Not everyone is lucky enough to have the financial means of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral… In Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin), the venerable Protestant church of Saint-Paul, 127 years old, symbol of neo-Gothic and classified as a historic monument since 1998, needs a serious and rapid makeover.
The roof is no longer waterproof. There are holes in the stained glass windows. The frame and the spire need to be consolidated, the masonry needs to be reworked, the beautiful organ needs to be restored, fire safety needs to be brought up to standard and accessibility needs to be provided for the building's fifteen doors. “Yes, there is really danger in the house”warns Pastor Marie-Claire Gaudelet.
The amount of future work, which will be carried out between 2025 and 2031, amounts to ten million euros. If the City and the General Directorate of Cultural Affairs will finance half of the bill, the rest is the responsibility of the community. Not easy to find…
Calls to book
The presbyteral council therefore had an original idea: to set up a café in the heart of the church, at the end of the nave, on the right, under a rose window. The place, managed by volunteers, is cozy and warm. You can drink coffee, tea or fruit juice there and enjoy pastries and pastries. A shared workspace has also opened.
The “establishment” caused a sensation. Customers even call to reserve a table. Here, the prices are only indicative. We can give less… or especially more. In various places in the café, QR codes link to the website The heart at work presenting the projects and inviting donations.
Open Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., the café closed its doors on Christmas Day after a month of activity… but temporarily. Time for a little rest. It will reopen quickly with the ambition, this time, to obtain a license 3 allowing the serving of low-alcoholic drinks (wine, beer, cider, etc.).
“All profits will be used to finance the work”assures the president of the priestly council. If there are already such church cafés in England, Germany and the Netherlands, the Strasbourg “establishment” is a first in France. “Among Protestants, the church is not sacred as among Catholics,” specifies the pastor.
