The Sainte-Madeleine Church (''Église Sainte-Madeleine'', German: ''Magdalenenkirche'') is a

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 ...

church 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 ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, which was built in

Gothic style 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 ...

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

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

after a devastating fire in 1904. Destroyed again during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, 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 his crucifixion and resurre ...

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, his ...

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

History and architecture

The first

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Angl ...

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 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 (french: duc de Bourgogne) was a title used by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, from its establishment in 843 to its annexation by France in 1477, and later by Holy Roman Emperors and Kings of Spain from the House of Habsburg ...

. 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) 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 ...

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 is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

windows vy Peter Hemmel of Andlau that decorated the church are shown in the Musée de l’Œuvre Notre-Dame.

John Calvin John Calvin (; frm, Jehan Cauvin; french: link=no, Jean Calvin ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system ...

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 p ...

in that church . The current church, which is perpendicular to the earlier building, was built in 1907 according to plans by Fritz Beblo 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, 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 may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

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 Manual may refer to: Instructions * User guide * Owner's manual An owner's manual (also called an instruction manual or a user guide) is an instructional book or booklet that is supplied with almost all technologically advanced consumer ...

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 * Mu ...

– and separate pedals. 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 Cons ...

, 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 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 root ...

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 ''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 col ...

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 (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg, or ''Cathédrale de Strasbourg'', german: Liebfrauenmünster zu Straßburg or ''Straßburger Münster''), also known as Strasbourg ...

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 Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The station ...

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

Gallery

Strasbourg SteMadeleine06.JPG, A view of the nave originally rebuilt by Fritz Beblo 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 Madeleine Gothic architecture in Strasbourg Art Nouveau architecture in Strasbourg Art Nouveau church buildings in France Roman Catholic churches completed in 1907 Monuments historiques of Strasbourg 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in France