Stifts church in Het Stift near Weerselo

by Ron Poot

The Stift is a monumental village in the municipality of Dinkelland, adjacent to Weerselo. It has a protected villagescape and breathes 800 years of history.

The central building at Het Stift is in every sense the Stiftskerk. Not only because of its size, age and religious significance, but also because it has functioned actively throughout all the centuries, in all episodes of Het Stift's history. In the Middle Ages as a monastery and parish church, then as Stiftskerk of the Reformed congregation. In the latter capacity, it still functions today.

When Hugo of Buren established his commune around 1140, Weerselo already had a chapel. This one will have been made of wood. Since 1178, this chapel, which has since become a monastery church, was officially dedicated to St Remigius, the bishop who baptised Clovis and who is therefore also called, the apostle of the Franks. It could very well be that in this period the church was already made of stone. The walls of present-day church contain chunks of iron ore. The church now has four bays. Each part of a church spanned by a separate vault is called a bay. Schouwman's watercolour from the 18th century (see below) tells us that the church originally had five bays. However, the westernmost bay, 6.20 m long, was demolished around 1800, but its foundations are still present.

Today, the Stiftskerk is used for weddings, concerts, funerals and church services.