Historical Sketch of the Cathedral of Strasburg Part 1

Historical Sketch of the Cathedral of Strasburg.

by Anonymous.

I. HISTORY

Among the wonderful monuments to which the religious art of the middle ages has given rise and which will for ever excite the admiration of men, the church of _Notre-Dame_ or Cathedral of Strasburg occupies one of the first ranks. By its dimensions, the richness of the ornaments and figures that adorn its exterior, by the majesty of its nave, and by its light steeple, which towers towards Heaven with as much grace as boldness, this house of G.o.d proclaims afar its destination and leaves a deep and indelible impression on the soul of any one who gazes on it.

Exhibiting in all its different parts models of every epoch of christian architecture, this Cathedral is for the artist a subject of serious study and for the inhabitant of Strasburg a venerable monument, which recalls to his mind the princ.i.p.al events of the ancient history of our city.

According to some old traditions, the Cathedral is built on a spot, which, from the remotest times, had been devoted to wors.h.i.+p. Originally this spot formed a hill sloping westward into a cavity, which was filled up many centuries ago. Around it, the Celts, the first inhabitants of our country, built their huts: its summit was covered by the sacred wood, in the midst of which rose the druidical _dolmen_. It was there that those barbarians offered sacrifices to Esus, their G.o.d of war, sacrifices which, in times of public calamity, were human victims.

After the conquest of Gaul by the Romans, a regular and fortified town was very soon founded on the place hitherto occupied by the scattered habitations of the Celts. The old name of _Argentorat_ was alone preserved; it signified a town where the river is crossed over. It was there, according to tradition, that a temple dedicated to Hercules and Mars succeeded the druidical forest.

There is nothing unlikely in these traditions; the high ground on which the Cathedral stands speaks as much in their favour as the pagan statues found in the neighbourhood[1].

[1] A bra.s.s statue of Hercules, called _Krutzmann_, was found among the christian statues that decorated the Cathedral; it was taken down in 1525 and is no longer extant. A Hercules of stone, found no doubt when digging the foundations, is yet seen in a niche of the northward tower, where it juts out into the nave. A small stone figure of Mars, coming also from the Cathedral, was preserved in the town-library, but it appeared to be modern.

With respect to the first erection of a christian church in this place, history is dest.i.tute of authentic facts. Some old chronicles report that about the middle of the fourth century, saint Amand built a church on the ruins of a Roman temple, but the existence of this supposed first bishop of Strasburg is even very doubtful. During the first years of the fifth century, the invasion of barbarians filled the provinces of Gaul with terror and devastation; the German tribes that crossed the Rhine plundered the Roman city of Argentorat and its temples. n.o.body knows whether from that time new inhabitants settled in the midst of these ruins, or whether they served but as temporary abodes to the hordes successively coming into Gaul.

It was only after the conquest of that extensive country by the Franks that, about 510, Clovis had a church built at Argentorat, no doubt on the spot where the Cathedral now stands. The architecture of that church was as coa.r.s.e and barbarous as the spirit of those times; it was built of wood and supported by earthen walls, extending from East to West; on this latter end was the front-gate and before it a portico; besides the princ.i.p.al nave it had two aisles; the western side opening into a yard that served as a pa.s.sage to the priest's house.

In proportion as the town, the name of which was by the Franks changed into Strasburg, increased in importance and population, the Merovegian kings granted greater favours to the church founded by one of their predecessors. The valuable donations they bestowed on the bishopric of Strasburg, enabled the inhabitants to embellish and enlarge the Cathedral. In 675 Dagobert II granted to bishop Arbogast the town of Ruffach with the castle of Isenburg and a vaste domain that he freed from tax and royal jurisdiction and which on that account was called superior _Mundat_. A no less important gift was that from Count Rudhart, who made over to the church of Strasburg, in 748, Ettenheim with several neighbouring villages on the right bank of the Rhine.

Many other eminent personages of this country increased successively by their liberality the wealth of the episcopal see.

A great advantage was granted by Charlemain in 775, which was to exempt the subjects of the bishopric from all tolls and taxes imposed upon the traders travelling through the empire. At that time considerable sums had already been employed to adorn the interior of the Cathedral. In the year 826, the abbot Ermold the Black, living in exile at Strasburg, speaks with enthusiasm of the _beautiful temple of the Virgin_ and of the other altars that decorate it. This ecclesiastic, with great ardour changed the metal of the antique statues he could yet find into sacred vases; a bronze Hercules, two cubits high, alone escaped the pursuit of his pious zeal; after preserving it several centuries in the Cathedral, it was at last sold, and is now at Issy near Paris.

