Windesheim is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the municipality of

Zwolle Zwolle () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the Capital city, capital of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel ...

in the province of

Overijssel Overijssel (; ; ; ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name comes from the perspective of the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht, Episcopal principality of Utrecht ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. The

Congregation of Windesheim The Congregation of Windesheim () is a congregation of Augustinian canons that regularly takes its name from its most important monastery, which was located at Windesheim in the Netherlands. The congregation was founded as an offshoot of the Br ...

was located in Windesheim from 1387 until 1577.

History

The village was first mentioned in 1028 as Wendesheim, and means "settlement of Winid (person)". Windesheim is an ''

esdorp __NOTOC__ An ''Angerdorf'' (plural: ''Angerdörfer'') is a type of village that is characterised by the houses and farmsteads being laid out around a central grassed area, the ''Anger (meadow), anger'' (from the Old High German ''angar'' =pasture ...

'' which developed in the

Late Middle Ages The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the Periodization, period of History of Europe, European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period ( ...

along the road from

Deventer Deventer (; Sallaans dialect, Sallands: ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Salland historical region of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel, ...

. In 1387, a monastery by the

Brethren of the Common Life The Brethren of the Common Life (, FVC) was a Roman Catholic pietist religious community founded in the Netherlands in the 14th century by Gerard Groote, formerly a successful and worldly educator who had had a religious experience and preached a ...

was established in the village. The first Dutch translation of the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

was made in Windesheim in 1390. The

started to establish sister monasteries, and by 1511 was in charge of 97 monasteries throughout the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. During the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, many were demolished or closed down. Around 1570, the monastery in Windesheim was destroyed by the

Geuzen ''Geuzen'' (; ; ) was a name assumed by the confederacy of Calvinist Dutch nobles, who from 1566 opposed Spanish rule in the Netherlands. The most successful group of them operated at sea, and so were called ''Watergeuzen'' (; ; ). In the Eigh ...

. In 1577, all possessions of the congregation were seized by the province of

. The

Dutch Reformed church The Dutch Reformed Church (, , abbreviated NHK ) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the traditional denomination of the Dutch royal famil ...

was built in the former brewery of the monastery. The building dates from around 1565. By 1633, it was converted into a church by removing the floors. Around 1987, the original windows were restored. Several smaller buildings had survived as well, and were reused as

clergy house A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, p ...

and farms. The ''

havezate A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

'' (manor house) Huis Windesheim was built around 1600. The gardens around the estate were designed by in 1813. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, it was expropriated by the German authorities and used as living quarters for German officers. On 20 October 1944, the estate was bombed by the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, and only ruins remain. The gate house and bridge over the moat still exist. The park which measures has been restored. The

grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

Windesheimer Molen was built in 1748, but is a replacement of earlier wind mills. The first mill was built at the site in 1391 by monks of the monastery. In 1952, the wind mill became property of a foundation and was restored to working order. Since 1978, it is owned by the municipality, and is occasionally in service. Windesheim was home to 232 people in 1840. Between 1866 until 1936, and 1940 until 1941, there was a railway station in Windesheim on the

Arnhem–Leeuwarden railway The Arnhem–Leeuwarden railway is a railway line in the Netherlands running from Arnhem to Leeuwarden, passing through Deventer, Zwolle and Heerenveen. It is also called the ''Staatslijn A'' ("state line A") in Dutch. The part between Arnhem and ...

. The building was demolished in 1962. Windesheim was part of the municipality of

Zwollerkerspel Zwollerkerspel (Low German, Low Saxon: ''Zwollerkärspel'') is a former List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel, Netherlands. It covered the countryside around the city ...

until 31 July 1967 when it was merged into Zwolle. In 1977, the city of

changed the postal stamps of Windesheim to the curious "Dorpstraat Zwolle" (village street Zwolle). Since 1978, Windesheim is no longer a recognised village by the postal authorities. Nevertheless, it is still a separate village and there is a still significant distance to its neighbouring city.

Gallery

File:Overzicht Huis Windesheim, gezien vanuit het noordwesten - Reproductie uit het tijdschrift "Buiten" nr. 16, (1922). -zie ook ST-2.317 - Zwollerkerspel - 20231425 - RCE.jpg, Huis Windesheim (1922) File:Voormalige klooster naar 2 tekeningen van A.Schoemaker in het Museum te Zwolle - Windesheim - 20214653 - RCE.jpg, Drawing of the monastery Windesheim (1730) File:20140723 Molen Windesheim met pijpen IJsselcentrale.jpg, Wind mill Windesheimer molen with a factory in the background

References

{{Authority control Zwolle Populated places in Overijssel