Vestiges de l'église Saint-Jean-Baptiste-d'Oberlinden dite Oberkirch

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

History

The former church of Saint John the Baptist of Oberlinden takes its name from the former hamlet attached to Obernai, attested in 1202; it was its parish church until the end of the 15th century. Oberlinden disappeared, or rather was incorporated into the urban fabric of Obernai, Saint John the Baptist becomes the seat of the first Protestant parish of Obernai in the 16th century and serves for worship until 1741. It is destroyed during the French Revolution. From the 14th century onwards, Saint John the Baptist of Oberlinden is called Oberkirch, that is "the church above" or "the upper church", probably with reference to the lower church which stood in Obernai. Oberkirch is also the name of the eponymous family whose Alsatian branch died out in the 19th century; the castle of Hell-Oberkirch is precisely in the perspective of Saint John the Baptist of Oberlinden, at the edge of the rue du Château, towards the road to Ottrot, at the west entrance to Obernai. The remains of the Oberkirch can be discovered by the east, as you proceed along the pedestrian path bordered by bushes and hornbeams of the small park called Munsterling, from the Altau car park and the public toilet facilities.

Description

Single nave with square bell tower, very thick walls (more than 60 cm thickness), rectangular plan but quite squat – its current length, in the absence of knowledge of the profile of the disappeared choir oriented, does not exceed 17 metres –, the Oberkirch is built in sandstone, raised on a knoll, over a large expanse of grass. The remains are open to the sky; it is dated to the 11th century for its nave and the 13th century for its bell tower. On the walls of the nave and on the walls of the bell tower, several corbels are visible, as are metal tie rods, on the faces of the tower and inside it. Few openings remain: two lateral doors to the south, one of which has a step and very large hinge marks, and the main entrance door, to the west, with stone ashlar montants and a triangular tympanum. The bell tower has a moulded grilled door (18th century?), on the north wall of the tower, in the extension of the two doors of the nave. A small round arch opening pierces the first storey of the nave in its first third, north wall. A rectangular opening, with the profile of a moulded basket arch (18th century?), remains on the south side, suggesting a storey. The bell tower, of four storeys, is dated to the 13th century. It possesses three twin bays, with the profile of a round arch exceeded on three sides. A square grilled bay pierces the west wall of the tower, on the first storey. And two other openings, one of which is a loophole, pierce its south and east walls. Inside the bell tower, on the ground and against a wall, lie remains of tombstones.