Heilige Johannes de Doper
Baexem, NL
The church in Baexem was mentioned in 1485 at least as independent of the mother church in Thorn. The oldest remains of church buildings were found during the archaeological research after the Second World War by P. Glazema. In his reconstruction, the oldest remains of a stone church were not dated, the tower was dated from around 1200. This tower remained standing until 1944. The old church was a small hall church, against which a polygonal chancel was built at some point later. The church was also enlarged at some point with a second nave. A memorial stone with the date 1576, which was built into the tower above the entrance, could indicate the renovation of the church, or the cladding of the tuff tower with marl. In 1850, the old church, with the exception of the tower, was demolished and replaced by a three-aisled neoclassical church. The church of 1850 became too small for the growing population. Therefore, in 1928, under the direction of architect Caspar Franssen, the side aisles were extended along the chancel. New sacristies and a new baptismal chapel were added next to the tower. On 15 November 1944, the tower was blown up by the retreating Germans. Almost the entire inventory was destroyed by the explosion. The bell from 1829 had already been stolen by the occupiers on 11 January 1943, the bell from 1450, cast by Jan van Asten, which was still hanging in the tower, fell to the ground during the explosion, virtually undamaged.