Meijel, NL

Heilige Nicolaas

This church was a neo-Gothic cruciform church by father and son Van Groenendael, probably in collaboration with mgr. H. Wouters, director of the Episcopal College in Weert and a brother of the pastor in Meijel. The church thus obtained was called the 'cathedral of the Peel' because of its beauty and large size. Because the new church was built on the same site as the old one, the parish was dependent on an emergency church, which remained in use from 1901 until the blessing of the new building in 1904. The church was not yet fully furnished upon completion, a process that continued until 1944.

About this building

On 25 September 1944 the church was blown up by the retreating Germans 'with a whole truckload of dynamite'. The village was then in the front line for a month, during which the church was regularly shot at by the Germans, because the English were in the village (until 8 October). From 8 October to 27 October it was the 7th American Armoured Division. During the recapture by the Germans on 27 October 1944 the church was blown up for the second time, so that it was completely destroyed. On 15 November 1944 Meijel was finally liberated by the British 8th Corps and the remains of the church were cleared away. This church is listed as a National Monument of the Netherlands.

Other nearby buildings

Heilige Willibrordus

Hall church on an almost rectangular plan, consisting of a partly exposed concrete skeleton, filled with brick. A detached, openwork bell tower and semi-detached baptismal chapel to the side. Front facade with simple narthex. The central nave is covered by a curved concrete shell roof. As a whole, the church is an important example of renewal, also a fairly exceptional early example of modernism in Roman Catholic church architecture from the 1950s. This church is listed as a Municipal Monument of the Netherlands.

Heilige Jozef

On the site of the former Roman Catholic Chapel of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart . Damaged by war in 1944. Restored.

Heilig Hart van Jezus

In 1918 an emergency church was established, and a permanent church could only be built after the Second World War . It was consecrated in 1954 and the architect was A. Schwenke .

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