Notre-Dame du Chêne Chapel

Classified as a Historic Monument, the Notre-Dame-des-Chênes chapel is one of the oldest Marian pilgrimage sites in Alsace. Its history, legend, and bucolic setting make it a place full of charm. It is easily accessible via the bike path along the Rhône-Rhine canal, offering a pleasant cycling trip to this iconic site.

It all began in 1444 when Adam Zorn, lord of Plobsheim, vowed to build a chapel to the Virgin after escaping the Armagnacs. Forgetting his promise, he was reminded of his vow by a dove guiding him to a statue of the Virgin, likely located in an ancient druidic worship site. He then built the chapel in 1454, placing the statue on an altar carved from oak wood, hence its name. The choir, added at the end of the 15th century, reflects the growing interest in the site, notably from the bakers' guild, supported by the Zorn family.

The chapel went through turbulent times: closed for over a century after the Reformation, it suffered looting and destruction during the Revolution. Sold several times, it was finally repurchased in 1866 by the Plobsheim parish with the help of Baron Félix de Dartein. After the construction of the Rhône-Rhine canal in the 19th century, the children of boatmen were baptized there.

In the 17th century, a new statue replaced the original one, carved from the wood of the original oak. During the Revolution, it was hidden and escaped vandalism. Today, it is housed in a late 19th-century Gothic tabernacle, recalling the original niche. The chapel, surrounded by fields, is distinguished by its polygonal choir with double ribbed vaults and a half-timbered cottage, the former hermit's residence. Two 15th-century paintings adorn the nave: a Glorious Virgin on the ceiling and a Virgin of Help above the side door. The Renaissance stained glass windows, made in 1946 by the Ott brothers of Strasbourg, depict the story of Adam Zorn.