Sundial

The 2,56 meter high building dates from 1764. Acquired by the City of Haguenau in 1884, it comes from the Neubourg Abbey. It is made up of several blocks of sandstone, including a central one on which four sundials are engraved.

South facing, on the upper level, a Judaic or biblical dial, on the lower level, a local solar time dial. East and west faces, symmetrical sundials. And on the north side, a Latin inscription of a verse from the Bible: “Watch therefore, since you do not know on what day your Lord will come. ". On the south face, above each sundial, straight styles – vertical rods – are planted in the sandstone.

Their shadow follows the path of the sun in the sky to interpret the time. But its reading is also based on numerous indications engraved on the contours of the dials: curved lines for the months of the year, a straight line for the Greenwich meridian. And, on each side, perpendicular: Arabic numerals on the right, other Roman numerals on the left, indicate the times of sunrise and sunset, the length of the day...

Next to the monument, an explanatory panel and a QR code will be sure to help passers-by decipher the time.