Zundert (NB): St. Trudo
(J. Stuyt. 1925-1927)
In
1798 the old church of St. Trudo was returned to the catholics. Already
after only two weeks of minimal repairs the church was taken in use
again by its rightful owners. In 1881 a much critisied restoration was
carried out by architect P.J. van Genk in which much of the interior
was destroyed. Already in 1925 a new church was built next to the old
one. Despite protests the old church was demolished in 1928. The
municipality managed to save the tower, but that was demolished as well
only a few years later. Just one example out of many of medieval
churches that were demolished by the catholics and replaced by
something modern. For that matter, the church of Zundert had survived
relatively long.
Jan Stuyt designed the new church, an obvious choice perhaps because in
1911 he had already built the church in nearby Klein-Zundert. Like his
earlier church in Almelo it features a big crossing-tower with a
cone-shaped roof. The church itself shows elements of Expressionism.
The nave and the transepts have large semi-circular windows, an element
Stuyt used in several of his later churches. The choir is of the
semi-round type with ambulatory, covered by a roof shaped like a half
cone. The church has a wide central aisle and two narrower side-aisles,
in front of one of which is the tower, on top of which is a cone-shaped
spire.
|