Saint Sebastian Church in Soultzmatt

This parish church, mentioned as early as the 8th century under the patronage of Saint Gregory, was only dedicated to Saint Sebastian in 1309 after acts of vandalism committed in 1298 by the troops of Count Thiébaut of Ferrette. From its origins, it was dependent on the collegiate church of Lautenbach, which collected the tithe and appointed the priest. Its architecture reflects a harmonious synthesis of three styles: the right side nave, rebuilt in 1480 in Gothic style; the left side nave, Romanesque; and the choir, remodeled in the Baroque period in 1759 by Ignace Ritter, architect of the Notre-Dame church in Guebwiller. The Gothic keystones bear the coats of arms of benefactors, including Knight Guillaume Kappler and his wife Adélaïde Beger (1496) to the east, as well as Provost Rodolphe Meiser to the west. In 1741, the left side nave was rebuilt, while in 1895, the medieval façade was replaced and the nave extended by two bays. The lowered flooring revealed thirteen funerary slabs of noble donors from the 17th and 18th centuries, from the Breitenlandenberg, Schönau, and allied families connected to the castles of Wagenbourg, Zillhausen, and Jestetten.