![]() Ter Apel Monastery, church and east wing | |
Monastery information | |
---|---|
Order | Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross |
Established | 1465 |
Disestablished | 1593 |
Mother house | Bentlage Priory, Bentlage, Rheine |
Dedicated to | Novae Domus Lucis |
Diocese | Roman Catholic Diocese of Osnabrück [1] (until 1593) Roman Catholic Diocese of Groningen-Leeuwarden |
Site | |
Location | Ter Apel, Netherlands |
Coordinates | 52°52′34″N7°4′28″E / 52.87611°N 7.07444°E |
Visible remains | East, north, south wings |
Public access | yes |
Ter Apel Monastery (Dutch : Klooster Ter Apel) is a former monastery in the village of Ter Apel in the northeastern Dutch province of Groningen. It is the only monastery in the larger area of Friesland and Groningen that survived the Reformation in a decent condition, [1] and the only remaining rural monastery from the Middle Ages in the Netherlands. [2] The convent buildings house a museum for monastery and church history and for religious art, as well as two contemporary art galleries. The former lay church of the monastery still functions as a reformed church. [3]
The monastery is located in the extreme southeast of the province of Groningen on a forested sand ridge along the ancient trade route from Münster to Groningen. For passing travelers and pilgrims, the monastery was a place of hospitality and dedication. Ter Apel is the last monastery founded in Groningen, and of 34 monasteries in the province it is the only one still recognizable as a convent.
In 1464, Jacobus Wiltingh, pastor of Garrelsweer and vicar in Loppersum, bequeathed Apell, a settlement among his possessions in the area called Westerwolde, to the Order of the Holy Cross on the condition that a monastery be built there. [4] In May 1465, the General Chapter of the Holy Cross convened in Huy, on the Meuse, and accepted Apell as a gift from God. The monastery dedicated to Saint Gertrude of Nivelles in Bentlage, near Rheine, was to supervise the new monastery, and it sent four priests and several lay brothers to Apell, who founded the monastery and named it Novae Domus Lucis, the "House of New Light." [5] Construction, between 1465 and 1561, followed the medieval plan of the mother in Bentlage, [6] and included, besides the convent building, a gatehouse, water mills, a parchment facility, a bakery, a brewery, and a guesthouse.
The monastery was bequeathed a number of gifts, including a stained glass window in 1561 by Lieutenant Johan de Mepsche and his wife Agnes, depicting Moses and the tablets containing the Ten Commandments. [7] It also derived income from other sources. The grounds surrounding the monastery were rich in loam, [8] which was used in construction; [9] in 1492, an agreement was signed with the adjoining municipality of Roswinkel for the digging of loam, [10] on land leased by the monastery from the hamlet of Weerdinge. [11]
When the area was conquered in 1593 by William Louis, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg, Catholicism was renounced and the convent, with the entire Westerwolde area, became the property of the city of Groningen; the monastery was saved, unlike hundreds of others in the Netherlands, because the abbot converted to Protestantism. [12]
Storms, fire, and high maintenance costs caused major problems in the centuries after 1600. The monastery underwent many changes until 1930. The west facade was demolished sometime after 1755, and so were the upper floor with the brothers' cells (1834) and the dilapidated vaults in the church (1837). Unlike all the other monasteries in Groningen, a large part of the original buildings remained.
Between 1930 and 1933, on the initiative of the city of Groningen, the remaining buildings were carefully preserved and restored, under the direction of city engineer De Vos Nederveen Cappel. On the ground floor, three of the original four wings were retained: the church for secular canons and lay people in the south wing; the chapter house and sacristy in the east wing; and the refectory (now a cafe), the vaulted supplies cellar, the sub-prior and prior's chambers, and the guest accommodations in the north wing. These wings are connected by an ambulatory, surrounding the cloister. The original medieval cloister garden has been replaced with a herb garden; the location of this garden is the only remaining detail in the Netherlands of such a medieval garden. [13]
Since 1992 Ter Apel Monastery is listed on UNESCO's Top 100 of immovable properties in the Netherlands. [14] In 2000, the construction of a new west wing was begun, designed by Danish architect Johannes Exner; in September 2001 the work was completed. [15] [16]
More renovations took place in 2007 and 2008, with a subsidy from the European Union. [17] The newly renovated scriptorium [15] features an exhibition of books and manuscripts. [18] Also newly added was a workshop for stained glass. [15] The monastery used to hold an annual chess tournament, the Klooster Internationaal Tournament, [19] and continues to organize an annual medieval festival, which in 2010 attracted some 8000 visitors. [20]
In 2009, the monastery began publishing books; the first publication was a history of medieval Dutch monasteries, De Middeleeuwse kloostergeschiedenis van de Nederlanden. [21]
Groningen is the northeasternmost province of the Netherlands. It borders on Friesland to the west, Drenthe to the south, the German state of Lower Saxony to the east, and the Wadden Sea to the north. As of January 2023, Groningen had a population of about 596,000, and a total area of 2,955 km2 (1,141 sq mi).
