Haguenau - Saint-Nicolas

Duke Frederick II the One-Eyed (1090-1147) of Swabia built a hunting lodge on an island in the Moder. The settlement that grew around was the beginning of Haguenau. Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa fortified the settlement and gave it town rights, important for further development, in 1154. On the site of the hunting lodge, he founded an imperial palace he regarded as his favorite residence. In this palace were preserved the "Crown Jewels of the Holy Roman Empire", i.e. the jeweled imperial crown, scepter, imperial orb, and sword of Charlemagne.

Around 1164 Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa had a hospital with an oratory built for the poor and poor travelers. The church founded in 1189 served as a hospital church and in 1208 it was promoted to a parish church by the Bishop of Strasbourg. Hospital and church were damaged by the Strasbourgers in 1298 during a siege. After that, the construction of the present Gothic building began and was extended to the east in the 15th century. The church suffered considerable damage during WW II but was fundamentally restored from 1965 onwards.