Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Abbey of Ebersmunster, located in the Lower Rhine near Selestat, was founded in the 7th century by the Irish monk Saint-Déodat (or Deodat), evangelizer of the region. Initially a hermitage according to the rule of St.Columban, it became a Benedictine abbey under the impulse of the Duke of Alsace Aldaric (father of St.Odile), who gave it land and relics, including those of St.Mauritius. The site, formerly called Novenium, housed according to legend a pagan temple destroyed by Saint Materne, replaced by a first Christian church.

In the 8th century, the abbey adopted the Benedictine rule and enriched itself thanks to the gifts of the Dukes of Alsace, especially Etichon (or Aldaric). Saint Odile, daughter of Aldaric, strengthens his ties with the monastery by appointing religious there for solemn offices and by assigning property, including rights to the saline of Marsal. The abbey, raised to the rank of imperial abbey in 818, was placed under the authority of the bishops of Strasbourg at the end of the 9th century. His possessions then spread over nearly 80 villages, from the south of Mulhouse to the suburbs of Strasbourg.

The abbey has a golden age in the 12th–14th centuries, with a pilgrimage dedicated to St Nicholas and a partial reconstruction of the abbey in Romanesque style (consecrated in 1155). However, it was looted during the Peasants' War (1525) and a fire in 1632 by Swedish troops during the Thirty Years War. The monks took refuge in Séletat until 1648. The Baroque reconstruction began under Abbé Bernard Roethlin (1675–1715), with architect Peter Thumb, who erected the present church between 1720 and 1726, after a new fire in 1717.

The French Revolution dispersed the community in 1791 (26 monks) and sold the property of the abbey. The church, spared, becomes parish, while the convent buildings are partially destroyed. The stalls of the choir, carved by Mathieu Wurtzer, represent key figures such as Saint Odile, Saint Benedict, or Saint Hune (canonized in 1520). Today, the baroque abbey, classified as Historic Monument in 1898, houses a Silbermann organ and restored frescoes, bearing witness to its prestigious past.

The historical sources, such as the Ebersmunster Chronicle (1133) or the work of Abbé Grandidier (1776), underline his major role in the Christianization of Alsace. Carolingian diplomas (Pépin le Brief, Carloman I) confirm his privileges, although some documents were falsified in the 12th century to affirm his immunity. The abbey remains a symbol of Alsatian faith and art, despite revolutionary destructions and wars.

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