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Origin and history

The Saint-Georges temple of Montbéliard is an ancient Evangelical Lutheran church built in the seventeenth century to respond to the influx of Huguenot refugees into the city. Commanded by Prince George II of Württemberg in 1674, its construction was interrupted in 1676 during the French occupation during the Dutch War, and the building temporarily served as a forage reserve. The work resumed later, and the building was finally consecrated in 1739 after being bequeathed to the city by Prince Eberhard-Louis de Württemberg in 1733.

Disused in 1949, the temple experienced a period of abandonment, even as storage for old papers before a fire destroyed its roof in 1987. Restored by the Companions of France, it was then converted into a conference centre. It has been a historical monument since 1986 and bears witness to Montbéliard's Protestant history and its architectural evolution.

The Saint George Temple is the second Protestant religious building in the city, built to complete the Saint Martin temple, which has become insufficient in the face of population growth due to the arrival of Huguenots. Its architecture and history reflect the political and religious tensions of the time, including the conflicts between the Principality of Montbéliard and the Kingdom of France under Louis XIV.

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