Haguenau, cradle of nativity scenes in Alsace

" Discover the oldest exhibition of nativity scenes in Haguenau. Made of wood and clay, you won't be able to miss them as you stroll through the Christmas market! "

In 1420, a register in the Haguenau municipal archives mentions the construction of a crib in the church of Saint Georges. Sentence extracted from the original 1420 notebooks: "Similarly, the construction of the crib surrounded by branches, on the outer walls of Saint Georges, cost 4 schillings minus 4 pfennigs. Hermann supplied the branches. This is the earliest written record of the existence of a crib in Haguenau, almost certainly in Alsace! The Archives Municipales de Haguenau, in the GG "Culte et assistance publique" series, holds the financial accounts of the Saint-Georges church, from 1409 to 1793. This represents 558 notebooks and 6799 accounting documents, kept in 93 bundles. During these 584 years, all receipts and expenditure were scrupulously recorded by successive "werkmeister" (receivers). Expenditure was extremely varied: repair and maintenance of the church and its properties, worship costs, purchases of ornaments, paintings and sculptures for the church, sacristans' salaries, purchases of candles, hosts, wine, missals, albes, altar cloths, repairs to pews, organs, bells... and their cords, invoices from masons, carpenters, glaziers, joiners, tilers, locksmiths, tailors, stove makers, cartwrights, chimney sweeps... There were also more prestigious expenditures, such as the acquisition of the monumental Christ by Clement of Baden in 1488, the construction of the pulpit by Veit Wagner in 1500, and the custode by Frederick Hammer completed in 1523, all of which can still be seen today. More surprising are the upkeep of a sheepfold, loans made to the town for military expenses and the acquisition of a small fire pump... with buckets. Of course, all these expenses would be impossible without the associated income: Donations, sales, annuities, rents, farms, loan repayments, offerings made on the occasion of major religious festivals (Easter, Pentecost, All Saints' Day, Christmas), but also during quests... every day! The parish of Saint-Georges also collected tithes (a tenth of the produce of the land and livestock, abolished in 1789) on hay, grain (rye, oats, wheat, barley, millet, wheat, broad beans, peas, lentils, spelt, etc.), turnips, wine and "blood" (animals: lambs, calves, foals, suckling pigs). She also sold wood, wine, flour and, towards the end, Turkish wheat (corn), potatoes and even tobacco! An unusual source of income was the ringing of bells, such as the "Selgeret", which was rung for the salvation of one's soul or that of another person, or other ringings for deaths ... or birthdays. In 1420, Pierre Eckard and Georges Mertzwiller are the werkmeister of the Œuvre Saint-Georges. Day after day, they scrupulously record expenses and receipts in a modest little notebook containing 36 sheets of paper, measuring 11 centimeters by 29.5 centimeters. As was often the case at the time, the cover is made of reused parchment. In this case, it is made up of two parchments, one from 1418 and the other from 1420, "sewn" together with strips of parchment, also 5 millimeters wide. On the 25th sheet, between a purchase of hosts and candles, we read: "It. 4 ß on 4 d koste die kripfe zu machende die ußwenig an der sanct Jergen muren stet und umb gerten dar zu / herman gap die stecken darzu vergeben". Namely: "Similarly, the creation of the crib surrounded by branches, on the outer walls of Saint Georges, cost 4 schillings minus 4 pfennigs. Hermann supplied the branches". Gerten are most likely hazel or willow, flexible branches that can be braided, while stecken are more rigid, vertical branches. These three modest lines, written in 1420 with a quill pen and very slightly faded black ink, are probably the earliest mention of the existence of a crib in a church. In Haguenau, almost certainly in Alsace, and perhaps even throughout the Holy Roman Empire! Until proven otherwise... In Sélestat, the earliest mention of a "Christmas tree" dates back to 1521, and in Strasbourg, the Christmas market dates back to 1570... With Haguenau and its crib dating back to 1420, Alsace is definitely the cradle of Christmas magic!