A fire, which in 873 destroyed a portion of the church and all its archives, occasioned, no doubt, important repairs, and this event was the cause of a new royal confirmation of all the possessions of the church. In 1002 it was plundered, profaned and set on fire by the soldiers of Hermann, duke of Suabia and Alsacia, who was then contending with Henry of Bavaria for the imperial crown, Strasburg and its bishop Wernher having declared for the latter. Subdued by Henry II, Hermann was compelled to repair the damage caused to the church by placing at bishop Wernher's disposal the income of the abbey of Saint-Stephen of which he was the patron. With these funds, which the bishop increased by means of a new levy of taxes and by indulgences, he was preparing to restore his Cathedral, when in 1007 a thunderbolt achieved its destruction.

He then formed the project of rebuilding the church on a plan of much larger dimensions and after the style of architecture that was then making its first appearance. The revenues of the bishopric, contributions furnished by the clergy of Alsacia and large sums of money granted by the head of the empire, afforded Wernher the necessary resources for the execution of his plan.

This was examined and discussed in the presence of several master-architects whom he had sent for. The plan once fixed upon, stones were brought from the fine quarries of free-stone in the Kronthal. The peasants and bondsmen of the country brought them to the town where they were cut in the square then called _Frohnhof_, between the Cathedral and the present palace. It was during these labours that in 1042 the emperor Henry II came to Strasburg; the dignified and austere deportment of the clergy of the high chapter, the tranquillity prevailing under the roof of the episcopal church, made such an impression on this prince, that he for a moment resolved to resign the crown and solicit his admittance among the canons of the Cathedral. The bishop appeared at first to accede to this wish; but it was only to prescribe to Henry, henceforth his subordinate, to resume the imperial authority which Providence had bestowed on him; the emperor acquiesced and perpetuated the remembrance of his pious wish by the foundation of a royal prebend.

When, in 1015, a sufficient quant.i.ty of materials was collected, they set to work by digging the ground. At the depth of more than five fathoms they drove down stakes, filled the s.p.a.ce between them with clay mixed with lime, fragments of bricks and coal; and on this solid base were laid the foundation stones.

Tradition gives an account of a hundred and even two hundred thousand men being employed in the construction of this church, which work, thanks to the religious enthusiasm of that epoch and the labours performed by va.s.sals and workmen _for the salvation of their souls_, advanced very rapidly.

In the year 1027 bishop Wernher set out for Constantinople, and never returned to his native land. From that time we have but imperfect and uncertain accounts touching the progress of the building. All we know is, that in 1028 they had built up to the roof. It seems likely from that account that this monument, built in the byzantine style, at once so elegant and so simple, was soon after completed by the erection of a tower, and that it remained in the same state till, owing to sundry circ.u.mstances and, perhaps, to bad construction, it began to need important repair. It is impossible to determine the time when repairing the church took place; however, this happened probably not before the middle of the thirteenth century and in the then new style, since called the Gothic order. This opinion is confirmed by the ancient seal of our city, which likely enough and according to the custom of those times, represents the front of the Cathedral.

That it had a tower in 1130 is a certain fact; for K[oe]nigscoven speaks of its destruction by fire in the course of that year; successive fires, in 1140, 1150, 1176 also materially injured the beautiful edifice; besides, the continual wars and tumultuous commotions of the time prevented the bishops from undertaking essential repairs. It appears that these causes, by degrees, brought on the complete ruin of bishop Wernher's constructions; for unquestionably the part included between the nave and the two towers dates but from the thirteenth century, and cannot have been begun before the middle of it. What remained of the old church was pulled down at that time and a new and more s.p.a.cious edifice was erected, built in the style then spreading over all Europe. Considering the immense size of this monument, it is easy to imagine that the work went on but slowly, and an old chronicle mentions that on the 7th September 1275 they finished the middle part of the superior arch-roofs, with the exception of the towers in front. By whom these labours were directed is altogether unknown.

It was bishop Conrad of Lichtenberg who undertook to rebuild the parts that were still in a state of ruin and thus at last to accomplish this great work of the Cathedral[1].

[1] ... _Ipsa ecclesia in meliorum statuum reedificetur_ ...

