Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The abbey of Altorf, located in the Alsatian village of Altorf (Bas-Rhin), was founded in 974 by Hugues IV of Nordgau, Count of Eguisheim, and his wife Helwilde, the family from which Pope Leo IX came. The initial chapel was consecrated by the bishop of Strasbourg, Erchenbald, in the presence of the Abbé de Cluny, Maieul. The abbey, intended to serve as a family burial place, enjoyed the right to exchange money from the beginning, confirmed in 1153 by Emperor Frédéric I. His coins bore the effigy of St.Cyriac, becoming chief patron after the consecration of an altar by Leo IX in the 11th century, replacing Saints Bartholomew and Gregory the Great.

The Romanesque nave of the Abbatial Church, built between the 12th and 13th centuries, was completed by a transept and a baroque choir in the 18th century. The abbey suffered numerous destructions, notably in 1262 by the Strasbourg troops, then during the wars of the Peasants (1525) and Thirty Years (1618–48). Rebuilt several times, it was affiliated with the Congregation of Bursfelde in 1606 and incorporated into the Congregation of Strasbourg in 1624. His monetary workshop, active since 999, finally ceased in 1296, his rights passing to the bishopric of Strasbourg. The reliquary of St Cyriac, decorated with silver plaques and gold copper medallions, became an object of major veneration, attracting pilgrims suffering from epilepsy or fever.

In the 18th century, the abbey was thoroughly reorganized: Peter Thumb, Austrian architect, reconstructed the choir and transept (1724–128), while the convent buildings were reorganized around a cloister and an interior garden. The Abbatial Pond, expanded in 1734, was used for fish rearing in accordance with the Benedictine rule. Deleted in 1791 during the Revolution, the abbey was temporarily converted into a military hospital. Today, the Church of St. Cyriac, classified as a historical monument in 1983, preserves Romanesque, Baroque, and the reliquary bust of St. Cyriac, restored in the 19th century.

The abbey also housed a chapel dedicated to Saint Michael, founded before 1192 for a community of nuns that disappeared in 1262. The excavations of the eighteenth century revealed the remains of this monastery, located in the enclosure of the abbey. The site, marked by successive reconstructions, bears witness to eight centuries of monastic history, from its foundation by the Eguisheim until its dissolution. The last convent buildings, partially demolished after 1791, give way to remains such as the 17th century gate and a 1753 gate.

Among the notable abbots, Cyriakus Spitz attended the suppression of the abbey in 1791, while Laurent Klein, who died in 1732, was commemorated by a funeral cross near the choir. The abbey, owned by the commune since the 19th century, is protected for its high altar (classified in 1932), its Renaissance façade (1937), and the church itself (1983). Its history is documented by archives and excavations, revealing its religious, economic (monetary) and social role in Alsace.

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