Where Gumbo Was #445
The political history of Strasbourg, sandwiched between France and Germany for centuries, has led to many interesting connections and not a few anomalies. Among them is the history of four churches, all bearing the name Saint-Pierre, or Saint Peter.
Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune, Protestant
To distinguish the original two from each other, back in the 1500s, one was called Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux and the other Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune. Older and Younger. Not the saint, but the churches. And then came the Reformation; Strasbourg was a Protestant city from 1525 until the arrival of Louis XIV in 1682, and so were nearly all its churches, including both Saint-Pierres.
Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune, Catholic
When the Catholic French took over the city, the Cathedral was turned over to the Catholics, while most churches were allowed to continue Protestant. But a few, including both Saint-Pierres, were divided. In each, the nave was assigned to one faith, and the choir to another, with a wall separating them.
Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux, Catholic
So, now we have two churches and four congregations. And that situation lasted well into the 19th century, when the Catholic population at le-Vieux grew too large for their space; turning at right angles, they built a new nave onto their choir. So, by 1867, we have three churches and four congregations.
Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux, Protestant Image: Petit-patrimoine.com
Then, in the 1890s, under German rule, le-Jeune, which despite its name has parts going back to the 7th century, was given a major restoration. As part of that, the whole church was returned to the Protestant congregation, and a few blocks away, a fourth church was built for the Catholics. And while they left the building behind, they took the name with them.
A symbolic doorway was opened between the two Vieux churches in 2012
And that’s how we end up with the Four Saint Peters of Strasbourg.
But the complications don’t end there. For instance, the earliest mentions of a church at the le-Vieux site are from 1130, but archaeologists have found remains from an earlier period. But over at le-Jeune, three of the galleries are 11th century, and the oldest part of the crypt was part of a 7th century church on the same site.
The 11th century cloisters of Protestant Jeune
So, if you really want to put them in order, it would appear that Protestant Jeune can claim the oldest, then Protestant Vieux. The Catholic Vieux was built as a new building in 1867, incorporating some bits of the original Vieux, and finally, the Catholic Jeune, built in the 1890s. Which is to say, the two ‘new’ churches book-end the two ‘old’ churches.
I visited Protestant Jeune just before a Sunday morning service as the congregants arrived; it was an interesting mix from fairly formal older folks to very casual younger participants.
Inside, it was clear that the 1890s renewal of the church, which had fallen into disrepair, was aimed at restoration rather then renovation; ancient artworks were revealed and restored on the walls. Its history as an old church is everywhere obvious.
Here, where the organ is mounted above the rood screen dividing nave from choir is where the church itself was divided for over two hundred years, until the new Catholic church was built.
When the new Catholic Jeune was built in 1893, the style was Romanesque Revival, a sharp contrast to the classic Gothic of the Protestant church. Tourists are often confused by the two churches, but once they’ve seen the pictures, that’s over!
But oddly, or perhaps not so oddly, on the inside, the modern church has much to remind visitors of the the other, especially in terms of artwork and design, almost as if unwilling to step too far away from familiar surroundings and images.
Meanwhile, just a half kilometre away, the two Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux await us with open arms, or anyway doors.
This is the Catholic church, built in the 1860s to replace its share of the original church, the rest of which is the Protestant church. It works like this:
The area marked (1) is the nave of the original church, with its bell tower and a small tower where the crossing of the original building was. At the bottom of the picture, the curved area is a later extension to make more space inside. Areas (2) and (3) are the Catholic Church, which originally consisted only of the area where the two short transepts are; that was the choir of the old church.
The new 1867 church was built at right angles to the original, with a new nave extending one way and a new choir the other; the area of the original choir is occupied by the transepts. All told, the new church is about twice the size as its predecessor.
When it opened, it was even bigger. And then came urban renewal. Early in the 1900s, a plan was drawn up for a Grande-Percée, or Great Perforation, to open some of the city’s medieval areas for straighter travel, especially between the rail station and the new docks on the Rhine. One of the main new streets ran across the front of the new church; about sixteen feet of the front of the church were shaved off and a new facade built.
And now, we’ve come to our last Saint Peter, the Protestant version of le-Vieux, whose entrance is above, just next to the angle where it abuts the Catholic church. Unfortunately, when I visited, the church wasn’t open for visitors, and I’ve relied on several interior pictures from https://www.petit-patrimoine.com/
Despite its great age, the Protestant le-Vieux has some of the most modern features, especially in glass. It suffered bomb damage in late 1944, and the windows installed in the 1950s were commissioned from modern glass artists.
