The Stift church

The central building at Het Stift is in all respects the Collegiate Church. Not only because of its size, age and religious significance, but also because it has functioned actively throughout the centuries, in all episodes in the history of Het Stift. In the Middle Ages as a monastery and parish church, then as a Collegiate Church of the Reformed community. It still functions in the latter capacity. The significance of the other buildings has generally been limited to a certain period.

When Hugo van Buren established his commune around 1140, Weerselo already had a chapel. It must have been made of wood. Since 1178, this chapel, now a monastery church, was officially dedicated to Saint Remigius, the bishop who baptized Clovis and who is therefore also called, the apostle of the Franks. It could well be that in this period the church was already made of stone. Chunks of iron ore have been incorporated into the walls of the current church. The church now has four bays. Each part of a church, which is spanned by a separate vault, is called a bay. Schouwman's watercolour from the 18th century (see below) tells us that the church originally had five bays. However, the westernmost bay, 6.20 m long, was demolished around 1800, but its foundations are still present.

Today, the Collegiate Church is used for weddings, concerts, funerals and church services.

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