(See a charter of bishop Conrad of Lichtenberg, published by M.

L. s.p.a.cE 1841, p. 6).

In order to execute this design, he published indulgences all over the country; and after collecting large sums of money in the town, he applied to the ecclesiastics of his diocese, asking their own gifts and offerings as well as those of the faithful under their direction; in a synod held in the diocese, the clergy agreed to give up, during four years, a fourth part of their revenues. Conrad entrusted the direction of this work to Master Erwin of Steinbach, who, according to some old doc.u.ments, was a native of Mayence. This great architect began by rebuilding the nave, the arch-roofs of which were completed in 1275. Then he commenced the facade of the church and its towers from a plan so bold and sublime that the conception of it places Erwin for ever at the head of the architects of the middle age[1]. In 1276 they laid the foundation of the northern tower; to consecrate the spot, the bishop walked solemnly round it, then took a trowel in his hand and thrust it into the ground, as a sign for beginning the work. They relate that a quarrel having occured between two workmen who both wished to work with the trowel the bishop had held in his hand, one of them was killed. This murder was considered as a very bad omen; Conrad ordered their labour to be suspended for nine days; they were only resumed after he had consecrated the place anew. The following year, on saint Urban's day (25th May), Conrad himself laid the first stone of the tower.

In the midst of his warfares, this bishop always entertained much affection for his Cathedral, as he beheld the gradual rising of this _glorious work_, as an old inscription terms it[2]; in his heartfelt joy he used to compare it to the flowers of May that bloom in the sun[3]. To the very end of his life Conrad of Lichtenberg neglected nothing to urge on the progress of his work of predilection; after his death, in 1299, he received in it a sepulchre worthy of him; his statue is still to be seen in saint John's chapel. Yet, during the life of Conrad, the Cathedral was shaken by several earthquakes in 1279, 1289, 1291; that of 1289 was so violent that the columns in the interior of the building threatened for a moment to fall down. But a very favourable circ.u.mstance happened in 1292, which was the surrender of the _[OE]uvre-Notre-Dame_ to the magistrate of the city, who was henceforth charged with the management of the revenues allotted to the keeping in repair of the Church and consequently also to the completion of it. A few years after, in 1298, a new misfortune happened to the Cathedral. A fire, caused by the imprudence of a cavalier of Albert I, during the sojourn of that prince at Strasburg, consumed all the timberwork and threatened even the pillars and walls. However the damage was promptly repaired. In 1302 a b.l.o.o.d.y conflict between two citizens of the town, which took place in the very chancel of the church, required again a new consecration of it.

[1] They still preserve in the records of the convent of the _[OE]uvre Notre-Dame_ several old drawings on parchment of the facade and towers; these curious designs belong to different epochs; according to the opinion of the _connaisseurs_, the oldest would most likely be that of Erwin himself.

[2] _Anno Domini MCCLXXVII in die beati Urbani hoc gloriosum opus inchoavit magister Erwinus de Steinbach._ This inscription was formerly placed in the vault of the northern portal.

[3] In a letter of indulgence.

After the death of bishop Conrad of Lichtenberg, who in the year 1299 was killed in a battle near Friburg, his brother and successor, Frederic, showed no less ardour for the continuation of this building; in 1303 he invited the curates throughout Alsacia to exhort those of their faithful paris.h.i.+oners who had horses and carts, to convey stones for the edifice; in 1308 the magistrate of Strasburg, no doubt at the request of bishop John, promised freepa.s.ses to all those who would bring stones or wood, and he secured wine and wheat for the workmen.

Erwin superintended the works until 1318, when he died on the 14th of January. All the children of this grand master were artists worthy of him: Sabina, his daughter, carved several statues for the Cathedral; one of his sons, who died in 1330, built the fine church of Haslach; his other son, John, succeeded him in directing the works of the Cathedral, and he died in 1339.

In 1331 bishop Berthold of Bucheck built the chapel of saint Catherine, which also contains his tomb. The disturbances and calamities that desolated Strasburg during a great part of the fourteenth century, the revolution of 1332 that altered the form of the government of the town, the ravage caused by the black plague in 1349 with the insurrections accompanying it, the contest of bishop Berthold with his chapter and with the emperor, all this r.e.t.a.r.ded of course the progress of the construction of the Cathedral. Nevertheless they terminated in 1365 the northern tower; K[oe]nigshoven calls it the new tower, perhaps, because they purposed erecting a pyramid on it, which was quite an innovation in the architecture of that time. The southern tower, which the chronicler calls the ancient one, because it was not intended to be raised higher, was finished at the same time. The name of the artist who made the plan of the pyramid and spire of the northern tower is still unknown; nor is it known who built the steeple which formerly rose above the _grande rosace_, or rose.

