The Koepelkerk in Arnhem with in the sun by Bart Ros

The Koepelkerk in Arnhem with in the sun

The Koepelkerk is a monumental church at the Jansplein, in the centre of Arnhem.

In 1817 the St. Jan church, which had become very dilapidated, was demolished at that place. The Nederduitsch Hervormde congregation received permission to build a church to relieve the St. Jan church. The Koepelkerk was therefore initially called the 'New Church'. Anthony Aytinck van Falkenstein designed the church after the example of the Amsterdam Koepelkerk. Construction began in 1837 and was completed in late 1838. Construction costs amounted to 52,000 guilders and was carried out by Messrs. Knoops, Coers, and Holland,[1] and the church was dedicated on Sunday, January 6, 1839. Hendrik Donker Curtius presided over the service and preached on the text from Deuteronomy 32:3b[2]

The octagonal church was used by the 'Gele Rijders', soldiers of the riding artillery from the Willemskazerne, among others. In 1961 the Dutch Reformed Church sold the building to the Reformed Church (Vrijgemaakt). The Koepelkerk was thoroughly renovated and restored in 1976. The space between the foundations of the columns was excavated 1.5 metres and the floor of the church hall was raised 1.5 metres. This created a large basement under the church hall that is used as a meeting place. The original second gallery, which had been demolished in 1944 due to war damage, was also reinstated and smaller rooms were created in the outer ring downstairs, which are used as meetin