The first church on this site was constructed in the early 12th century and was known as Saint-Germain-le-Rond. The bell tower is the only element that survives from this period, although it was later given a Gothic renovation.

The Church was reconstructed in the late 13th century, then enlarged to include side aisles during the 15th century.

The low point in the church's history was August 24, 1572, the evening of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. The tower bells of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois rang, signalling the supporters of Catherine de Médicis, Marguerite de Guise, Charles IX, and the future Henri III to launch a slaughter of thousands of Protestant Huguenots, who had been invited to celebrate the marriage of Henri de Navarre to Marguerite de Valois.

During the French Revolution, the church was pillaged of its furnishings and used as a storehouse for supplies and a police station. Today, located at the centre of Paris, by the Seine and near the Louvre, this old parish of kings de France is generally regarded as the Church of the Louvre. Among the treasures preserved inside are a wooden 15th century statue of Saint Germain, a Saint-Vincent of stone carved at the same time, a Flemish retable out of wooden carved, the famous churchwarden's pew where important people sat, manufactured in 1683 by François Le Mercier on drawings of Charles Le Brun.

view the official website for the Saint Germain l'Auxerrois. (french only)
view more infomation on the Saint Germain l'Auxerrois(english).