In 1368 the church was again struck by lightning without receiving much damage; in 1384 a fire that broke out in the organ, burnt all the interior with the exception of the chancel.

Ever since that time large vats were set in the different parts of the building and guardians placed in the interior and in the towers. In 1429, John Hultz of Cologne was sent for to complete this great work; ten years after, he finished the spire; on Midsummer's day 1439, in the presence of a great mult.i.tude, he laid the last stone, exactly a hundred and sixty two years after Conrad of Lichtenberg had placed the first stone of this monument; a statue of the Virgin Mary was also erected on the k.n.o.b terminating the spire[1].

[1] It was taken down in 1488.

At the time of the reformation the Cathedral pa.s.sed over to the protestants; it is true that on account of their wors.h.i.+p, they caused several chapels to be closed and some altars to be removed, but they made no material change, nor spoiled any thing; on the contrary, they watched with care over the magnificent building and even caused important repairs to be made in it.

Several times it was very much injured by fire and by lightning, particularly in the years 1540, 1555, 1568, 1624 and 1625. In 1654 the spire was destroyed by lightning; the skilful architect Heckler was obliged to rebuild it sixty five feet high. By the capitulation of 1681 the Cathedral was restored to the catholics, who immediately began to repair it, but unfortunately in that wretched style then prevailing, and when not the least intelligence of christian art existed any longer, they pulled down the lobby made by Erwin, so much admired in the middle age as a masterpiece of elegance; in 1692 they adorned the interior of the choir with wainscots of wood painted and gilt; in 1732 they widened it to the detriment of a portion of the nave, and ten years later galleries were made for the orchestra. To punish, as it would seem, those who were thus spoiling this wonderful monument, an earthquake shook it in 1728; in 1759 it was struck by lightning and considerably injured; the lead on the roof of the nave was entirely melted, and the fine cupola or arched roof that crowned the dome fell into pieces; the roof was then covered with copper, but the cupola was not rebuilt. New destructions awaited the Cathedral in 1793; in their fury of levelling, the men who then ruled the country caused two hundred and thirty four effigies of saints and kings to be taken down from their niches, of which very few only were saved; the crazy jacobin Teterel even proposed pulling down the spire, because, by its height extending far beyond that of the ordinary houses, it was condemning the principle of equality; the motion not being carried on. Teterel obtained the a.s.surance at least, that a large red cap made of tin should be placed on the top of the Cathedral, and it was to be seen among other curiosities in the town-library, before its destruction.

The year 1870, so full of important events for Strasburg, was also fatal for the Cathedral, and during the seven weeks'

cannonading of the town the beautiful building was constantly threatened with ruin. In the first period of the siege of Strasburg, the Germans tried to force the surrender by the bombardment and partial destruction of the inner town. In the night of the 23rd of August began for the frightened inhabitants the real time of terror; however that night the rising conflagrations, for instance in St. Thomas' church, were quickly put out. But in the following night the New-Church, the Library of the town, the Museum of paintings and many of the finest houses became a heap of ruins, and under the hail of sh.e.l.ls all efforts to extinguish the fire were useless. For the Cathedral the night from the 25th to 26th of August was the worst. Towards midnight the flames broke out from the roof perforated by sh.e.l.ls, and increased by the melting copper, they rose to a fearful height beside the pyramid of the spire. The sight of this grand volume of flames, rising above the town, was indescribable and tinged the whole sky with its glowing reflection. And the guns went on thundering and shattering parts of the stone ornaments which adorned the front and sides of the Cathedral. The whole roof came down and the fire died out only for want of fuel. The following morning the ground in the interior was covered with ruins, and through the holes in the vault of the nave one could see the blue sky. The beautiful Organ built by Silbermann was pierced by a sh.e.l.l and the magnificent painted windows were in great part spoiled. Fortunately the celebrated astronomical Clock had escaped unhurt.

