STRASBOURG, DIOCESE OF — Cathedral, the great rose window (14th century).
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STRASBOURG, DIOCESE OF — Diocese and city situated in France at the confluence of the Bruche and the Ill, between the Vosges and the Rhine, from which it is 4 km distant, at the junction of the Marne-Rhine and Rhône-Rhine canals. The diocese currently comprises the two civil departments of Haut-Rhin and Bas-Rhin. Out of a total population of 1,215,490 in 1935, there were 893,899 Catholics, 262,437 Protestants, 20,684 Jews, and 39,470 persons who had not declared their religion.
In 1952, within an area of 8,294 km², there were 1,200,000 inhabitants, of whom 890,000 were Catholics, served by 1,198 priests incardinated in the diocese and distributed across 725 parishes. The regular clergy were represented by 20 male religious orders and congregations and 37 female congregations. The diocese is directly subject to the Holy See. Important pilgrimage centers include Mont Sainte-Odile (where Herrad of Landsberg [q.v.] lived), the basilica of Marienthal, and the Trois-Épis.
A strategic point of great importance on the borders of two civilizations, Strasbourg has a turbulent and complex history. Of Celtic origin (Ptolemy, II, IX, 9), it later became a Roman fortified camp with a colony in the 1st century AD. In 357, Julian the Apostate fought the Alemanni there; in 453, the city was sacked by the Huns; in 498, it was occupied by Clovis; Eticho, Duke of Alsace, established the royal court at Strasbourg in Königshoffen. In the 6th century, Bishop Arbogast built a church dedicated to the Virgin, later replaced by a basilica in the Carolingian era, when the city flourished through its trade across the entire Frankish Empire. In 842, the sons of Louis the Pious took the famous Oath of Strasbourg there. In 870, by the Treaty of Meerssen, Alsace was taken from Louis the German, and in 925 it was united to the Holy Roman Empire. However, in 982, Strasbourg separated from the Duchy of Alsace and came under episcopal authority at the time of Bishop Erchembald. In 1262, the burghers of Strasbourg freed themselves from this tutelage; the bishop moved to Saverne, and Strasbourg became a free imperial city with an aristocratic constitution that became democratic in 1339. After the Treaty of Frankfurt (1871), Alsace and Strasbourg were annexed to Germany as part of the Empire; the city returned to France at the end of the 1914–18 war, was de facto annexed to Nazi Germany in 1940, and was restored to France on 23 November 1945.
There is no evidence of Christianity before the 4th century, and until the 7th century only vague indications survive: Bishop Saint Amandus is mentioned in the Councils of Sardica (343) and Cologne (346). The bishop Saint Arbogast (673–78) is well known; his successor Florenzio (678–93) founded the female monastery of Saint Stephen (its first abbess was Saint Attala). In 728, the abbeys of Murbach and Ettenheimmünster were founded. With the support of Charlemagne, Bishop Eddo introduced the reform of Boniface and founded the Chapter. During the Investiture Controversy, the bishops of Strasbourg sided with Emperor Henry IV. The civil territory of Strasbourg was constituted around 1244–60. Giovanni II (1353–65) was a notable bishop, but his successors did not follow his example, which explains the ease with which the Lutheran Reformation took hold. Giovanni IV (1569–92) initiated the Counter-Reformation by summoning the Jesuits to Molsheim; under him, the issue of the Grand Chapter arose in 1583. When Strasbourg was annexed to France, Catholic influence grew stronger during the episcopate of François Egon de Fürstenberg (1663–82). From 1704 until the Revolution in 1789, four cardinals of the Rohan family held the see, the last of whom, Armand, was involved in the Affair of the Queen’s Necklace.
The city’s symbol remains the Cathedral, a jewel and compendium of medieval architecture and sculpture. Of the three-aisled basilica from the 7th century, no trace remains. The present building was begun in 1015 under Bishop Werner I, and traces of that period survive in the crypt and transept. The choir, dome, and two arms of the transept belong to the Romanesque style from 1176 to 1245. The three-aisled nave with seven bays in Gothic style was constructed between 1252 and 1275. The stone-carved pulpit was erected in 1485 in honor of the famous preacher Geiler of Kaysersberg. The stained-glass windows belong to various periods, from the 12th century onward. The façade was begun in 1277 by Erwin von Steinbach and carried up to the height of the magnificent rose window. In 1318, a third story was added following a modification of the original plan; the single northern tower, 142 m high and a true lacework in stone, was completed in 1449. The Cathedral is rich in celebrated Gothic sculptures, including the Madonna and Child, the struggle between vices and virtues, the wise and foolish virgins. In the Middle Ages, Strasbourg was a notable center of learning; it produced Gottfried of Strasbourg (12th century) and Closener (14th century), author of a German chronicle; later it became an active center of humanism (Wimpfeling, Brant). Despite opposition from Catholics, including Geiler of Kaysersberg, the Lutheran Reformation took root quickly through the efforts of Zell, Bucer, and Capito, supported by Sturm, founder of the Academy. In 1529, the Mass was abolished and the convents suppressed. After the conquest of Alsace (of which Strasbourg was not part), the city was annexed in 1681 by Louis XIV, who restored the Cathedral to Catholic worship. During the Ancien Régime, the noble Chapter of Strasbourg was very powerful, with 24 canons and 24 prebendaries. During the Revolution, from 1791, the see of Strasbourg was held by a constitutional bishop (Brendel), while the clergy remained loyal to Rome.
