The parish of Echt was probably  founded between the years 400 and 700. Apparently a first church was built at the site of a Roman temple. The oldest documents however date from the period between 928 and 939, when a one-aisled church in Romanesque style was built. In ca. 1400 this church was given a new choir in Gothic style. In ca. 1477 the church itself was replaced by a three-aisled hall-church, consisting of a wide central aisle and smaller side-aisles. Only the Romanesque tower remained of the old church, until in 1872 it was demolished to make room for an extension of the nave. In 1873 architect P.J.H. Cuypers enlarged the church with two traves, copying the style of the older part, and added a new tower in neo-Gothic style.In 1944 the church and the tower were badly damaged by Allied artillery. In 1946 the church was restored, except for the spire of the tower. Instead, a new upper part, made of concrete and designed by H. Tillmans, was added in 1958.