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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Nicolas de Haguenau, classified as a historic monument since 1930, was founded in the 12th century by Emperor Frédéric Barberousse. The latter founded a hospital with an oratory for the poor, entrusted to the canons of the order of Premontré. The Romanesque tower of this original sanctuary still remains today. The building, damaged in 1298 during the siege of Haguenau by the Strasbourgs, was rebuilt around 1300 in a Gothic style and expanded in 1424.

In the 18th century, the Premontrés added a chapel (1785) and a funeral vault topped by a chapel of the Holy Sepulchre (1786). The church, sold to the city in 1535 and bought by the Premontrés in 1643, went through the Revolution with damage: the statues of Saints Norbert and Nicolas were beheaded, and their heads replaced in the 19th century. The current Gothic-style vaults and bays date back to the 19th and 20th centuries, while a sacristy (1846) and a baptismal chapel (1932) complete the building.

The Second World War caused significant damage: the 13th century bell was destroyed, and the tower was badly damaged. The restorations, begun in 1965, profoundly altered the interior, with the removal of the original frame and painted decorations. The architecture today combines sandstone, bricks, and concrete (for the rebuilt tower), while the furniture, like the stalls Louis XV and XVI from the Abbey of Neubourg, bears witness to its rich past.

The interior houses remarkable works, including a monumental 14th century holy tomb (transferred from Strasbourg in 1786), statues of the Virgin with the Child of the 15th and 18th centuries, and liturgical objects rococo or neo-Gothic. Four Baroque statues (Saints Augustin, Ambrose, Gregory and Jerome) adorn the entrance to the choir, reflecting the religious and artistic importance of this place throughout the centuries.

The convent buildings, initially north of the church, were partially destroyed after the war. An ossuary surmounted by a chapel Saint-Michel once occupied the enclosure, before the cemetery was moved in 1780. Today, the church, owned by the commune, remains a major testimony of the Alsatian heritage, marked by Gothic, Baroque and neo-Gothic influences.

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