Museum of the Construction of Strasbourg Cathedral

Brief Information

This museum stands on the same square as Strasbourg Cathedral and is connected with it by more than just its theme. Its origins lie in the collection of documents and drawings of the foundation that, as early as 1281, was responsible for the cathedral’s construction. As a result, the museum presents not an abstract history of art, but the work surrounding one specific building: how it was designed, built, decorated, and how its details were later saved.

In 1931, four different collections were brought together under one roof: materials on construction, church sculpture, regional painting, and applied art from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the early Baroque. The museum building itself also has the status of a historic monument, so both the exhibits and the shell in which they are housed matter here.

What to Notice First

The main focus of the visit is on objects that changed both place and meaning. Original church sculptures were removed from the cathedral after damage or during removals in the French Revolution, and later replaced outside by copies. Because of this, the museum helps distinguish decorative form on the building from an authentic detail that survived a turning point in history.

You can compare several types of rescued objects: altars, statues, vessels, and tapestries came here from abandoned churches and monasteries in Alsace. The late Gothic altars by anonymous masters from the Schongauer school are especially important as traces of a craft environment in which the author’s name often gave way to the workshop and style. After restoration from the destruction of the Second World War, the museum reopened in 1956, so the collection can also be read as a history of preservation, not only of construction.