Church of the Immaculate Conception

The Church of the Immaculate Conception in Eupen, province of Liège, Belgium, is a Roman Catholic church building and a former monastery church of the Capuchins. In some sources and in the population as well as in travel guides, it is therefore simply called the monastery church of Eupen or the Capuchin church of Eupen. Under its French name: "Sainte Marie", it is the religious center, especially for the francophone inhabitants of the city. The present church building was built between 1773 and 1776 according to plans by the Milanese architect Joseph Moretti, who lived in Aachen. The former convent building to the south was transferred to the city after secularization and the departure of the Capuchins in 1797 and has served as the town hall of Eupen since 1863. Since the 1990s, the church has belonged to the parish association of Eupen-Kettenis in the diocese of Liège and has been a listed building since 1983, together with the former convent building.

In order to combat the heresy that spread more and more in the 17th century and the spread of Protestantism in Eupen and the surrounding area, Walloon Capuchin monks were sent to Eupen from 1661 onwards to work to secure the Catholic faith. For this purpose, in May 1664, Count de Hoen de Cortils, lord of Stockem Castle, transferred a plot of land to the Capuchins, on which they were allowed to build a monastery with a convent building and monastery church with the permission of Maximilian Henry of Bavaria, the Bishop of Liège and vehement representative of the Counter-Reformation. In 1668, the construction of the first single-nave monastery church was completed, but its consecration on the mystery of faith of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God did not take place until July 14, 1680 by the auxiliary bishop of Liège, Johann Anton Blavier. Just 30 years later, it was significantly enlarged.

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