St. Stephan Kirche, Mainz

The windows give the interior a bluish tint.

High on Mainz’s tallest hill sits Saint Stephan Kirche, a 13th-century Gothic church that is today best known for its blue stained-glass Chagall windows, added by the famous artist in the 20h century. The current structure was built on top of the original basilica from 990.

Chagall’s windows

The church’s interior is striking, with bright blue windows, white walls and red sandstone supports.

More Chagall

In all, there are nine Chagall windows. All follow the same theme: reconciliation between Jews and Christians, and France and Germany. The windows depict scenes from the Old Testament, demonstrating the similarities between Jewish and Christian traditions. The windows are especially meaningful since Chagall fled Nazi-occupied France.

One of Marq’s windows

Chagall died before completing the windows. 19 more were added along the side aisles by Charles Marq, with whom Chagall worked.
The 15th-century cloister was the burial place for many canons, now honored with tombstones and coats of arms.

Cloister ceiling

The church was heavily damaged during WWII and was restored in the 1970s.

Main entrance

Weissgasse 12, 55116 Mainz

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