Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The chapel Sainte-Marguerite d'Epfig, located in the Bas-Rhin, is a religious building whose oldest parts date back to the 11th century. It is located in the hamlet of Sainte-Marguerite, at the location of a chapel already attested to in the early Middle Ages. Its cruciform plan, typical of Romanesque architecture, probably dates from the early 11th century, while a gallery forming porch was added in the mid 12th century in front of the western and southern walls. A lateral chapel, built in 1516 in the corner of the choir and the south transept, has an engraved date on its vault key.

An ossuary, adjacent to the north wall, was rebuilt between 1872 and 1879 on its original foundations, sheltering bones from the peasant war of 1525, as well as exhumed remains of the cemeteries of the chapel and the disappeared village of Kollwiller, located east of Epfig. The entire monument, including the ossuary, enjoyed a major restoration during the same period. Ranked a historic monument in 1876, the chapel illustrates the architectural and funeral evolution of the region, from the Middle Ages to the modern era.

The Sainte-Marguerite chapel is now owned by the municipality of Epfig. Its early ranking, less than ten years after the 1887 Law on the Protection of Historic Monuments, underscores its heritage importance. Local studies, such as those of Marcel Krieg (2002) or René Metz (1994), have highlighted his role in the religious and social history of Alsace, notably through his ossuary and successive transformations.

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