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Origin and history

Masevaux Abbey, located in Masevaux-Niederbruck in the Upper Rhine, was founded according to tradition by Prince Mason, brother of Count Eberhard, founder of Murbach Abbey. Initially a Benedictine monastery, it quickly became a chapter of noble ladies led by an abbess. The first church, built between 720 and 780, was replaced by a Romanesque church, and the choir was rebuilt in the 14th century (from 1353).

In 1780, the abbesse launched the construction of nine houses for the canonesses, a project designed by François-Martin Burger and Jean-Baptiste Kléber. Seven houses were completed before the Revolution stopped work in 1790. The abbey's property was sold in 1798, and the abbey church became parish church before being partially destroyed by fire in 1859. The choir, restored in 1881, served as a cantonal court and now houses administrative offices.

Conventual buildings, including the 18th century remodeled abbess house, were partly preserved. Some decorative elements, such as carved panels, were moved after the Revolution to the Abbatial Church or the Mulhouse Museum. The abbey thus illustrates the architectural and social transformations linked to political and industrial revolutions, with successive reallocations of its spaces.

The chapel, classified as a historical monument in 1898, is the only remaining protected element. Other parts, such as the canonesses' houses or the abbey estate (former home converted into a textile factory in the 19th century), are now occupied by housing or businesses. The bust-reliquary of Saint Léger, an emblem of the abbey, was carried away in 1790 in Fribourg-en-Brisgau, then in Lucerne, Switzerland.

The history of the abbey reflects the religious and political upheavals of Alsace, from its medieval foundation to its secularization during the Revolution. The current remains, though fragmentary, bear witness to its past importance as a spiritual and seigneurial centre, before its conversion into a civil and economic space.

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