St. Eusebius church also known as the Eusebiuskerk or the Grote Kerk, at 93 metres is the largest

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

, and the largest building in

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Notably the building contains an

elevator An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They a ...

that was added to the church in 1994, which allows visitors to travel to the top of the

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires a ...

and view the city of Arnhem from its highest point. More intriguing perhaps, visitors can also enter the crypt at the rear of the church which contains a number of full skeletons lying in state, in the darkness of the church's crypt.

Initial construction

On the site of the present building initially stood a church dedicated to St. Martinus but after some relics of St. Eusebius arrived in the town during the early part of the 15th century, it was decided to build a new church dedicated to the saint at the old site. This new structure gradually replaced the old building over the next century, commencing when Arnold, Duke of Egmond laid the first stone in 1452.

World War II damage

The church was extensively damaged during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

following Operation Market Garden in 1944. When the battle over the bridge that crosses the

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occurred, between paratroopers under the command of British Lieutenant-Colonel John Dutton Frost and the

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, the church was completely burnt out. Later the tower, weakened by the fire, collapsed entirely.

Rebuilding

Following the war the church was restored between 1946 and 1961 under the guidance of

Berend Tobia Boeyinga Berend Tobia Boeyinga ( Noord-Scharwoude, 27 March 1886 - Amsterdam, 6 November 1969) was a Dutch architect noted for his Calvinist church buildings and as a practicing member of the Amsterdam School. Life Boeyinga was the son of a Calvinist ...

, a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

noted for his

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

church buildings and as a practising member of the

Amsterdam School The Amsterdam School (Dutch: ''Amsterdamse School'') is a style of architecture that arose from 1910 through about 1930 in the Netherlands. The Amsterdam School movement is part of international Expressionist architecture, sometimes linked ...

of architecture. The church is used for occasional religious services but is mainly a tourist attraction, specifically commemorating the bravery of the paratroopers of the Allied forces who attempted to isolate the Germans by capturing the bridge across the river

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. In 1994 the municipality of Arnhem commissioned an elevator to be placed in the church tower. Visitors can pay a small fee and ride up the elevator past all of the array of

bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...

and into the loft of the church, from where tourist binoculars or the naked eye can be used to survey a 360 degree view of the surrounding city. Visitors can also take the final few steps inside the spire to climb to the very point of the tower. The church organ is still prominent and in good working order, and the church itself contains a number of items of interest and commemorative paraphernalia.

Human remains

Visitors to the church are also able to enter the crypt below the building. This part of the building has only very dim light in a central part. By carefully exploring a number of darkened cavernous areas, most of which are either barred as if being a part of old

gaol A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, English language in England, standard English, Australian English, Australian, and Huron Historic Gaol, historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention cen ...

cells, or in some cases as clearly exhumed shallow graves, the visitor can find ancient human bones which have been left in the state of their burial or death.

Gallery

Image:Arnhem Eusebiuskerk 1884.jpg, Church in 1884, Painting: ''Der Markt in Arnhem'' Image:Inside spire of St. Eusebius church, Arnhem.JPG, Inside spire. Image:Inside room - final few steps St. Euseius church, Arnhem.JPG, Roof of the final few steps towards the top of spire. Image:Main organ - St. Eusebius Church, Arnhem.JPG, Main organ Image:Eusebiuskerk verwijzing bombardement.jpg, Detail on the outside of the building. Image:Eusebiuskerk beeldhouwwerk.jpg, Various corners of the building. Image:Eusebius dwarfs.JPG, Dwarf gargoyles on the outside of the building Image:Eusebiuskerk.JPG, The lift inside the church tower

Observation deck

Since 2018, the St Eusebius' Church has two glass observation balconies at a height of 59 and 62 meters File:Glazen balkon, Sint-Eusebiuskerk Arnhem-9342.jpg, Exterior view File:Glazen balkon, Sint-Eusebiuskerk Arnhem-111254.jpg, View from the observation balcony

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Eusebius' Church, Arnhem Former churches in the Netherlands Churches completed in 1550 16th-century churches in the Netherlands Churches completed in 1961 Protestant churches in the Netherlands Churches in Gelderland Towers in Gelderland Rijksmonuments in Arnhem Burial sites of the House of Egmond 1550 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 20th-century churches in the Netherlands