Murbach - Abbaye de Murbach

The Murbach Abbey was founded 727 by Eberhard d'Eguisheim, nephew of St. Odile (of Alsace) and Saint Pirmin, abbot of Mittelzell Abbey at Reichenau Island (Lake Constance), who established the "Regula Benedicti" here. The abbey prospered, got pretty wealthy and gained some political importance. Even Charlemagne hold the title of a laic "abbot of Murbach for three years. This good times ended in 936, when the Hungarians invaded the Alsace and destroyed the abbey. The abbey recovered over the next centuries, but ended, after the benedictian rule was given up, as a collegiate for a nobel clientel in the 18th century, existing up to the French Revolution.

The abbey-church, constructed around 1150 got consecrated 1216 and dedicated to Saint Leger. The three original naves got knocked down 1738, to give room for a (then trendy) baroque church, that never got built. Since 1760 it serves as a parish church of the village, what did not prevent it from getting devasted by rioters during the French Revolution. So all left is the transept - and the choir. The place of the former naves, behind the impressive facade, is a cemetery today.

The facade, seen here, is really impressive. The choir is "flat", following traditions from Cluny and Hirsau in the Black Forest. The carvings are very artistic and pretty extraordenary, though they seem to be a kind of "wild" collection.