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the spring equinox
Ballon d'Alsace

At the spring equinox, if we observe it from the Ballon d’Alsace, the sun rises behind the Black Forest Belchen 70 km away

Anfang Mai / Beltene
Ballon d'Alsace
About 40 days after the spring equinox, beginning of the Celtic summer half-year, the sun rises in the east-northeast behind the summit of the Grand Ballon.
21.6 summer solstice
Ballon d'Alsace

At the summer solstice, the sun rises in the northeast above the Markstein, in the direction of the Petit Ballon

Anfang August / Lugnasad
Ballon d'Alsace
About 40 days after the summer solstice, the sun rises in the east-northeast, behind the summit of the Grand Ballon.
22.9. the autumn equinox
Ballon d'Alsace

At the autumnal equinox, if we observe it from the Ballon d’Alsace, the sun rises behind the summit of Schwarzwaldbelchen 70 km away.

Anfang November / Samhain
Ballon d'Alsace

About 40 days after the autumn equinox, beginning of the Celtic winter half-year. The three Celtic settlements Britzgyberg, Basel-Gasfabrik and Augusta Raurica are on the line of the sunrise.

21.12. Winter solstice
Ballon d'Alsace

The sun rises in the southeast behind the Tödi in the Glarus Alps, in between lies the Jura Belchen

Anfang Februar / Imbolc
Ballon d'Alsace
About 40 days after the winter solstice, middle of the Celtic winter half-year. The sun rises in east-southeast. The three Celtic settlements Britzgyberg, Basel-Gasfabrik and Augusta Raurica are on the line of the sunrise.
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Symbol of the cosmos

The domed church of St. Blasien

The domed church - symbol of the cosmos

The first Benedictine monks settled in the Alb valley at the foot of the Feldberg, where St. Blasien is today. Here they found a place of silence over a thousand years ago. The aristocratic Sigemar founded the ‘alb cell’ here and subordinated it under the Rheinau Abbey near Schaffhausen, and relics of St. Blaise were brought here.

The monastery came under Austrian sovereignty in 1361 and suffered great damage during the peasant wars of 1525/26. In 1768, a fire put the main building and all outbuildings and churches in ruins. Abbot Martin Gerbert then had the monastery rebuilt. The construction with the spectacular dome construction, which had been planned based on the model of the ancient Roman pantheon, took around ten years.

At the beginning of the 20th century, for the 200th anniversary of the cathedral, the third largest domed church in Europe was restored according to the original, purely classicist plans. In 1933, the Jesuits acquired the Benedictine legacy in order to establish a high school which would become one of the most important private schools in Germany.

As a symbol of the cosmos, the cathedral impresses today above all with its luminous size. The choir and church are separated by a masterfully forged choir lattice with medallions of saints that date back to the time of the monastery and on which St. Blaise, St. Benedict, St. Scholastica and St. Vincent are depicted.

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