Chapel Maria Altbronn

Description

Located between Ergersheim and Furdenheim, on the site of the former village of Altbronn.
Altbronn, or Altbrunne (literally the "Old Fountain"), used to be a flourishing hamlet in the early Middle-Ages.

The village disappeared during the first half of the 14th century, due to civil wars and the plague. The only thing left was the church dedicated to the Virgin Mary, built by Bishop Guillaume de Diest during his pilgrimage in 1397 (inscription embedded in a stone slab, on the South side of the chapel). In the 15th and 16th centuries, the sanctuary respectively entered a period of prosperity and decline.Then, Bishop Jean de Manderscheidt entrusted the place of pilgrimage to the Jesuits who administered a school in Molsheim at the time. Altbronn was abandoned in 1765, when the State closed down the Jesuit school. In 1883, the chapel was bought by the parish council of Ergersheim. Since then, the influx of pilgrims never ceased to increase. When the Cistercians from Oelenberg, better known as the Trappistines, settled into Ergersheim in 1895, they borrowed the chapel's name for their monastery built in the town center. A few steps from the site of pilgrimage is St. Anne's spring, where miracles have been recorded by the Jesuits since the 16th century. It was supposed to help mothers avoid health complications during pregnancy.