Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune Protestant Church

Architecture and furnishings

• The oldest part of the church is the small lower church used as a burial crypt, which is the remains of a Columban church erected in the 7th century.
• Three of the four arched galleries of the cloister date from the 11th century, the fourth arched gallery is from the 14th century.
• The Gothic main building, with its numerous chapels and the lavish rib vault dates from the 14th century. There are many frescoes from this time and the following one-and-one-half centuries, memorial slabs and monuments, the baptismal font, the central painting of the high altar and the choir screen, now unique in Alsace, which have also been maintained.
• In 1780, the now nationally famous choir organ of Johann Andreas Silbermann was built. Helmut Walcha recorded a large part of his performances of Bach's organ works here. The pulpit also dates from the same century, as well as another altar.
• Between 1897 and 1901, the church, which had fallen into disrepair, was fundamentally overhauled by the Karlsruhe architect Carl Schäfer, one of the most important representatives of neo-Gothic sacred architecture in Germany. At that time, the entrance was moved to the side and a new main portal was created, a copy of the northern entrance of the facade of the Strasbourg Cathedral. The cloisters were painted in polychrome, following the example of the Hortus Deliciarum. The life-sized baptismal angel statue, along with the chapel and the choir glass windows, also date from this time.