Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The command office of Saint John came into being in 1265, when the order of Saint John of Jerusalem moved to Sélestat. A primitive chapel, blessed in 1268 by Albert the Great and dedicated to Saint Michael, marks the beginning of the site. In 1399, the command office came under the supervision of the Strasbourg office and became a priory. A new church, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, was built in 1407, integrating the old chapel as a choir. The estate then extends with the addition of a school and a boarding school for priests.

In 1565, Commander Jean Holl built the current building, designed by architect Michel Sendelin (deceased during the works), to replace a 15th century house. This Renaissance building, typical of the second half of the 16th century, features a central staircase tower with Gothic doors and marked Italian influences. The interior preserves original vaults, including that on the ground floor decorated with the weapons of Jean Holl.

The command office suffered major damage in 1632 during the Swedish siege during the Thirty Years War: the church's bedside collapsed, and part of the estate was ceded to the city to build new ramparts. After the Revolution, the site was sold as a national property in 1792, then purchased in 1806 by the municipality, which installed a college there until 1910. The church was destroyed in the early 20th century, but the main building, restored in the 1970s, successively houses municipal services and the tourist office until 2019.

Ranked a historic monument in 1931, the commandory illustrates Alsatian religious and military architecture, between medieval and Renaissance heritage. Its transformations (towers added in the 19th century, silt staircase marked by stone tailors) testify to its adaptation to successive needs: place of worship, school, and then municipal equipment. Today, it remains a symbol of the Selestadian heritage, linked to the hospital order and urban history of the city.

Future

The building was restored in the 1970s to accommodate the tourist office from 1984.

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