Church of Our Lady of the Assumption

The church at the military camp of Beverlo was built between 1899 and 1903 in neo-Romanesque style. History On 14 March 1835, the parliament approved the construction of the Beverlo camp. Work began in May 1835 and the camp was completed by the end of July. There is accommodation for 20,000 soldiers. At the same time as the soldiers, the first civilians appeared in the camp. The first few days they stayed in the open air, but then they erected their 'straw' huts, criss-crossing each other, between the infantry camp and the generals' pavilions. Father Frans Wouters of the parish of Beverlo, who from May 1835 saw his parishioners grow with both soldiers and civilians, asked the Bishop of Liège for the necessary jurisdiction to be allowed to exercise his ministry in the Camp of Beverlo. He began his first baptismal register here on June 17, 1835. As the construction work progressed in the camp, more and more troops and civilians came to settle, so that a parish chaplain was necessary for the new settlement. On 16 June 1836, Father Jean Baptiste Engelbosch installed himself as the first chaplain in the camp. After his arrival, he stayed for a while in a barracks, surrounded by his parishioners, which made it easy for him to communicate with them and increase his influence. With the help of soldiers and civilians, he built a small chapel measuring 15 by 9 meters. It is a mud building with a straw roof. The heavy bell hangs in a wooden truss next to the church. The first church stood on a hill southeast of the park. The church, only completed in 1837, was so badly damaged by the hurricane of November 1 to 2, 1837 that it was soon found unsuitable for worship. After the hurricane of November 1837 destroyed the first auxiliary church, a new plan was immediately drawn. They took the opportunity to place the new church outside the military domain. Against the reasoned advice of the municipality of Beverlo, a church was built in 1843, which would only accommodate 300 people, where even in the middle of the winter period, including soldiers, the population was never less than 4,000 people. The current neo-Romanesque church was built from 1899 to 1903 by Captain Lebrun and his sappers, helped by civilian craftsmen from Leopoldsburg. On June 12, 1903, the church was solemnly inaugurated. The altar stone contains relics of St. Maurice and St. Theodore. On June 24, 1903, the church was handed over by the army to the Director-General of Worship, acting on behalf of the Minister of Justice. The Ministry of Justice was charged with the maintenance of the church when the financial resources of the church committee were insufficient. The church and its furniture remained the property of the army. The Ministry of Justice gives the church committee a subsidy of 2,000 BEF and covers any maintenance costs. In November 1920 the church and presbytery were put in order for 11,820.90 BEF at the expense of the Ministry of Justice. On 31 August 1928, however, the Ministry of Justice stopped all subsidies to the church and rectory. In 1931, after several interventions by the churchwardens and the municipality, the Ministry of National Defence made a credit of 150,000 BEF available. This mainly involves the installation of a new central heating system. This sum has been deducted from the profits made by the cinemas in the camp of Beverlo. In 1936, a sum of 200,000 BEF was requested for urgent repairs to the roof of the church and tower. This time, the Ministry of National Defense does not pay, but has the governor inform the municipality that it must intervene (which does not happen). In 1954, the war damage was repaired at the expense of the owners (Ministry of National Defence) and the urgent repairs of the roofs, necessary since 1936, were also carried out at the expense of the Ministry of Defence. After these major repairs, the army wants to get rid of this major expense. The church is offered 'for free' to the church committee, but the pastor refuses (as long as the church belongs to the army, it remains responsible for major repairs). In 1968, the church, together with the surrounding land and streets, was finally sold to the municipality of Leopoldsburg. Description The neo-Romanesque cruciform basilica was built on the initiative of King Leopold II, modelled on a Romanesque church from Bertrix. The building is quite imposing in dimensions. The plan describes a three-aisled nave of six bays, with a square west tower, a baptistery to the northwest and Our Lady's Chapel to the southwest, a choir of two straight bays with semicircular closure and ambulatory. It is a brick building with the use of bluestone and French stone for the ornaments, with gable roofs and tent roof on the tower. The church has round-arched windows and a round-arched porch. Interior The interior has a basilical elevation and is rhythmed by bluestone columns that support the brick barrel vault with sandstone belt arches. The interior walls are made of red brick. The spacious choir is enclosed by a wrought iron gate. The twelve porphyries are crowned with cube-shaped capitals, alternately undecorated, with line and bud decoration and with leaf decoration. The building was lit with sixty basins burning with acetylene. They were later modified with incandescent bulbs. A gas manufacturing workshop was located in the immediate vicinity of the church. The church is heated with warm air (Piron system). In the north sacristy, the walls are completely covered with panelled oak panelling. The ambulatory behind the high altar is lit by thirteen round-arched stained-glass windows. They depict events from the life of Jesus and the apostles and are a copy of the famous stained glass windows from Chartres Cathedral. They were executed by the firm Ladon van Gent in Tomau style. Main and side altars were built in white stone. The main altar is supported by four bluestone columns with pedestal with leaf decoration and cube capital. Under the bluestone altar top, a copy of the depiction 'Christ Sitting as Judge' from Chartres Cathedral can be seen on the altar front. The tabernacle with chiropractic sign is richly decorated with enamelled plates, cut glass balls, twisted columns and other decorations. The tabernacle doors bring an image of the 'Lamb of God and the Church with Host'. The pulpit is decorated with the emblems of the four Evangelists: the eagle of John, the angel of Matthew, the lion of Mark and the bull of Luke. The church has numerous works of art, sculptures and paintings: The marble statues of two holy soldiers, Saint Maurits van Puyenbroeck, patron of infantry and Saint Gommarus by Charles Geerts, both from 1842, are a gift from the Royal Family. Three important and very large paintings are hung in the church: by Franz Navez (1787-1869) : 'Raising of Lazarus' (on the rood screen) by Karel Wauters (1811-1871) : 'Godfrey of Bouillon at the head of the Crusaders for Jerusalem' (in the right transept) by Filip van Bree (1786-1871) : 'Baldwin I lays the sword of Godfrey of Bouillon on the Holy Sepulchre' (in the left transept). The Stations of the Cross with chiseled statues is the work of A. Debeule (1930). In the left transept, the altar of the Virgin Mary is decorated with the statue 'The Mother of Heaven with the Child Jesus seated on the throne', this is also a copy of the same representation in the cathedral of Chartres. In this nave there is also a statue of Saint Anthony. In the right transept we note statues of Saint Joseph, the Sacred Heart and Saint Gerard. Triumphal Cross. In the baptistery there is a neo-Romanesque baptismal font in bluestone. The heavy tub is supported by four columns, all of which end in a head. Symbols for the streams from the earthly paradise. The other side chapel was erected for Our Lady of Banneux. The large white stone sculpture, designed by the sculptor Dupont, dates from 1944 and was consecrated on 9 August 1944 by Monsignor Kerkhofs.

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