The Way of St. James from Haguenau leads past the History Museum to Robert Schumann Square and along the Route de Bischwiller out of the city of Haguenau. The Route de Marienthal passes the cemetery. It continues straight on through Rue de Statuette to the College des Missions Africaines and from there straight on through an industrial quarter (Rue de Bugatti) back to Route de Marienthal. We follow the road and come to a level crossing.
From Haguenau to Marienthal it is about 4.5 km on the well signposted Way of St. James. Here after the railway crossing we are happy to see the place-name sign after a long day's stage.
Then we see the monastery church.
The Marienthal monastery goes back to the knight Albert von Haguenau, who lived as a hermit in the Haguenau forest around 1240. Around 1250 the hermitage became a monastery, settled by monks of the Wilhelmite Order. A Madonna donated to the monastery by Margrave Bernhard von Baden became one of the most important Marian pilgrimage destinations in Alsace. The church was rebuilt between 1460 and 1520.
Here we are in the church and listen to the explanations of the convent sister.
The place of pilgrimage is based on 2 images of Mary: the painful Mother of God (Pietà) and the joyful Mother of God (Mary with Baby Jesus in her arms)
After the destruction during the Peasants' War, the monastery experienced a period of pilgrimage flourishing under the Jesuits, which lasted from 1617 (takeover) to 1765 (ban of the order).
"Liebfrauenbasilika Marienthal": After the devastation of the revolution the church was rebuilt in the 19th century in neo-gothic style. Worth seeing are the 2 venerated images on the side altars: Madonna with Child from the beginning of the 15th century and a Pietà from the end of the 15th century; also worth seeing: sandstone relief "Relief of Mary" (1519) from the workshop of Frédéric Hammer in Haguenau.
Today Benedictine nuns of St. Sacred Heart of Jesus of Montmartre live in a convent in Paris.
Immediately adjacent is the convent of the Carmelite Sisters of Marienthal, founded in 1887. The church is also built in neo-gothic style.
Monastery and church
(Photo Sept. 2016)
Famous are the stained glass windows of Marienthal.
Left window: Annunciation
middle window: Whitsun - Coronation Marià
right window: Way of the Cross - Pieta
Touch the windows with the mouse!
A window on the left side shows Marian shrines in the world. Einsiedeln is also included. You will find it at the bottom right. Touch it and other windows with your mouse!
On the return from the stage beer to the monastery the illuminates church looked like this.
You can see how it looked like the day before the march on to
Vendenheim in Sept. 2016, if you move the mouse over the picture.
Among the many saints, the Curé of Ars should not be missing. He is very much venerated in France and this model of the statue can be found in many churches.
IIn the monastery shop you can buy him and St. Thérèse in small format (approx. 30cm, approx. 60€).
Haguenau
to Vendenheim
