Strasbourg Cathedral or the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg (French: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg, or Cathédrale de Strasbourg, German: Liebfrauenmünster zu Straßburg), also known as Strasbourg Minster (German: Straßburger Münster), is a Catholic cathedral in Strasbourg, Alsace, France. Although considerable parts of it are still in Romanesque architecture, it is widely considered to be among the finest examples of Rayonnant Gothic architecture. Architect Erwin von Steinbach is credited for major contributions from 1277 to his death in 1318, and beyond through his son Johannes von Steinbach, and his grandson Gerlach von Steinbach, who succeeded him as chief architects. The Steinbachs' plans for the completion of the cathedral were not followed through by the chief architects who took over after them, and instead of the originally envisioned two spires, a single, octagonal tower with an elongated, octagonal crowning was built on the northern side of the west facade by master Ulrich Ensingen and his successor, Johannes Hültz. The construction of the cathedral, which had started in the year 1015 and had been relaunched in 1190, was finished in 1439.
Standing in the centre of the Place de la Cathédrale, at 142 metres (466 feet), Strasbourg Cathedral was the world's tallest building from 1647 to 1874 (227 years), when it was surpassed by St. Nikolai's Church, Hamburg. Today it is the sixth-tallest church in the world and the tallest extant structure built entirely in the Middle Ages.
Described by Victor Hugo as a "gigantic and delicate marvel", and by Goethe as a "sublimely towering, wide-spreading tree of God", the cathedral is visible far across the plains of Alsace and can be seen from as far off as the Vosges Mountains or the Black Forest on the other side of the Rhine. The reddish-brown sandstone from the Vosges mountains gives the cathedral its distinctive colour.
The construction and maintenance of the cathedral has been supervised by the Fondation de l'Œuvre Notre-Dame ("Foundation of Our Lady") since at least 1224. The Musée de l'Œuvre Notre-Dame, a municipal museum located in the Foundation's buildings, displays original works of art from the cathedral, including sculptures and stained glass, as well as the plans for the original building.
In 1988, Strasbourg Cathedral was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List along with the historic centre of the city (called the "Grande Île") because of its outstanding Gothic architecture.
History
The history of Strasbourg's cathedral is well documented thanks to the archives of the Notre-Dame Foundation, the city of Strasbourg, and the archdiocese. Archaeological excavations below and around the cathedral have been conducted in 1896–1897, 1907, 1923–1924, 1947–1948, between 1966 and 1972, and finally between 2012 and 2014.
Previous buildings on the site
A Roman settlement called Argentoratum, twenty hectares in size, existed on the site since about 12 B.C., at a strategic point where bridges crossed the Rhine and two of its tributaries. It became a major trading center for wine, grain, and later for textiles and luxury products. Christianity was first imposed in 313 by the Edict of Constantine. The first recorded bishop, Amand, participated in the Councils of Cologne and Sardique in 346 and 347. A paleochristian church or cathedral is believed to have been founded by an edict of Clovis I, but its exact location and appearance is unknown.
The first cathedral built on the present site was erected by the bishop Saint Arbogast in about 550–575. Under Charlemagne, the Bishop Remi consecrated the altar and built a funeral crypt in about 778. This Carolingian church is believed to have had an apse flanked by two chapels and a nave covered with a wooden beamed roof, but no trace remains today.
The Romanesque Cathedral
In 1002, following the death of the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III, a battle broke out between his potential successors. When Bishop Werner I supported the winning candidate, Henry II of Germany, one of his Henry's rivals, Hermann of Germany, raided Strasbourg and burned down the cathedral. The Bishop appealed to the new emperor, who granted one eighth of his revenues in the province toward the construction of a new cathedral. In 1015, bishop Werner laid the first stone of a new cathedral on the foundations of the Carolingian church.
The new church was exceptionally large, just ten meters shorter than the present cathedral, and just ten meters narrower on its west front. The west front was also exceptional because it was flanked by two towers, the "harmonic" style which became common in Gothic cathedrals during the following century. The chevet, or east end, probably also had a tower, and was flanked by two chapels. The transept of the cathedral was 55 meters long, the same length as the nave and choir. The nave and choir were composed of three vessels, each with two traverses. The central vessel was higher than the two collaterals.
