Saint-Maurice Church

Perched on a wooded slope of the Langenberg massif, the Saint-Maurice Church in Orschwiller is recognizable from afar thanks to its imposing white facade. Built at the end of the 18th century by architect Christiani, it features a neoclassical style with a facade bell tower, a single nave, and a recessed polygonal choir, typical of the era. Behind the building, an orientation table offers an exceptional panorama of the surrounding woods and nearby hills. The current church replaces an earlier building demolished in 1780, deemed too small for the community. Its construction, completed in 1781, reused materials from the old church as well as sandstone from the ruins of Haut-Koenigsbourg. Its interior, fully restored after the 1985 fire, houses remarkable artworks: a lectern carved by Arsène Schirm, adorned with the symbols of the four Evangelists, and a painting by Simon Gasser depicting the Ascension of Saint Maurice (1803). The nave ceiling is decorated with a contemporary fresco, "The Sky," created in 2011 by Sylvie Lander, a Strasbourg artist. The church also has a historic organ, restored identically after the 1985 fire. Classified as a historic monument since 1987, it bears witness to a rich architectural and artistic heritage.