St. Nicolas Church Mesen

Where St Nicholas Church now stands, the church of Our Lady's Abbey once stood.
The 11th-century abbey church adjoined the Royal Institution, an imposing complex of convent and school buildings. It survived fires, sieges, the Iconoclasm and even a name change (it took the name of the original St Nicholas church, which was demolished in the 17th century), but not the First World War.

As early as October 1914, the church and Gesticht were largely destroyed. While clearing rubble, German soldiers discovered a Romanesque crypt, which they turned into a hospital. Among others, Adolf Hitler was cared for there - the young corporal took the opportunity to paint the ruins.

By the end of the war, the church had become completely unrecognisable, a pile of rubble where people had once worked, prayed and lived.

The church was rebuilt in the 1930s according to old plans, but where the Royal Institution once stood, there are now only fields.

St Nicholas Church is now a place of peace and reconciliation. It is also an anchorage for the Great Turn, an annual multi-day pilgrimage in September.

The historical photos show the situation immediately after World War I and after reconstruction in 1938.

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Source

• Text: Samuël Van Eetvelde & Joni Machtelinckx
• Photos: Samuël Van Eetvelde & Joni Machtelinckx