Église Réformée

The Église Réformée presents a restrained architectural face, shaped by restrictions that required the building to avoid looking like a church. Its exterior has no bell tower or cross.

Set back from the street, the building reflects the difficulties faced by French-speaking Protestants seeking public worship. Its plain frontage resembles a domestic building.

Inside, a rectangular hall, upper galleries, and stone columns create the setting for Reformed worship and communal singing. Clear lines define the interior.

A marble communion table and Ketterer’s neoclassical pulpit provide its central furnishings, with a simple cross and Bible verse above. The pulpit carries a Bible verse.

Jean Calvin helped shape this French-speaking community, organising regular services and establishing the singing of psalms in French. Martin Bucer influenced Calvin’s work.

The first French Psalter belongs to this history, alongside worship that once took place secretly or beyond the city. A reconstructed organ follows Thuringian designs.

Built in the late eighteenth century, the church records a passage from restricted worship to an acknowledged place of gathering. Its architecture carries that change.