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Kerkrade-Kaalheide (L): St. Jozef (J.H.H. van Groenendael, 1925-1928)

The Kaalheide neighbourhood of Kerkrade was one of several hamlets which saw a huge growth of its population due to the coalmining industry. In 1920 a rectory was founded and a wooden temporary church was built, a former barrack used in WW1 for housing interned Belgian soldiers.

In 1925 architect J.H.H. van Groenendael was commissioned to design a permanent church. His first design was for a big dome-church, which obviously was too expensive. Collecting the money needed for the more simplified version proved difficult enough. Start of construction was halted for more than a year. In March 1927 the tender for the construction was published, work started shortly thereafter. In June 1928 the finished church was consecrated.

Despite being simpler than the original design, the St. Jozef is one of Van Groenendael's more eclectic churches. It's a three-aisled cruciform church that features influences from several styles, especially Gothic, Romanesque and Baroque. The church is mainly built of small irregular blocks of nievelsteiner, with marl used for traceries and edges and horizontal layers. Stylistically the church shows similarities with the St. Petrus in Bladel (NB) Van Groenendael designed in 1924.

The nave is four traves long and is flanked by a tower on the south side and a chapel on the north side. The tower is crowned with an onion-shaped spire, a shape that is repeated on the small crossing-tower. The three remaining side-aisles have gables and seperate roofs, square on the roof of the nave, a feature seen in many neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque churches but not by Van Groenendael. The windows in the nave and the transepts are mostly large, three-part pointed ones. The eastern part of the church is in neo-Romanesque style. The choir has a semi-circular apse with small round windows. Similar but smaller apses are at the east sides of the transept.

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
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