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 place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

, and the largest building in

Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...

The 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 ...

. Notably the building contains an

elevator An elevator (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...

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. Spire ...

and view the city of Arnhem from its highest point. More intriguing perhaps, visitors can also enter the

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

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

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

s 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 (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 ...

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

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

occurred, between paratroopers under the command of British Lieutenant-Colonel

John Dutton Frost Major General John Dutton Frost, (31 December 1912 – 21 May 1993) was an airborne officer of the British Army, best known for being the leader of the small group of British airborne troops that actually arrived at Arnhem bridge during the ...

and the

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

, 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, a Dutch

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 Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

church buildings and as a practising member of the Amsterdam School 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 Nederrijn. 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 /ˈbɛl/ () 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 m ...

and into the loft of the church, from where tourist

binoculars Binoculars or field glasses are two refracting telescopes mounted side-by-side and aligned to point in the same direction, allowing the viewer to use both eyes (binocular vision) when viewing distant objects. Most binoculars are sized to be held ...

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, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cri ...

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