The former

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

Church (''Église des Jésuites'') is the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

'' Sainte-Trinité-et- Saint-Georges'' ( Alsatian: ''Sànkt-Georg- und Dreifàltigkeitskirich'') which is the main

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

sanctuary of

Molsheim Molsheim (; ) is a Communes of France, commune and a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Bas-Rhin Departments of France, department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.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 ...

, and the principal 17th-century church building in the

Rhine Valley Rhine Valley (German: ''Rheintal'' ) is the valley, or any section of it, of the river Rhine in Europe. Particular valleys of the Rhine or any of its sections: * Alpine Rhine Valley ** Chur Rhine Valley (or Grisonian Rhine Valley; , or sometimes ...

. The church was built between 1615 and 1617 by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

architect Christoph Wamser, and consecrated on 26 August 1618. Molsheim's Jesuit church is considered one of the foremost examples of Gothic Survival architecture or, as it is called in German, :de:Nachgotik (posterior Gothic). It is listed 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 1939 by the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture () is the ministry (government department), ministry of the Government of France in charge of List of museums in France, national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and pro ...

. Molsheim's Jesuit College was founded in 1580 and dissolved in 1765. It served as Alsace's main university between 1618 and 1704, preceding the Lutheran

Strasbourg University The University of Strasbourg (, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. Founded in the 16th century by Johannes Sturm, it was a center of intellectual life during ...

in importance. The church's construction was funded by the

bishop of Strasbourg Archbishops

*Charles Amarin Brand (16 July 1984 – 23 October 1997) (with rank of archbishop from 1988) *Joseph Doré (23 October 1997 – 25 August 2006) *Jean-Pierre Grallet (21 April 2007 – 18 February 2017) *Luc Ravel (18 February 2017 ...

, Archduke Leopold V of Austria, who made a donation on his name saint's day, 15 November 1614. Although a chapel inside is dedicated to

Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola ( ; ; ; ; born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Basque Spaniard Catholic priest and theologian, who, with six companions, founded the religious order of the S ...

, the church was dedicated from the start to the Holy Trinity (''Heilige Dreifaltigkeit''). It became the parish church of Molsheim and was dedicated to Saint-George in 1791, after the demolition of the city's former parish church, the previous ''Église Saint-Georges'', on what is now the town's current market square (''Place du marché''). The church's dimensions are considerable, especially in relation to the small size of the town: The interior is long, and the nave is wide and high. 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 ...

measuring by , the spire high. The total length of the church, steeple and

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is us ...

included, is Among the many features inside the richly ornate building, the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

Saint Ignatius' Chapel (1621–1630) in the north

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

and the

Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

Our Lady's Chapel (1748) in the south transept stand out as the most visually striking. Another pride of the church are the 1781

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

by Johann Andreas Silbermann and the monumental Late Gothic cross (1480), high and wide, from the former

Carthusian monastery This is a list of Carthusian monasteries, or charterhouses, containing both extant and dissolved monasteries of the Carthusians (also known as the Order of Saint Bruno) for monks and nuns, arranged by location under their present countries. Also ...

of the town.The Silbermann organ
File:France Molsheim Eglise des Jesuites Nef.jpg, The nave looking towards the choir File:Molsheim 05.JPG, The nave looking towards the

File:France Molsheim Eglise des Jesuites Chapelle Saint Ignace.jpg, Saint Ignatius chapel with

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

File:France Molsheim Eglise des Jesuites Small door.jpg, Wooden

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

door File:France Molsheim Eglise des Jesuites Armoiries de Léopold d'Autriche 3.jpg, Coat of Arms of Leopold of Austria

References

Notes

The numbers of (length), and (width), that are given since 1964 (author Médard Barth), and repeated in 2002 (Smith) and even 2015 (Oswald, page 5), are wrong. According to the floor plan with a scale of per , the dimensions are decidedly higher. {{DEFAULTSORT:Molsheim Roman Catholic churches completed in 1617 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in France Baroque church buildings in France Churches in Bas-Rhin Monuments historiques of Bas-Rhin Jesuit churches in France Gothic Revival church buildings in France

1617 establishments in France

See also

References

Notes