short final period in the life of Jesus Christ. Depending on one's views, the "Passion" m ...
", a series of ten
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
paintings by Heinrich (or Henri) Lutzelmann (1485), the "Scenes from the Life of St Peter" an (incomplete) series of four wooden early
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...
or late Gothic
relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
s made around 1500 and a series of four 1504 paintings depicting "Scenes of the Life of Christ after the Resurrection". The Lutheran part of the church, presently owned and used by a congregation within the
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 ...
, also features some notable works of art, among which the wooden Renaissance relief "Holy Family" (1520s) by Hans Wydyz, classified as a ''Monument historique''.


Galleries

File:Portail de l'église Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux catholique de Strasbourg.jpg, Portal File:Pipe organ of Saint-Pierre-le-vieux catholique de Strasbourg.jpg, Pipe organ File:StPierreVieuxC23.JPG, Vaults File:StPierreVieuxC11.JPG, "
The Passion of Christ ''The Passion of the Christ'' is a 2004 American epic biblical drama film produced, directed and co-written by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus of Nazareth, Maia Morgenstern as Mary, mother of Jesus, and Monica Bellucci as Mary ...
" (detail of a panel) File:StPierreVieuxC26.JPG, "Scenes from the Life of St Peter" (detail of a panel)
File:StPierreVieuxP03.JPG, Pipe organ File:StPierreVieuxP10.JPG, Altar File:StPierreVieuxP06.JPG, Chancel and relief "Holy Family" File:Eglise St-Pierre-le-Vieux protestante-Intérieur (6).jpg, The gallery File:StPierreVieuxP01.JPG, Fresco


External links


References

{{Church buildings in central Strasbourg Roman Catholic churches in Strasbourg Pierre Vieux Monuments historiques of Strasbourg