Church of Peace (Friedenskirche) - Eupen

The current Friedenskirche is a neo-Gothic building, constructed of brick and natural stone between 1851 and 1854.

The entrance area is built entirely of bluestone. It has a double wing door with the inscription: “GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST – PEACE ON EARTH AND GOOD FAITH TO MEN” carved into the rectangular wall section above it.

The area surrounding the church building is largely surrounded by an old stone wall, within which a small old cemetery is integrated, in which 22 old gravestones have been preserved, reminiscent of Eupen deacons from the 17th and 18th centuries, including their coats of arms.

The Peace Church, the pulpit, the fence and 22 historical gravestones were placed under monument protection in 1987. In addition, the pneumatic organ , built in 1907 in the workshop of master organ builder Eberhard Friedrich Walcker, was the first of its kind in Belgium to be placed under protection in 1996.

The church is a Protestant church building . The first Protestants were found in Eupen in the 16th century. Since Eupen was then part of the Spanish Netherlands, the Protestant religion was suppressed . In 1707 Eupen came under the control of the Dutch Republic for a short time, and then Protestant religious practice was indeed possible, but on condition that it would not be visible that there was a church in what looked like a mansion from the street side (the Evangelical rectory in the Eupener Hookstrasse).

When the French took over in 1797, the Protestants were given full equality . When Eupen became Prussian in 1815, the state supported the Protestants. However, the Eupen Protestants, unlike most German Protestants, were not so much Evangelical Lutheran as they were Calvinist in orientation.

However, it took until 1851 before a church building of its own could be built.

Willem Vandenameele