Notre-Dame de Guebwiller, Neoclassical church in Guebwiller, France.
Notre-Dame de Guebwiller is a Neoclassical basilica built of pink Vosges sandstone, with its monumental facade facing east rather than west because of the town ramparts. The facade has paired columns, a triangular pediment and allegorical statues by Gabriel Ignaz Ritter; a north tower added in 1844 rises beside it, while the planned south tower was never built. Inside, the nave is 24 m wide, the transept 34 m, and the vaults reach 28 m.
The Benedictines of Murbach Abbey received papal permission to move to Guebwiller from Clement XIII in 1759, and the church was designed by Louis Beuque of Besançon, a pupil of Jacques-François Blondel. His second design was accepted in 1761 and building began in 1762; Beuque was dismissed in 1769 and replaced by Gabriel Ignaz Ritter. The church was inaugurated on 7 September 1785 by Franz Joseph Sigismund von Roggenbach, bishop of Basel, with the two planned facade steeples still unbuilt. The north tower was added in 1844 in a matching design; the south tower was never built.
The church was built as the collegiate church of the Benedictines of Murbach Abbey, who moved to Guebwiller after Pope Clement XIII's brief of 12 January 1759. The facade statues are by Gabriel Ignaz Ritter, and the 17 m high reredos and wooden choir stalls were carved by Ritter and Fidelis Sporrer between 1780 and 1788. Two 1833 statues by Sporrer's son Joseph replace works destroyed during the French Revolution.
The building is open to visitors year-round and remains accessible throughout the seasons. For an uninterrupted visit, it is worth checking ahead during major holidays or service times, as religious gatherings may affect availability.
The facade faces east rather than west, a consequence of the town ramparts standing when the church was built. The two planned facade steeples were never completed together: the north tower was added in 1844 in a matching design, while the south tower was never built.
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