The Église des Dominicains, also known as the Dominikanerkirche, is an abbey church in Colmar, Alsace. It is the former collegiate church of a dissolved Dominican monastery and was built between 1289 and 1346 as the Gothic church of a monastery founded in 1277. In the city’s church landscape, it is the second largest and architecturally second most important church after the Martinsmünster.
The building has a 35-meter-long nave with a flat ceiling divided into three sections by tall, slender columns. Its choir is 30 meters long, narrower, and slightly lower than the nave, and is covered with Gothic ribbed vaults. The current room height is about 28 meters, corresponding to a floor level that is about 80 centimeters higher than the original.
The church is especially known as the location of Martin Schongauer’s Madonna im Rosenhag, which has stood at the entrance to the choir since 1973 after being stolen from the Martinsmünster in 1972. It also contains other significant works of art, including ten 14th-century choir windows with saints’ legends, parts of choir stalls, Rococo-style choir altars by Gabriel Ignaz Ritter, and elements from the former Upper Alsace monastery of Alspach near Kaysersberg. Restored at the end of the 19th century, the church received a neo-Gothic portal by Théophile Klem and a richly decorated frame around Schongauer’s painting from his workshop.
Nearby Objects
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Dominican Convent 30 m away -
St Martin's Church 150 m away -
Unterlinden Museum 200 m away -
Musée Bartholdi 200 m away -
Statue of Jean Rapp 250 m away
Architecture and Artistic Importance
The Dominikanerkirche, or Eglise des Dominicains, in Colmar, Alsace, is a former collegiate church of a dissolved Dominican monastery. It is regarded as the second largest church in Colmar and the citys second most important architecturally, after the Martinsmunster. The church was built between 1289 and 1346 as the Gothic church of the monastery founded in 1277.
Its interior includes a nave 35 meters long with a flat ceiling divided into three sections by tall slender columns. The present room height is about 28 meters, reflecting a floor level that is around 80 centimeters higher than the original. The choir is 30 meters long, narrower than the nave, and slightly lower, with a Gothic design and ribbed vaults.
The church is especially known as the location of the Madonna im Rosenhag by Martin Schongauer, and it also contains other significant works of art.
Art and Interior Features
The interior of the Église des Dominicains contains several significant works and reused architectural elements. At the entrance to the choir stands the Madonna im Rosenhag, which has been in place since 1973 after being stolen from the Martinsmünster in 1972. The choir also includes ten 14th-century windows with saints legends, regarded as the most important collection of medieval lead glass windows in Colmar. Additional features include parts of the choir stalls, Rococo style choir altars by Gabriel Ignaz Ritter, transferred after 1790 from the Stift Marbach, and elements from the former Upper Alsace monastery of Alspach near Kaysersberg. The church was restored at the end of the 19th century and received a neo-Gothic portal by Theophile Klem. A richly decorated frame around Schongauer's painting came from Klem's workshop, while the saint figures on the side wings are works by Martin von Feuerstein. The magnificent organ from 1726, originally arranged by Andreas Silbermann, is now in the parish church of Niedermorschwihr.