The

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 ...

St. George's Church () is the most important religious building of the city of

Haguenau Haguenau (; or ; ; historical ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Bas-Rhin Département in France, department of France, of which it is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture. It is second in size in the Bas-Rhin only to Strasbourg ...

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

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 ...

Building history and description

A first church building, started in 1143, was replaced around 1200 by a flat-roofed

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

with columns, recalling the architecture of

Hirsau Abbey Hirsau Abbey, formerly known as Hirschau Abbey, was once one of the most important Benedictine abbeys of Germany. It is located in the Hirsau borough of Calw on the northern slopes of the Black Forest mountain range, in the present-day state of ...

and the influence of the

Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe that was predominant in the 11th and 12th centuries. The style eventually developed into the Gothic style with the shape of the arches providing a simple distinction: the Ro ...

Swabia Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of ...

, rather than the

Upper Rhine Upper Rhine ( ; ; kilometres 167 to 529 of the Rhine) is the section of the Rhine between the Middle Bridge, Basel, Middle Bridge in Basel, Switzerland, and the Rhine knee in Bingen am Rhein, Bingen, Germany. It is surrounded by the Upper Rhine P ...

regions and Alsace where basilicas were predominantly

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

d. The exterior of the nave is divided by

pilasters In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

and archivolted

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

s. From 1250 to 1283, an expansion 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 ...

took place: a polygonal

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 ...

and

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 an octagonal

crossing tower A crossing, in ecclesiastical architecture, is the junction of the four arms of a cruciform (cross-shaped) church. In a typically oriented church (especially of Romanesque and Gothic styles), the crossing gives access to the nave on the west, ...

were added to the Romanesque nave, which remained intact, and the aisles were covered with a cross-ribbed

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosur ...

. The nave vault was built only in 1609–1611 in Survival Gothic forms (see

Jesuit Church, Molsheim The former Jesuit Church (''Église des Jésuites'') is the parish church '' Sainte-Trinité-et- Saint-Georges'' ( Alsatian: ''Sànkt-Georg- und Dreifàltigkeitskirich'') which is the main Roman Catholic sanctuary of Molsheim, France, and the pr ...

). During the French Revolution and the fighting around the city in 1945, the church suffered losses in construction and decoration material. Several severed sculptures, that initially decorated the Eastern part of the church, are kept today in the ''Musée historique de Haguenau''. The church was restored by 1963. Most noteworthy inside of the Church are the

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

from the year 1500 by Veit Wagner, a huge crucifix (4 meters high, 2.75 meters wide) "Découvrir Haguenau"
(French) from the year 1488 by Klemens von Baden, a twelve-meter-high

tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle (), also known as the Tent of the Congregation (, also Tent of Meeting), was the portable earthly dwelling of God used by the Israelites from the Exodus until the conquest of Canaan. Moses was instru ...

from 1523 by Friedrich Hammer, and several carved

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

s, including a large-scale work by Diebold Martin, a

Last Judgment The Last Judgment is a concept found across the Abrahamic religions and the '' Frashokereti'' of Zoroastrianism. Christianity considers the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to entail the final judgment by God of all people who have ever lived, res ...

, to which in the 19th century two late-Gothic paintings by a Franconian or Swabian

Anonymous master In art history, an anonymous master is an Old Master whose work is known, but whose name is lost. Renaissance Only in the Renaissance did individual artists in Western Europe acquire personalities known by their peers (some listed by Vasari in hi ...

were added, composing an altar which had originally not been designed in this form. The great

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 ...

is made by Alfred Kern & Fils (1988) in a case of 1867 by the workshop of

Eberhard Friedrich Walcker Walcker Orgelbau (also known as E. F. Walcker & Cie.) of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, is a builder of pipe organs. It was founded in Cannstatt, a suburb of Stuttgart in 1780 by . His son Eberhard Friedrich Walcker moved the business to ...

; however, there was already in the 15th century an organ documented in the building.''Orgue de Haguenau, St Georges''
In 1845 the church received new

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 depicting the Emperors

Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 115 ...

, Konrad III, Rudolf von Habsburg, and

Albert III, Duke of Austria Albert III of Austria (9 September 1349 – 29 August 1395), known as Albert with the Braid (Pigtail) (), a member of the House of Habsburg, was Duke of Austria from 1365 until his death. Biography Albert III was born in the ducal residence ...

. These windows did not survive the bombings of 1945. The windows to be seen today are the work of

Jacques Le Chevallier Jacques Le Chevallier (; July 26, 1896 – 1987) was a French glassmaker, decorative artist, illustrator, and engraver. He was mobilized during World War I; after the war he became a master artisan in the studio of Louis Barillet, with whom he re ...

, and were installed from 1956 to 1969. The bell tower over the crossing and includes the two oldest active bells of Europe; both were cast in 1268 and survived World War II unscathed.

Dimensions

The known dimensions are as follows: * External length: * External width: * Internal length: * Internal width:

Views

File:Haguenau StGeorges42.JPG, West façade of St. George's File:Haguenau St-Georges 02.JPG, View to the East with choir File:Haguenau St-Georges 06.JPG, View to the West with pipe organ File:Haguenau St-Georges 03.JPG, The pulpit File:Haguenau St-Georges 08.JPG, The "Judgement Day" altarpiece

Literature

* Ernst Adam: ''Baukunst der Stauferzeit in Baden-Württemberg und im Elsaß''. Stuttgart and Aalen 1977th

References

External links