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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Blaise in Sarrewerden found its origins in a chapel mentioned in 1342, destroyed and rebuilt near the castle around 1348. This first building served as a castral chapel for the Counts of Sarrewerden, while welcoming the faithful of the village on weekdays, who had to go to the parish church for the Dominican offices and sacraments. The chapel, located at the entrance of the castle facing the bridge over the Saar, already marked the religious and seigneurial importance of the site.

In the 1470s, Count Nicolas de Moers-Sarrewerden began the construction of a church to house a chapter of regular canons of the Order of Saint Augustine. Despite financial difficulties requiring borrowing, work began before 1482. As early as 1488, annuities were paid to canons, suggesting that the chapter was already operational. The late Gothic choir was completed around 1480, while the nave, of trapezoidal plan, was built in the first half of the 16th century. The church then becomes an independent collegiate, seat of a chapter of seven canons.

The choir, classified as a historical monument in 1900, is distinguished by its star vault decorated with carved keys (pink, ecu, lilies) and external foothills. The nave, registered in 1934, has an oblique western facade with enigmatic ravens, possibly supporting an awning or a seigneurial gallery. A sacristy was added in 1725 by the Jesuits. After the Reformation, the chapter's influence declined, and the church became parish under the name Saint Bartholomew in 1804.

Architecturally, the church combines local materials (painted moulds, sandstones for chains) and defensive elements, such as a stair turret with arches. The interior decoration, including the paintings of the vaults and the coats of arms, reflects the patronage of the Counts of Sarrewerden. The plan without transept and the difference in height between the choir and the nave underline the duality between seigneurial space and parish space.

Historical sources, including Jean-Louis Wilbert's work, indicate that construction spans between 1475 and 1500, with a nave added later. The protections for historic monuments (1900 for the choir, 1934 for the nave) testify to its heritage value. Today a communal property, the church remains a remarkable example of the Alsatian religious architecture of the transition between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

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