After the annexation of the city by Louis XIV of France, on 30 September 1681, and a mass celebrated in the cathedral on 23 October 1681 in presence of the king and prince-bishop Franz Egon of Fürstenberg,La prise de Strasbourg: 1681 the cathedral was returned to the Catholics and its inside redesigned according to the Catholic liturgy of the Counter-Reformation. In 1682, the choir screen (built in 1252) was broken out to expand the choir towards the nave. Remains of the choir screen are displayed in the Musée de l’Œuvre Notre-Dame and in The Cloisters.Strasbourg Virgin, on The Cloisters database The main or high altar, a major work of early Renaissance sculpture, was also demolished that year.Retable du maître-autel Fragments can be seen in the Musée de l’Œuvre Notre-Dame.
