A building steeped in history
Quite a story
Built between 1892 and 1897 by the architect Louis Müller, during the period when Alsace-Lorraine was ceded to the new German Empire, the Saint-Paul Church is one of the remarkable buildings of the Neustadt. This extension of the city of Strasbourg was carried out by the German authorities from the 1880s until the beginning of the First World War with the aim of making Strasbourg a showcase of the new Empire.
A strategically important city from a military perspective, the garrisons represented up to 11% of the city's population. Protestant troops settled in the churches of Saint-Thomas and Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux, but quickly found themselves cramped. The Ministry of War then decided to begin construction of two garrison churches: Saint-Paul, the Protestant, and Saint-Maurice, the Catholic.
Neo-Gothic in style, the Saint-Paul church has been listed as a Historic Monument since 1998 and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its location in the Grande-Île district, which was designated in 1988 and extended to the Neustadt in 2017.
A heritage to preserve, a future to build
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After several years of studies and technical diagnostics, the verdict is clear: Saint-Paul Church is threatened…
Its roof, its framework, its spire and its stained glass windows, badly damaged by time and bad weather, cause infiltrations which damage the building over time.
Supported by historical research, its future renovation aims to remain faithful to the philosophy of conservation of historic monuments and to the original building.
To save Saint-Paul, the presbyteral council has embarked on a process of reflection fully anchored in its time and is launching an ambitious campaign of appeals for private donations.
"We want a restoration that is both faithful to the heritage and modern, in the spirit of continual reinvention of the site. Without our own funds, if we cannot finance 30% of the work costs, subsidies from public bodies will not follow!"
the presbyteral council is alarmed.