Saint Matthieu Church

The Franciscans, arrived in Colmar before 1250, started in 1292 the construction of a building which was ended only during the first half of the 14th century. With the Dominicans church, this monument is one of the major achievements of the mendicant orders in Alsace. After several restorations from 1982 to 1997, the church has recovered its initial state. For example the ceilings, lowered in 1862 to save money on heating, were raised again. Thanks to the church remarkable acoustic, concerts from the International music festival of Colmar take place there every year. In 1543, the Franciscan monastery closed definitely and the city of Colmar bought the buildings in order to set up the hospital. In 1575 the church was used by the Lutheran community of Colmar. A wall was built in 1715 to separate the protestant chapel in the nave one side and the catholic chapel in the choir on the other side, for the hospital installed close to it. After the construction of the new Pasteur hospital in 1937, the church was again entirely reserved to the protestant worship and in 1987 the wall was destroyed.