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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The chapel of Saint Sebastian, located in Dambach-la-Ville in the Lower Rhine, is the former parish church of the disappeared village of Oberkirch, mentioned since 1285. Its decline began in 1340 with the ascension of Dambach as an episcopal city, then was sealed in 1356 by Bishop John II of Lichtenberg, who ordered the transfer of the offices to the church of St. Stephen. Despite this, the site remained a place of pilgrimage, passed under the control of Dachstein Abbey (1356), then Strasbourg Cathedral (1359), before being ceded to the civil Hospices of Strasbourg in the 15th century.

In 1480 Pope Innocent VIII removed the vicariates of Oberkirch, marking a new stage in his history. At the Revolution, the chapel was confiscated and auctioned in 1792. Collectively acquired by 32 villagers who supported the priest Zaepffel (refusing the constitutional oath), it became the property of a brotherhood that is still active today. Damaged during the Second World War, it was restored with public and private funds before being reopened in 1962.

The architecture of the chapel reflects its turbulent history: a 12th century Romanesque bell tower, a gothic nave and bedside (14th-15th centuries), a Renaissance sacristy (17th century), and a baroque altar (1690-1692) carved by the brothers Winterhalter and Johannes Beyer. The site also houses a mysterious ossuary, linked by legend to the Rustaud revolt (1525), and a miraculous Cross of 1687. The Saint-Sébastien Brotherhood, an association of Alsatian-mosellan local law, has maintained it since 1792.

Ranked a historic monument in 1921, the chapel dominates the Frankstein vineyard, offering an exceptional view of the Alsace plain, the Black Forest and, in clear weather, the arrow of Strasbourg Cathedral. Its court, privileged point of view, makes it a place both spiritual and tourist, anchored in the landscape and local history.

The interior furniture includes medieval statues (Vierge à l'Enfant, 15th century), reliquaries (saint Sebastian, 16th century), and baroque works such as Saint Urbain (XVIIth–XVIIIth centuries). The six wooden arms of light adorning the nave, as well as the polychrome vault key of the choir (visage of Christ), testify to the artistic richness of the place. The Romanesque altar stone, reused for the Baroque altar, symbolizes liturgical continuity throughout the centuries.

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