Other notable churches include Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux (15th century), Saint-Guillaume (13th century with 15th-century stained glass), Saint-Étienne (Romanesque style, late 12th century but largely ruined by bombing), and Saint-Thomas (13th–14th centuries). The current episcopal palace dates to the 18th century; notable features include the 15th-century Kammerzell House, the covered bridges with their medieval towers, and the Rohan Palace; the Archaeological Museum, housed in a 14th-century building, is also noteworthy. Since 1949, Strasbourg has been the seat of the Council of Europe. The University of Strasbourg has two theological faculties, one Catholic and one Protestant.
The diocese of S. contains numerous artistic centers rich in both religious and secular historical memories. Among these are:
Colmar, the prefecture of the Haut-Rhin department, an artistic city in the Alsatian plain with approximately 100,000 inhabitants. It is first mentioned in Notker the Stammerer, a monk of St. Gall, in his work *De bellis Caroli Magni*, II, 5 (*genitium Columbrense*). It was the birthplace of the painter and engraver Martin Schongauer (1440–1488); of Conrad Pfeffel, director of the military academy of Colmar (1736–1809); of the chemist Haussmann; and of the sculptor Bartholdi. The collegiate church of St. Martin, known as the cathedral of Colmar, originated from a chapel dedicated to St. Martin, founded in the 9th century by the Abbey of Munster in the Vosges Valley (a charter of 823 with privileges granted by Louis the Pious). In the 13th century, the chapel was converted into a choir, and a Romanesque pillared transept was added, forming the oldest part of the current building. In the 14th century, a Gothic basilica with three naves was added, constructed by the architect Master Humbert, along with the current choir, a work by William of Marburg.
The Dominican convent known as "Unterlinden" (*S. Johannis sub tilia*) was built between 1252 and 1289; devastated during the French Revolution in 1793, it was transformed into a museum in 1840, housing paintings by Schongauer and Grün in the central nave. It preserves the archives and the public library. In the ancient Franciscan church of the 13th century, with 15th-century stained glass, the Protestant church was established in 1575. Notable artistic landmarks include the ancient customs house, known as the Kaufhaus, a Gothic building from the 15th century, and the 18th-century Palace of Justice.
Haguenau, a sub-prefecture of the Bas-Rhin near the great royal forest of the same name, owes its origins to a hunting lodge transformed into a palace by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa (1152–90). In 1255, Haguenau became an imperial city and later the capital of the Decapole. The church of St. George was erected in the 12th century by the Hohenstaufens; its nave is Romanesque, while the choir and transept are Gothic. The 14th-century church of St. Nicholas preserves an octagonal tower from the Romanesque period.
Saverne, situated at the foot of the Vosges, on the canal between the Marne and the Rhine, preserves the ancient palace of the bishops of S., built in 1780 by Cardinal Prince Rohan, though now reduced to a barracks. It also has a church containing remains of structures from the 13th–15th centuries, including a five-story tower from the 12th century. A 12th-century castle now serves as a museum. At Wissembourg, in the Bas-Rhin, near the 13th-century Gothic church, remnants remain of the 7th-century Benedictine abbey. The small wine-producing town of Egisheim prides itself on having been the birthplace, in 1002, of Bruno of Dabo, later Pope Leo IX (v.).
The Benedictine abbey of Murbach was founded in 729 by St. Pirmin; devastated in 929, it was restored several times and secularized in 1794. The abbey church, from the 12th century, is one of the most precious examples of religious architecture in Alsace. In 1515, Beatus Rhenanus discovered there a manuscript of the works of Velleius Paterculus. Currently, the abbey archives are preserved in Colmar, while the manuscripts are in S. (Cottineau, II, cols. 2016–18). Near Saverne lies the ancient abbey of Neuweiler or Neuweilers, dedicated to the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, founded by Sigibald, bishop of Metz (716–41), with monks sent by St. Pirmin (A. Langel, *Origines des abbayes de Neuweiler et de Marmoutier*, in *Revue d'Alsace*, 57 [1919], pp. 25–36, 186–203; Cottineau, II, cols. 2063–64).
Within the diocese, three parish churches have been elevated to the dignity of minor basilicas: in the Bas-Rhin, the Basilica dedicated to the Blessed Virgin at Marienthal; in the Haut-Rhin, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Lutterbach and that of the Blessed Virgin at Thierenbach. See plates XCVIII–XCIX.