Margraten (L): St. Margarita (A.J.N. Boosten, 1922-1928)
The church of Margraten is a remarkable building, combining a medieval
tower and choir with much more modern parts. There seems to be a direct
connection between the name of the village of Margraten and of that of
its patron, St. Margareta. The oldest evidence of the presence of a
church dates from 1262, but it seems likely that a church was founded
much earlier than that. Of this old church only a part of the western
wall remains, against which a tower was built in the 14th century. The
outside of this tower was renewed in 1617. At the east side of the
church a choir from the 15th century remains. The old nave, which dated
from 1617 and was extended with side-aisles in 1829 and 1834, was
demolished in 1921, followed by the construction of a new church square
on
the direction of the old one in 1922-1928. The old choir became a
chapel, now standing at the side of the nave,
just like the tower. Such a so-called transverse enlargement was not
unusual in Limburg; in the 19th and 20th centuries many more churches
in this province were enlarged in such a radical manner, often
resulting in a mostly new church. An increased interest in old churches
and their preservation came
too late for this church. It was simply much too small for the growing
village. Architect A.J.N. Boosten designed the new parts of the church,
a wide one-aisled nave and round choir
with ambulatory. It was Boosten's only church assignment for most of
that decade, after the controversy over his first two churches. The
style of the church is radically different compared to the old parts
and is very similar to that of the church in Eygelshoven that
Boosten and his partner J. Ritzen built in 1921-1922. Like the choir
and the tower the new church was
mostly built of marl. Only the lower parts of the walls are made of
Kunrader stone.
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