Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Saint-Jean-Baptiste church of Soultzbach-les-Bains, located in the Upper Rhine (Great East), is a monument whose origins date back to at least the fourteenth century. His choir, the oldest part, dates from this period and was financed by the family of Hattstatt, local lords since the thirteenth century. The coat of arms of this family, carved in the apse, attest to their involvement. The Gothic-style choir features characteristic warheads and fillings, as well as a quadripartite vault decorated with a key representing the Paschal Lamb.

At the beginning of the sixteenth century (circa 1514), the church underwent a restoration financed by Jacques de Hattstatt, including probably the addition of a southern sacristy as a seigneurial funeral chapel. The medieval nave, originally lower than the choir, was rebuilt in 1738 due to its delabric state, under the direction of mason Matthias Wittwer and architect Martin Moll. This nave was enlarged by two spans in 1832, according to the plans of architect Jean-Benjamin Kühlmann, to respond to the growth of the Catholic community.

The neo-Roman porch tower, a landmark of the current building, was added in 1898 according to plans of Georges Bloch, colmarian architect. Its financing came from the sale of the altarpiece of the Chapel of Saint-Michel in 1882. The church, damaged in 1940 by the explosion of an ammunition depot, was restored by Robert Gall and Léon Kempf in 1941. Ranked a historic monument since 1934 (for its choir, tabernacle and funeral monuments), it was the subject of major restoration campaigns, notably between 1977 and 1985, including the covering of the choir and the restoration of its funeral liter.

The architecture of the church combines several styles: the Gothic choir with bays adorned with trilobes and quadrilobes, the rectangular nave with windows in the middle, and the polygonal arrowed porch tower covered with slates. Inside, the stumped setting of the nave and the carved caps of the apse (hardly masks, bearded face) testify to its rich artistic heritage. The sacristies, on both sides of the choir, underwent various transformations, including the conversion of the seigneurial chapel to the main sacristy at the end of the 19th century.

The building, owned by the commune, illustrates the architectural and religious evolution of Alsace, marked by the influence of seigneurial families such as the Hattstatt and successive adaptations to liturgical and demographic needs. Its inscription in historic monuments underscores its heritage value, both for its architecture and for its furniture, including medieval funeral elements now scattered in the nave.

External links