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Origin and history

The church of Sainte-Madeleine, located in Strasbourg, finds its origins in a convent founded in 1225 outside the walls of the city, dedicated to welcoming former repentant prostitutes. This first building, destroyed around 1470 for fear of a Burgundy invasion, gives way to a new convent in the Krutenau district. The Gothic church built there, completed in 1478, belongs to the order of Sainte Marie-Madeleine and represents the last Gothic building erected in Strasbourg. Today, it remains only the choir, of late Gothic style, decorated with fragments of murals, serving as a chapel to the Blessed Sacrament.

In 1904, a fire ravaged the medieval church, leaving intact only the remains of the choir. Reconstruction began in 1907 under the direction of architect Fritz Beblo, giving rise to a more spacious building, perpendicular to the old one. The Second World War marks a new turning point: bombarded on August 11, 1944, the church was severely damaged and rebuilt in 1958. These successive reconstructions illustrate the resilience of this place of worship, classified as a historical monument since 1898.

The church houses two remarkable organs. The first, a historical instrument of Andreas Silbermann (1718), originally commissioned for the Abbey of Marmoutier, is now installed in the Chapel of the Sacred Heart after a turbulent journey, including modifications in the 19th century and restoration in 2012. The second, a Roethinger organ inaugurated in 1965, replaces the one destroyed in 1944. These instruments bear witness to the rich Alsatian musical heritage, intimately linked to the history of the church.

The site also preserves traces of the sisters of the order of Sainte Marie-Madeleine, whose convent housed penitents from the thirteenth century. Their presence, marked by religious and charitable practices, shaped the spiritual identity of the neighborhood. The remains of the choir, with their murals, recall this medieval history, while modern reconstructions emphasize the adaptation of the place to contemporary needs.

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