The new building, with its wooden roof beams, was unfortunately prone to fire; it suffered from fires in 1136, 1140,1150, and 1176. The church was repaired after each fire, and reconstructions and modifications made, but it retained its essentially Romanesque form, with thick walls, small windows and massive columns. Work on the church was frequently interrupted by wars and political crises.
The Romanesque-Gothic Cathedral
Bishop Heinrich I von Hasenburg (1181 – 25 March 1190) decided to construct a new cathedral, to be more beautiful than that of Basel Minster, which was just being finished. Construction of the new cathedral began on the foundations of the preceding structures. The original Romanesque crypt was kept and expanded westwards. The architects of the rebuilding began to include Gothic elements, following the style that had appeared in northern France in the 12th century, while still preserving the existing Romanesque features. Between 1200 and 1228, the Romanesque vaults of the north transept were replaced by pointed Gothic rib vaults, which were stronger and shifted the thrust of the weight outwards, reducing the need for massive pillars in the interior. This was then carried out in the south transept. The next major step toward Gothic took place with the raising of the vaults of the south transept, creating thinner walls and more space for high windows. The Gothic style also appeared in the statuary, particularly the Pillar of the Angels, and in the tympanums over the double portals on the south transept, which showed the influence of the sculpture in French Gothic cathedrals.
The next major step was the reconstruction of the nave, which took place between 1240 and 1274. The initial design was 27 metres high to the vaults, and the upper walls were filled with stained glass windows. The first bays were made in what was known as the Lorraine style, with two levels of four-light windows, traversed by a narrow passageway. However, between 1250 and 1255 the builders decided to become more ambitious, and followed the Rayonnant style; this created three levels with a total height of 32 metres to the vaults. The Gothic pillars of the new section were copied exactly from those of the Basilica of Saint Denis near Paris, the building where the new style had been developed.
Construction of the West Front (1277–1439)
The next major project was the rebuilding of the west front, or facade, in the Gothic style. The first stone was placed on 25 May 1277, by Bishop Conrad of Lichtenberg. The new plan was inspired in part by French cathedrals, particularly the Basilica of Saint-Urbain of Troyes. The design called for a west front taller and wider than the nave behind it. By the use of buttresses and a double wall, the outer wall decorative with wide spaces, and the inner wall bearing the weight and having large windows, the interior of the cathedral could have more light. At the same time, the planned two spires on either side of the facade would reach an extraordinary height of 122 meters. Erwin von Steinbach's son Johannes von Steinbach served as magister operis, or Werkmeister (chief architect) from (at least) 1332 until his death in 1341. From 1341 until 1372 (or according to other sources: 1339–1371), the post of chief architect was held by a Master Gerlach (not to be confused with Erwin's other son, Gerlach von Steinbach, architect of the Niederhaslach Church), who has been identified as Erwin's grandson Johannes Gerlach von Steinbach. He completed the installation of the rose window, and above it twelve statues of the apostles. In 1372 the work was taken over by a master Conrad, also known as Kuntze, about whom little is known, until 1382. He was followed by a Michael von Freiburg (also known as Michael von Gmünd, or Michael Parler, from the Parler family of architects), recorded as magister operis in 1383–1387, who was then succeeded by Claus von Lohre (1388−1399). The three men completed the bell tower over the central part of the façade, in a design that moved away from Gerlach von Steinbach's initial idea of a central tower and whose precise authorship is unknown.
The octagonal north tower was the combined work of architects Ulrich Ensingen (shaft) and Johannes Hültz of Cologne (top). Ensingen worked on the cathedral from 1399 to 1419, taking over from Claus von Lohre, and Hültz from 1419 to 1439, completing the building at last. The building of the second tower was often discussed, and was seriously proposed when Alsace became part of Germany after the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, but was coldly received by the population of Strasbourg, who considered it would be a symbol of German occupation.
