Day Two: Strasbourg, France
   Strasbourg was a quaint little town that was easy to walk around. Why am I in Strasbourg? Here is a quote from one of my sources, “The Reformation quickly gained a foothold in Strasbourg. The Protestant preaching of Reformers such as Wolfgang Capito, Caspar Heidi, and Matthaus Zell found favor among broad circles of the city’s inhabitants. When the City Council forbade Zell from preaching from the cathedral pulpit in 1522, the city’s carpenters constructed a portable pulpit to enable him to continue preaching God’s Word in public. The appearance of Martin Bucer cemented the grip of the Reformation in Strasbourg, and the city’s importance and prestige spread throughout Europe.” So I set out to explore the places and people that put Strasbourg on the Reformation map.
    I began with Saint Thomas Church, the main Protestant church in Strasbourg since 1524, who also had the best welcome sign I have ever seen at a famous church.

Martin Bucer was the pastor here from 1531-1540. Let’s pause for a brief understanding of Bucer’s role in the Reformation. Bucer’s passion was to bring people together and try to bridge differences. After being influenced by Luther in 1518, he renounced his monastic vows and dedicated the rest of his life to the Reformation. We acted as a mediator between the two great Reformers, Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli, who differed on their understanding of the Eucharist. He worked closely with Philipp Melanchthon whom we will meet in two days. Finally, Bucer even believed common ground could be reached between Catholics and Protestants. He attended several conferences organized by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to find areas of agreement and peace but it was to no avail. Bucer is buried here in St. Thomas Church.

Luther really wanted to preacher here in Bucer's church, so I said it was OK.
 
Outside the Reformation, the church is most famous for its historic and musically significant organs, the 1741 Silbermann organ played by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1778.

The great organist Albert Schweitzer played many recitals here. I have to admit the Renaissance tomb that is notable for its realistic depiction of the decaying corpse is a bit creepy.

The enormous lat Baroque mausoleum built in 1777 by Jean-Baptistery Pigalle is spectacular.

The most fascinating part of this church, as with most churches in Strasbourg, is that both Catholics and Protestants share church facilities. While this might sound “on earth as it is in heaven” with everyone getting along, the truth is it was a mandated compromise. You see, almost all churches in this area were Protestant in 1529 when the city council banned traditional mass. But when this area was annexed to Catholic France, a dilemma arose. Would Strasbourg be Protestant or Catholic? The answer: both. So almost all churches, including St. Thomas, built a wall in the sanctuary with part going to the Catholics and part to the Protestants. To this day, the same building houses both a Catholic Church and Protestant church, in different parts of the building, the right hand side is the Protestant and the left hand side is the Catholic. Below is the white wall built between the two churches residing in the same building.



Little France is an area of canals and distinctive timber buildings that creates its own island in Strasbourg.

This “Venice of the North” was a place of banishment when small pox hit the town as well as syphilis.

It is now one of the most expensive places to live in Strasbourg. Covered bridges make it possible for people and goods to go from the mainland to the island.

But the main attraction in town in The Cathedral Norte-Dame. This church dates back to the 11th century. The 466 foot spire was completed in 1439 and was the highest in Western Europe until the 19th century.


The church was Protestant from 1529-1681 when it reverted back to Catholic. The pulpit is ornate with beautiful stained glass windows and the organ pipes which hover high above the congregation.





 The claim to fame here is the Astronomical Clock built in 1843 to replace an earlier clock, is 18 meters high and one of the largest in the world. This is the church Zell was kicked out of when he started preaching Reformed ideas.

Not many people know that apart from being the inventor of the first mechanical, movable printing press in Europe in 1439 and the publisher of the Gutenberg Bible in 1455, Gutenberg lived in Strasbourg between 1434 and 1444, where he was an apprentice goldsmith, set to follow in his father’s footsteps.


A statue stands in Gutenberg Plaza of the man that changed communication as they knew it. He is holding a piece of parchment on which is inscribed the words “Et la lumiere fut” (And behold, there was light) from the Book of Genesis.

Gutenberg’s invention was one of the major factors that made the Reformation possible. Luther and I also stopped to get some great chocolate with the imprint of her Cathedral on it. Yum!!

But in my opinion, my fascination with Strasbourg was Calvin’s influence who lived here for three years. Calvin left for Strasbourg in 1538 at 39 years old, when Martin Bucer asked him to take charge of the small community of French-speaking Protestants. Calvin is still honored at the local University as the only French speaker portrayed in the full length statues at the top of the building.

He is accompanied by Zwingli, Melanchthon (who we will still meet later and became a friend of Calvin), and Luther is just around the corner. He is also honored by having a street named after him.

Calvin preached at several churches in Strasbourg: St. Madeleine (now a Catholic Church),

St. Nicolaus,

and the church he was pastor of from 1540-41, Temple Neuf.

From 1248-1531 the site of the church today was Strasbourg’s Dominican monastery, a major hub for German mysticism. It was here that Meister Eckhart lived from 1313-1324 as well as his disciple John Tauler who led a late medieval renewal of Christian faith. Calvin and Bucer continued that renewal Spirit leading the Reformation on the same site. While the church in 1540 no longer exists, it was resurrected after being bombed in 1870. Yet walking into this church, I couldn’t help but see Calvin here.

I even asked permission to get in the pulpit, knowing it wasn’t exactly the one he stood in, but it was as close as I could get. Luther would have to take a back seat this time; I was going in the pulpit.
 

Calvin was called back to Geneva in 1541, but he left an indelible mark on this city.
Between Bucer, Calvin, and many others, Strasbourg definitely had a major role to play in the Reformation. Luther and I felt privileged we had a chance to visit.