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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The ancient Church of St.Martin of Illfurth came into being in the Middle Ages, originally dedicated to St. Nicholas before becoming a chapel of St. Martin. As a chapel dependent on the parish church Burnkirch, it was the mother church of the villages of Illfurth, Heidwiller and Tagolsheim. Its central role in local religious life was maintained until the 18th century, when it became the parish church of Illfurth after major transformations.

The tower, built around 1300, is the oldest still standing element. Ornate with wall paintings in the 15th century, it was converted in 1742 into a bell tower for a new nave, built in the east. This nave, destroyed in 1971 to give way to a modern church, spared the tower, classified as a historic monument in 1991. The tower, on three levels, preserves remarkable architectural details: a sandstone door dated 1742, Gothic bays, and a carved keyed dowry vault.

Architecturally, the tower illustrates the stylistic evolutions between the Gothic (12th–15th centuries) and the Baroque additions of the 18th century. Its ground floor houses a stone staircase, while its south and west faces have characteristic openings (lancettes, oculus, bays in full hanger). The 15th century murals, although partially preserved, bear witness to its religious past. Today the communal property, the tower serves as a repository, marking the transition between a medieval place of worship and a preserved heritage.

The site, located in the Abbé-Bochelen square, recalls the Alsatian parish organization before the Revolution. The destruction of the nave in 1971, linked to the construction of a new church, isolated the tower, the last vestige of a multi-year religious ensemble. Its classification in 1991 underlines its historical and artistic value, particularly for its Gothic elements and subsequent transformations.

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