Although the village of Koewacht  has been divided in two parts since 1830, part of it being Belgian since then, it formed one single parish until 1914. That year the Belgian part of the village, like much of Belgium, was occupied by the Germans and the border was closed. A temporary church was built on the Dutch side of the border in 1916, followed by a true church in 1921. The church was designed by W. te Riele and is in neo-Gothic style. It's a three-aisled building with wide and tall side-aisles and a wide central aisle. Each trave of the side-aisles has a pointed gable and three tall windows. East of the nave is the polygonal choir, which is lower and narrower than the central aisle. In the corner between the choir and the northern side-aisle is a tower. In 1924, Te Riele used the same configuration for the St. Gertrudis in Utrecht.