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Origin and history

The chapel Saint-Fridolin was a religious building located in the Schacheneck valley, near the hamlet of Sparsbrod, on the border of the Moselle and Bas-Rhin departments. It was on the territory of the municipality of Haselburg, in the Grand Est region. Today in ruins, its heritage interest lies mainly in its medieval Baptistery, the only remaining vestige.

In the sixth century, the Irish missionary Saint Fridolin founded a small monastery and a chapel dedicated to Saint Hilaire, patron of the Abbey of Poitiers where he had been abbot. These buildings mark the early implantation of Christianity in the Vosges. In 1633, the chapel and neighbouring village were destroyed during the Thirty Years' War, leaving the site abandoned.

The ruins of the chapel, including the monolithic pink sandstone baptistery decorated with Romanesque archatures, date from the 10th or 11th century. This Baptistery, with a diameter of 1.30 metres and a height of 75 centimetres, is considered the oldest Christian vestige in the region. It has been protected by a roof since its classification as historical monuments by order of 6 December 1898.

The current building, although partially ruined, had a simple structure with a single vessel and a rectangular choir. The rare dating architectural elements, such as the ribs of a dogid vault sealed in the choir, suggest reconstruction or modifications in the 13th or 14th centuries. The chapel was located near a route considered Roman, in an area linked to the Abbey of Andlau.

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