Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Abbey of Hohenbourg, also called the monastery of Sainte-Odile, was founded in 680 by Saint Odile, daughter of the Duke of Alsace Etichon-Adalric, on the ruins of a castle named Hohenbourg or Altitona. According to legend, Odile, born blind and miraculously healed during her baptism, received this site from her father to establish a female monastery. This place quickly became a major spiritual centre in Alsace, sheltering the tombs of Odile and his parents, and attracting pilgrims from the eighth century. The monastery was placed under the protection of the free kings, as evidenced by the privileges granted by Charlemagne and Louis le Pieux.

In the 12th century, the abbey enjoyed a remarkable boom under Abbess Relinde (1150–1976), which introduced the rule of St Augustine and undertook major reconstruction work after the destruction caused by Frederick II of Swabia. Relinde was followed by Herrade de Landsberg (died 1195), author of Hortus deliciarum, a famous illuminated manuscript. The abbey, which was often the victim of fire (especially in 1115, 1200, 1224, and 1277) and looting (by Hungarians in 917, roadmen in 1365, or Swedes in 1632), was rebuilt several times. The religious conflicts of the 16th century, such as the Peasant War (1525) or the Protestant Reformation, marked a temporary decline, with the partial abandonment of the site after the fire of 1546.

The French Revolution (1789) inflicted a severe blow on the abbey: sold as a national property in 1791, its sarcophagus containing the relics of Saint Odile was desecrated in 1794, although these were saved in extremis. Repurchased in 1853 by the bishop of Strasbourg, André Raess, the site was restored and entrusted to the Sisters of the Cross (1889–2015), then to a permanent community. Today, the basilica, classified as a historical monument, remains a high place of pilgrimage and tourism, celebrating the 1300th anniversary of the death of Saint Odile in 2020–21. Its current architecture combines Gothic elements (the church windows) and 17th and 20th century reconstructions.

Mount Sainte-Odile, surrounded by the pagan wall (an ancient enclosure of uncertain origin), dominates the plain of Alsace from an altitude of 763 meters. The site includes several historic chapels, such as that of the Cross (hosting the tomb of Etichon-Adalric) or of the Angels (the tomb of Odile), as well as a library containing medieval manuscripts. In 2000–2002, a spectacular flight of over 1,000 ancient books through a secret passage highlighted the richness of this written heritage. Since 2015, the abbey, managed by the diocese of Strasbourg, welcomes pilgrims and tourists, perpetuating the perpetual adoration established in 1931.

Among the figures related to the abbey are sovereigns such as Frédéric Barberousse (who will finance his reconstruction in the twelfth century) or Richard Cœur de Lion (who stayed there in 1194), as well as religious figures such as Pope Leo IX (former bishop of Toul, who consecrated the church in 1045). In the 20th century, personalities such as Charles de Gaulle (who retired before the war) and Pope John Paul II (visited in 1988) marked his recent history. The abbey, a symbol of the Alsatian faith, also embodies the political and religious tensions that crossed the region, from Merovingian quarrels to the wars of Religion.

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