History and Architecture
The first convent dedicated to Mary Magdalene was built in 1225 on the outskirts of the city of Strasbourg, on the site of the current place de la République. The institution, which welcomed repentant prostitutes, was evacuated and then destroyed around 1470, since the city feared imminent invasion by the armies of the Duke of Burgundy.
A new convent was rebuilt in the Krutenau district. The Gothic church of the convent of the sisters of the order of St. Mary Magdalene (Ordo Sanctae Mariae of magdalenae poenitentia), completed in 1478, was destroyed by fire in 1904. All that remains of this church, the last Gothic structure built in Strasbourg, is the choir housing fragments of some frescoes. It now serves as a chapel, dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament. Remains of the once abundant stained glass windows that decorated the church are shown in the Musée de l’Œuvre Notre-Dame. John Calvin had made sermons and directed services in that church .
The church which is currently perpendicular to the earlier building was built in 1907 according to plans by Fritz Beblo and is more spacious and airy. It has a barrel vault, based on the model of St. Michael's Church, Munich and a conspicuous belltower. Severely damaged by Anglo-American bombing on 11 August 1944, it was rebuilt, true to Beblo's original, in 1958.
A part of the former cloisters from the earlier convent can still be seen, surrounding the adjacent school building.
Read more about this topic: Sainte-Madeleine Church, Strasbourg
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