Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Protestant temple of Bourg-la-Reine originated in the initiative of Jules Demmler, a Württembergeian officer and German professor, who settled in the commune in 1832 after his marriage to Caroline Duvernoy, a Lutheran from Montbéliard. Their home became a place of Lutheran celebrations, attracting the faithful of the German and French circles of Paris. In 1859, the Municipal Council, led by Mayor Ravon, approved the construction of a temple on land belonging to Demmler. Thanks to the support of Baron Haussmann to Napoleon III, an imperial decree of 3 March 1860 officially authorized the project under the concordat regime. The temple was inaugurated on September 23, 1860.

The initial construction was followed by extensions in the 20th century: a brick house before the Second World War, a wooden hut in 1945, and then expansions in 1950 and 1964. The temple, originally linked to the Evangelical Lutheran Church (the so-called Augsburg confession), joined in 2013 the United Protestant Church of France (EPUdF), which emerged from the merger with the Reformed Church. Its architecture is distinguished by a gable façade, a roof in a building, and a bell tower, with a cartridge bearing the inscription "EVANGELIQUE EGLISE".

The temple remains an active place of Protestant worship, led since 2017 by Pastor Eva Guigo-Patzelt. Its history reflects both the local anchor of Lutheran Protestantism and the institutional evolutions of French Protestantism, marked by unions between currents over the centuries. Ravon Street, where it is located, perpetuates the name of the mayor who supports its creation.

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