Protestant Church, formerly the Saint-Erhard Chapel

Ensisheim was the former seat of the Habsburg Regency until the end of the Thirty Years' War.

The Regency served as an administrative center; its responsibilities included taxation, the judiciary, and defense.

The town also became the first and most vocal center of the Counter-Reformation as early as 1550. It was fiercely opposed to any attempt at reform and harshly suppressed any expression of sympathy for the Reformation, especially after the establishment of a college in 1579, which was run by the Jesuits beginning in 1615. After the Jesuits left in 1764, the college was converted into a central prison, and a position for a Protestant prison chaplain was created in 1841.



A report by Pastor Loescher, chaplain of the Central Prison, dated 1880, mentions that in 1875 the Protestant parish of Ensisheim was authorized to participate in the services held for the inmates of the Central Prison.

At that time, the inmates occupied the nave and the parishioners the gallery. The same report notes that a separate service was established on July 1, 1880, following a request by Pastor Loescher (May 14, 1880) forwarded by the Board of Directors on May 29, 1880. It is interesting to note that Pastor Loescher had specified in his request that the parish’s use of the chapel constituted only “eine Toleranz, und nicht ein Mitbesitzungs- oder auch nur ein Mitbstimmungsrecht.”



The narthex of the former Jesuit church serves as a place of worship for Protestants (rue de la 1ère Armée).

It should be noted that parishioners accessed the chapel through the Maison Centrale until 1940.

The doors connecting to the prison were then sealed off, and a door providing access to the chapel from the street was built.

The first service in the newly renovated chapel was held on October 4, 1942.



All that remains of the former Jesuit church is a remarkable 18th-century Baroque façade, punctuated by pilasters and niches.
The entrance door provides access to the Protestant place of worship, which is incorporated into the prison complex.

• Accès handicapé : Yes