The north tower was the world's tallest building from 1647 (when the taller spire of St. Mary's Church, Stralsund burnt down) until 1874 (when the tower of St. Nikolai's Church in Hamburg was completed). The planned south tower was never built and as a result, with its characteristic asymmetrical form, the cathedral is now the premier landmark of Alsace. One can see 30 kilometers from the observation level, which provides a view of the Rhine banks from the Vosges all the way to the Black Forest.
In 1505, architect Jakob von Landshut and sculptor Hans von Aachen finished rebuilding the Saint-Lawrence portal (Portail Saint-Laurent) outside the northern transept in a markedly post-Gothic, early-Renaissance style. As with the other portals of the cathedral, most of the statues now to be seen in situ are copies, the originals having been moved to the Musée de l'Œuvre Notre-Dame.
Strasbourg and Cologne Cathedral together represent some of the earliest surviving uses of architectural drawing. The work of Professor Robert O. Bork of the University of Iowa suggests that the design of the Strasbourg façade, while seeming almost random in its complexity, can be constructed using a series of rotated octagons.
Later history
In the late Middle Ages, the city of Strasbourg had managed to liberate itself from the domination of the bishop and to rise to the status of Free Imperial City. The outgoing 15th century was marked by the sermons of Johann Geiler von Kaisersberg and by the emerging Protestant Reformation, represented in Strasbourg by figures such as John Calvin, Martin Bucer and Jacob Sturm von Sturmeck. In 1524, the city council assigned the cathedral to the Protestant faith, while the building suffered some damage from iconoclastic assaults.
After the annexation of the city by Louis XIV of France, on 30 September 1681, and a mass celebrated in the cathedral on 23 October 1681 in presence of the King and prince-bishop Franz Egon of Fürstenberg, the cathedral was returned to the Catholics and its inside redesigned according to the Catholic liturgy of the Counter-Reformation. In 1682, the choir screen (built in 1252) was broken out to expand the choir towards the nave. Remains of the choir screen are displayed in the Musée de l'Œuvre Notre-Dame and in The Cloisters. The main or high altar, a major work of early Renaissance sculpture, was also demolished that year. Fragments can be seen in the Musée de l'Œuvre Notre-Dame.
A round, Baroque sacristy of modest proportions was added north-east of the northern transept in 1744 by the city's chief architect Joseph Massol according to plans by Robert de Cotte and between 1772 and 1778 architect Jean-Laurent Goetz surrounded the cathedral by a gallery in early Gothic Revival style in order to reorganise the merchants' shops that used to settle around the building (and would do so until 1843).
The French Revolution and 19th century
Following the outbreak of the French Revolution, on 2 November 1789, all church property was seized by the French state and was soon vandalised by the most ardent revolutionaries, the Enragés. The director of public works of Strasbourg, Gérold, quickly took down and protected the statues of the portal, but 215 statues of the voussures over the portals were smashed with hammers, as were the angels atop the gables on the facade, and the crowns and sceptres of the statues of the kings. The sculpture over the central tympanum and over the south portal of the transept was saved because it was covered with wooden planks with the revolutionary motto "Liberté-Égalité-Fraternité".
In April 1794, the Enragés started planning to tear the spire down, on the grounds that it hurt the principle of equality. The tower was saved, however, when in May of the same year citizens of Strasbourg crowned it with a giant tin Phrygian cap of the kind the Enragés themselves wore. This artifact was later kept in the historical collections of the city until they were all destroyed during the Siege of Strasbourg in a massive fire in August 1870.
Seven church bells were removed and melted down to made into cannon, and gold and other precious objects in the interior confiscated and taken away, and in November 1793 the cathedral was formally proclaimed a "Temple of Reason".
The cathedral was not returned to church control until 15 July 1801, along with confiscated property that had not been destroyed. The sculpture of the portals was returned to its place or restored between 1811 and 1827. However, the official ownership of the structure was given, and belongs today, to the French state, and it is administered by the Mayor of Strasbourg.