Bellingwedde was a municipality in the province Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. Bellingwedde was established in 1968, when the municipalities of Bellingwolde and Wedde merged. After almost 50 years, Bellingwedde was disestablished in 2018, when the municipalities of Bellingwedde and Vlagtwedde merged into Westerwolde.
Vlagtwedde is a village in the very southeast of Groningen province in the northeastern Netherlands. It lies on the Dutch border with the German state of Lower Saxony to the east.
Ter Apel is a village with a population of 9,914 residents in the municipality Westerwolde in the northern Netherlands, in the province Groningen in the region Westerwolde. The town lies on the stream Ruiten Aa, which has the valley that together with the Ter Apeler forest belongs to the national network of nature reserves, the Ecologische Hoofdstructuur. An accommodation centre for refugees is located at Ter Apel, functioning as a "departure centre" for rejected refugees and a registration point, operated by the Centraal Orgaan opvang Asielzoekers. Ter Apel lies on the roads N366, N976 and N391. It forms the southern point of the border between Groningen and Drenthe, the Semslinie.
Sportclub Veendam was a Dutch professional association football club based in Veendam, province of Groningen. Founded on 4 September 1894 as Look-Out, it became P.J. Veendam in 1909, Veendam in 1910, SC Veendam in 1974, BV Veendam in 1997 and again SC Veendam in 2011. The club was a founder member of the regional first tier Eerste Klasse Noord in 1916 and became champions of the division in 1931–32; it qualified for the national championship play-offs but finished in bottom place. Veendam took part in the inaugural season of the third tier Tweede Divisie in 1956–57; after yo-yoing between the third and second tiers, the team won promotion to the first tier Eredivisie for the first time in 1985–86. The side spent two seasons in the Eredivisie—1986–87 and 1988–89—but were relegated both times. Veendam then competed in the second tier Eerste Divisie until they were dissolved due to financial problems in 2013.
Sellingen is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is a part of the municipality of Westerwolde, and lies about 25 kilometres (16 mi) northeast of Emmen. In 2021, statistical area "Sellingen", which also includes the surrounding countryside, had a population of 1,880, and the village of Sellingen had 1,045.
Munnekemoer is a hamlet in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is a part of the municipality of Westerwolde, and lies about 14 km northeast of Emmen.
Bellingwolde is a village with a population of 2,655 people in the municipality Westerwolde in the Netherlands. It is situated in the southeast of the region Oldambt, in the north of the region Westerwolde, and in the east of the province Groningen, at the border with Germany.
Kloosterburen is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is located in the municipality of Het Hogeland. The village developed around a monastery. Kloosterburen was a separate municipality until 1990, when it was merged with Leens, Ulrum and Eenrum. During the combining of the four municipalities they were called 'de LEUK gemeenten'. In 2019, it became part of Het Hogeland.
Wedde is a village in the municipality Westerwolde in the province Groningen in the Netherlands. It is located 9 km southeast of Winschoten. The castle Wedderborg is located in the village.
Winschoten is an unstaffed railway station in Winschoten in the Netherlands. It is located on the Harlingen–Nieuweschans railway between Scheemda and Bad Nieuweschans in the province of Groningen.
The Bourtanger Moor was a bog in eastern parts in the Dutch provinces of Drenthe and Groningen and the bordering German districts of Bentheim and Emsland. A remaining stretch on the border between Drenthe and the districts Emsland and Betheim is now a nature reserve, the Internationaler Naturpark Bourtanger Moor-Bargerveen.
The Dagblad van het Noorden, abbreviated as DvhN, is a Dutch regional daily newspaper that is published and circulated in the provinces of Groningen and Drenthe in the northeastern Netherlands. The newspaper is owned by Mediahuis. Erik Wijnholds has been editor-in-chief since 2017. It had a circulation of 96,515 copies in 2015.
The Nieuwsblad van het Noorden is a former regional daily newspaper from the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. It was published from 1888 to 2002, when it was merged with the Groninger Dagblad and the Drentse Courant into the Dagblad van het Noorden, which published its first edition on 2 April 2002.
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The following is a timeline of the history of the Netherlands' municipality of Groningen.
Westerwolde is a municipality in the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands.
Mediahuis Noord, formerly known as NDC Mediagroep, is a Dutch publisher of newspapers, magazines, and websites focused on the three northern provinces of the Netherlands: Drenthe, Friesland and Groningen. It is owned by Mediahuis, a Belgian company. Headquarters are in Leeuwarden, other offices are in Groningen and Meppel. In addition to three main provinces, NDC publishes and distributes also in the Kop van Overijssel, Noordoostpolder, and northern Flevoland.
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