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Origin and history

Sainte-Marie de Niedermunster Abbey, located at 511 meters above sea level at the foot of Mount Sainte-Odile, was founded around 700 metres above sea level by Saint Odile to accommodate pilgrims unable to access the Abbey of Mont Sainte-Odile. Until the twelfth century, it shared its heritage with Hohenbourg Abbey, before becoming autonomous. In 1542, it was integrated into the Grand Chapter of Strasbourg Cathedral.

In the ninth century, the arrival of a relic of the Holy Cross, offered by Charlemagne to Hugues de Tours, marked a turning point. This relic, carried by a camel, was venerated until the sixteenth century. The abbey underwent a period of reconstruction in the 12th century under the impulse of Frédéric Barberousse, after having been destroyed by his father, Frederick II of Swabia, during the Querelle des Investitures.

The abbey was devastated in the 16th century by the Peasants' War and two fires (1542 and 1572). The ruins were then used as a stone quarry for various local buildings. The archaeological excavations of the early twentieth century, led by Félix Wolff, allowed the clearing of remains, including medieval burials of abbesses.

Among the remaining remains are the ruins of the abbey church and a farmhouse built in 1758 with re-used stones. Saint-Nicolas Chapel, restored in the 19th century, has been listed as a historic monument since 1846. The Hermitage Saint-Jacques, founded according to legend in 803, was also a place of pilgrimage until the Revolution.

The abbey was led by several notable abbesses, including Relinde and Herrade de Landsberg, who played a key role in its reconstruction in the 12th century. Donations, such as that of Henri de Meistratzheim, enriched his heritage until its definitive decline in the 16th century.

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