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Origin and history

The Bischenberg convent, perched on a hill dominating Bischoffsheim, is a place of pilgrimage dedicated to Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs since at least 1505, date of the first writing mentioning a chapel. This Marian sanctuary, whose activity was disrupted by the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), was reborn in the 17th century under the impulse of the Franco-Recollets of Mutzig. In 1663, the bishop entrusted them with the management of the site, but for lack of accommodation on site, the monks went back and forth on foot from their convent. Only in 1717 did they manage to finance the completion of the chapel and the construction of a modest hospice.

In 1732 the Way of the Cross, composed of 14 stations plus a fifteenth chapel dedicated to the Holy Cross, was erected under the aegis of Bishop Jean Vivant. The convent then experienced a fasty period, marked by the enlargement of the hospice in 1775 and its autonomy recognized by the chapter of the Recollets. The French Revolution brutally put an end to this prosperity: the religious were driven out, the goods sold, and the pilgrimage ceased. Only a few precious elements, such as altars and statues, escape destruction.

In 1821 the Redemptorists, led by Father Joseph Passerat, bought the ruins and undertook an ambitious restoration. They rebuild the chapel, the dwelling, and the cross path, adding two wings to form a square courtyard. The local population is actively involved in this work. Despite the upheavals of the Kulturkampf (1873), which again chased the religious, the convent was reborn in 1894 after the abolition of anti-religious laws. The two world wars reduced the number of monks, but Marian devotion persisted, and the site even welcomed German refugees during the Second World War.

Between 1957 and 1959, a major restoration modernized the altars and stained glass windows, the latter being the work of master glassmaker Tristan Ruhlmann in 1958. The chapel choir was classified as a historical monument in 1965, followed by the Pietà in polychrome wood (late 15th century) in 1980. The convent also houses the relics of the Venerable Father Passerat, translated from Tournai. Today, a community of Redemptorists, supported by volunteers, animates this place of spirituality and memory.

Founded in 1732 by Alphonse de Liguori, the Redemptorist congregation has the mission of evangelizing the poor. In Bischenberg, Father Passerat (1772–1858) embodied this tradition by relaunching the pilgrimage after revolutionary upheavals. Since 1990, the Amicale du Couvent, a Franco-German association, has been working to preserve the site by promoting cooperation between lay and religious. The cross road, one of the oldest in Alsace, and contemporary stained glass windows illustrate the historical and spiritual duality of this place.

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