Wissembourg - Saint-Ulrich d'Altenstadt

The church St. Ulrich in Altenstadt (now part of Wissembourg) was built over the ruins of a roman temple within the 11th/12th century.

Here the portal with it´s tympanon and lintel. The tympanon depicts an "Agnus Dei" carved into a yellowish stone.

The reddish lintel below is rough, but very delicate. There are seven medaillons. The hand of God in the middle, two sheep ( = Peter and Paul) on the sides. Followed by complex symmetrical floral ornaments and kind of carolingian knots - on both sides. All seven medaillons are embedded into a floral layout. Robert Will in "Alsace romane" (Zodiaque) describes this as a kind of carved "embroidery". Well, actually he believes that the "master" of this carving was a coptic (!) embroidery.

The inscription on top of the lintel is cryptic. Before entering this church Luithard, abbot in Wissembourg 1002 - 1023, should be asked, - but this church never belonged to the abbey. It was a parish church from the very beginning.