The Cross Chapel (Kruiskapel)

The Kruiskapel (Cross Chapel, or Kreuzkapelle) in Hemden served as a refuge chapel for Roman Catholics from Aalten and Bredevoort. During the height of Calvinist rule (1675–1821), they were no longer permitted to practise their faith locally. The chapel stood in Hemden, Germany, about 200 metres beyond the present green border near the Kesenbult, at the end of Kiefteweg.

Missionary Outpost

From 1672 to 1674, Christoph Bernhard von Galen, the Prince-Bishop of Münster (1650–1678), waged war against the Dutch Republic, supported by King Louis XIV of France. Von Galen, nicknamed ‘Bommen Berend’ (‘Bombing Bernard’), was forced to withdraw from Dutch territories following the Peace of Cologne in April 1674. However, the Catholics remaining in the area were still prohibited from owning their own churches or holding religious services. To provide the Catholics of Aalten and Bredevoort with the opportunity to practise their faith, Von Galen ordered the construction of nine missionary outposts along the border, one of which was the Cross Chapel in Hemden.

Construction of the Cross Chapel

Initially, Catholic services in Hemden were held in a barn on the Leicking estate, which had been converted into a house of prayer. In 1675, by order of Von Galen, the Cross Chapel was built on the Reyerding estate. The chapel, dedicated to the Holy Cross, was constructed under the leadership of Jesuit Father Ernst Ignatius Busch, who served as the parish priest for the Aalten and Bredevoort congregations from 1672 to 1674.

The chapel was an octagonal, largely wooden structure and became the religious centre for the exiled Catholics of Aalten and Bredevoort. Between 1710 and 1714, the chapel was restored and enlarged into a rectangular shape.

The ‘Kruisberg’ (Cross Hill)

Around the same time, the ‘Kruisberg’—a small hill—was created near the chapel, upon which a cross was placed. This cross faced the chapel and stood on a pedestal bearing the following inscription (translated from the Middle Dutch):

What you see here is an image of Christ and not He Himself,
therefore, worship neither wood nor stone,
but direct your heart only to Christ.

This inscription was intended to refute the Protestant accusations of the Reformation era that Catholics were worshipping idols through their figurative representations of Christ and the saints.

Church Life

In 1751, the parish of the Kruiskapel comprised about 27 German and 451 Dutch Roman Catholics. Every Sunday, on Catholic feast days and for family occasions such as baptisms and weddings, Catholics from Aalten and Bredevoort made the journey to the chapel, often via the present-day Bodendijk and Veenhuisweg. According to local tradition, worshippers travelled in work clothes and carried their tools so that they would not attract attention as churchgoers.

Transcriptions of the baptismal and marriage registers of the Cross Chapel are available on the Genealogiedomein website and are valuable sources for genealogical research.

The Restoration of Catholicism in the Netherlands

Vanaf 1798 kregen de Bredevoorters en vanaf 1799 de Aaltenaren weer het recht om in eigen land het katholieke geloof in vrijheid te praktiseren. Zij richtten weer eigen kerken op in Bredevoort en Aalten. Hierdoor daalde het aantal Nederlandse bezoekers van de Kruiskapel. Rond 1800 waren er nog maar enkele Duitse gelovigen die de kapel bezochten, voornamelijk op zon- en feestdagen.

In 1821, Pope Pius VII decreed that the parishes of Aalten, Bredevoort, and other surrounding areas were to be assigned to the ‘Dutch Mission’. As a result, only five German families remained as members of the Hemden parish. The Cross Chapel had thereby lost its original purpose.

The End of the Cross Chapel

On 16 July 1821, Pope Pius VII formally declared the separation of the Dutch Catholics. Two years later, in 1823, the Cross Chapel was demolished. The parish was dissolved and relocated to the nearby Bocholt rural district of Barlo, a few kilometres south-east of Hemden. All that remains today to commemorate the chapel is the Kruisberg, with its Baroque cross and a stone memorial plaque.

In total, seven parish priests served at the Cross Chapel. Although the chapel itself has vanished, the Kruisberg and its cross remain as a reminder of the religious life of the Catholics from Aalten and Bredevoort during a time of oppression and persecution.