Church of Saint James-le-Majeur de Guerting en Moselle

Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The church of Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur stands on a rocky promontory in Guerting, in the natural region of the Warndt, on the Franco-German border. Built in 1842-1843, it succeeds a medieval chapel dedicated to St James the Major, destroyed during the Thirty Years War. This first building, of which few traces remain, probably housed a monument of the Passion today backed by the bell tower.

The new parish church, financed in part by Adam Jean-Pierre Job of Holling, a member of a local influential family, met a growing need: the previous chapel was considered to be old and too small for the population. The cemetery, originally located around the building, was moved in 1902 due to its saturation, leaving room for a memorial calvary for the deceased parish priests.

In the 20th century, the church became a central place in community life. Father Joseph Müller founded in 1939 a house of works, destroyed in 1995, while Abbé Willwohl diversified parish activities, including the manufacture of black cherry candy, a local emblem. Guerting also marked the history of the media in 1963 as the first cable French village, broadcasting religious celebrations live from the church.

Among the parish-related personalities, Jean Lemoine (curé from 1702 to 1743) and Valentin Jager (curé from Ham-sous-Varsberg) illustrate the local tensions, the latter being exhumed by his angry parishioners. The Job family, established since 1710, has several mayors and the patron of the present church, symbolizing the historical anchor of this lineage in the region.

External links