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Origin and history

The Sainte-Walburge church in Walburg, located in the Lower Rhine, is the former abbey of a Benedictine abbey founded in the 11th century, probably by Count Thierry de Montbéliard in 1074. The abbey, dedicated to Saint Walburge, would have welcomed monks from Bavaria, where the saint's relics had been venerated since the ninth century. She benefited from the protection of the Hohenstaufen, an imperial family whose Duke of Swabia and father of Frédéric Barberousse, Frédéric the Borgne, was buried there in 1147.

The abbey experienced a period of decline in the 14th century, but was restored under the abbatiate of Sigmund Krieg (from 1415) and especially Burkhard von Müllenheim (1430-1479). The latter undertook a complete reconstruction of the church between 1456 and 1465, as evidenced by the dates engraved on the triumphal arch and the windows of the apse. The stained glass windows, financed by the abbot's brother, are attributed to the school in Strasbourg and could be the work of master glassmaker Peter Hemmel of Andlau.

The church, of hybrid architecture, preserves 12th century Romanesque walls raised in the 15th century, while the choir, of late Gothic style, is distinguished by its length and polygonal bedside. A key to the vault bears the mark of the Sudan mason Hans Böblinger, known for his work in Esslingen. After the Peasants' War (1525), the abbey was incorporated into the chapter of Wissembourg in 1544, then assembled at the Episcopal Seminary of Strasbourg in 1684.

Ranked a historic monument in 1898, the church suffered damage during the 1945 bombings, requiring major restorations from 1949. Its stained glass windows, classified in 1862, and its 16th century Eucharistic tower (restored in 1863) bear witness to its rich heritage. The organ, installed in 1835 by Martin Wetzel, and the murals of the choir (1465) complete this remarkable ensemble.

The abbey, sold as a national property at the Revolution, was partly preserved by private individuals, including Michel Pierre Saglio, who offered the church to the commune in 1805. The excavations and restorations of the 20th century (especially in 1968-1971) revealed original Romanesque elements, such as the windows of the low-sides, long obstructed. Today, the church remains a major testimony of art and monastic history in Alsace.

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