During the French Revolution, Strasbourg Cathedral's spire was topped with a 10-meter Phrygian bonnet as a revolutionary symbol, later destroyed in a fire.
Jacobin proposal to demolish spire
In November 1793, the Jacobin club requested the demolition of the spire of Strasbourg Cathedral. The motion, proposed by a municipal officer named Téterel, was not adopted as a whole by the elected officials.Historical records confirm the motion
According to historian Rodolphe Reuss, the minutes of the Jacobin meeting cited in his 1888 work on the cathedral during the Revolution confirm the motion. On 25 November, an order from the Convention's commissioners ordered the municipality to have the stone statues surrounding the Temple of Reason demolished within a week.Cathedral converted to Temple of Reason
The cathedral had been converted into a Temple of Reason in the autumn of 1793, no longer serving as an active place of worship. The elected officials did not support the demolition of the spire due to budgetary concerns and a desire to use the structure as a revolutionary symbol.Red metal bonnet placed on spire
Instead of demolishing the spire, a red hat made of sheet metal more than 10 meters high was placed at its summit in June 1794. This decision was based on the symbolic significance of the Phrygian bonnet, which had been used as a revolutionary emblem since May 1790 and became the official headwear of the Paris municipal council in November 1793.Installation and removal of the bonnet
The installation of the bonnet was documented in the minutes of the Jacobin meeting, dated 23 Floréal to 5 Prairial year II (12 May to 13 June 1794). The cost of the bonnet and four garlands was 2,991 livres 68 cents, as noted in a resolution of 9 Thermidor year II (27 July 1794), the day of Robespierre's fall.Local tradition and the bonnet's fate
A local tradition attributes the idea to a locksmith and municipal officer, Jean-Michel Sultzer, whose bust is displayed at 24 Place de la Cathédrale. The bonnet was nicknamed "Kàffeewärmer" (coffee warmer) in Alsatian. It was preserved among the historical curiosities of the city at the Temple-Neuf until a fire on 24 August 1870, during the night of the German bombardment.Preserved bonnet and its legacy
The bonnet was later lost in the flames. A preserved bonnet, however, is now in the Historical Museum of Strasbourg, where it adorned the office of a section of the Jacobin club in 1793. The Phrygian bonnet remains a symbol of France, worn by Marianne, the national allegory of France.