As the Military Command continued for some time to occupy a post of observation on the platform, the Cathedral was unfortunately still longer the aim of German guns which every day surrounded the building with ruins. On the 4th of September two sh.e.l.ls. .h.i.t the crown of the Cathedral and hurled the stonema.s.ses to incredible distances; on the 15th a shot came even into the point below the Cross, which was bent on one side, and had its threatened fall only prevented by the iron bars of the lightning conductor which held it.

After the entrance of the Germans into the reconquered town, the difficult and dangerous work of restauration of the point of the spire was begun at once and happily ended a few months after.

They work also constantly to make the other damages disappear, and in a short time the magnificent house of G.o.d will be restored to all its ancient splendour.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Crypta.]

II. DESCRIPTION.

The first aspect of the Cathedral produces on the mind a deep impression. One is seized with admiration and amazed at the first view of this n.o.ble edifice whose steeple towers up so gracefully and majestically. No doubt that examined in all its particular parts, one may also be struck with the disproportion that exists between them; the nave is not in harmony with the dimensions of the tower, the chancel and transept still less so: but although this want of uniformity may lessen the symmetry of the monument, the impression it at first produces is no less extraordinary. And besides, have not those different styles a particular interest for those who study the history of architecture? In the Cathedral are, as it were, brought together all the styles or orders of architecture of the middle ages, from the byzantine art with its grave simplicity, down to the last glimmerings of the gothic art, now declining, and its works lined with an excess of superfluous ornaments. The byzantine taste prevails in the first constructions of the chancel and aisles and even somewhat in the lower part of the nave; higher up, the style in which the ogive was built extends to the other constructions and finally succeeds to the former entirely.

The _facade_ of the church, of an imposing magnitude, cannot be sufficiently admired; the ma.s.sive walls are hidden by _clochetoons_, arcades, small pillars and innumerable statues; these decorations all wrought to great perfection, give to that part of the edifice a nicety that makes it resemble a work coming from the hands of a chaser. But how to describe, in the short s.p.a.ce which the limits of this sketch admit, all the details, all the particular parts of our Cathedral? There is in it such a profusion, such a richness, that to be properly explored, it would require volumes. We must therefore limit ourselves to some brief indications of the most interesting and essential parts[1].

Moreover a description of all the allegorical statues and figures that adorn particularly the inferior parts of the building, would be here so much the more superfluous, as an intelligent spectator may easily understand them. All these fine ornaments are meant to symbolize the mysteries of Redemption, taken from the princ.i.p.al facts in Scripture and from the fundamental doctrines of the christian faith. In this respect the lower tier is the most remarkable; the middle one has neither the same beauty nor the same religious signification; the third is the least satisfactory both as regards execution and artistical conception.

[1] We refer the reader who wishes to study the Cathedral in all its parts, to the following works: Grandidier, _Essais historiques et topographiques sur l'eglise Cathedrale de Strasbourg_, Strasb. 1782, in 8o.--H. Schreiber, _Das Munster zu Stra.s.sburg_, Freib. 1828, in 8o, avec 11 lithographies gr.

in-fol.--_Vues pittoresques de la Cathedrale de Strasbourg_, dessins par Chapuy et texte par Schweighauser, 3 livr. in-fol.

Strasb. 1827. _La Cathedrale de Strasbourg et ses details_, par A. Friedrich, 4 liv. gr. in-fol., renfermant 57 planches accompagnees d'un texte explicatifet historique. We regret to say that but one number of this fine work has been published (in 1839).--_Kunst und Alterthum in Elsa.s.s-Lothringen_, von Prot. F. X. Kraus, I. Band. With numerous wood-engravings. 1877.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Porch of Saint-Lawrence.]

The whole of the facade is formed of the two fore-parts of the northern and southern towers and of the large central porch; these three distinct portions are separated by counterforts or pillars which divide, as it were, the frontispiece into three broad vertical bands, each of which has its portico. These porticos and their frontons are ornamented with a great many statues and bas-reliefs, some of which pulled down during the revolution, have since been replaced. The large figures in the left portico are twelve virgins, wearing diadems and trampling down human forms representing the seven deadly sins. On both sides of the right hand portico are seen the ten virgins of the parable; to the group of the wise virgins on the right is joined the statue of Jesus-Christ; the foolish virgins composing the group on the left side, have among them an allegoric figure expressing the l.u.s.t of the world: on her head is a wreath, in one hand she holds an apple, the ancient symbol of l.u.s.t; her back bears hideous vipers, to portray the sad fate which must be the inevitable result of inordinate earthly desires.