Nederland - Westerbork, Stefanuskerk

The Stefanuskerk (Church of St. Stephen) is a Gothic church, which was built at the beginning of the 15th century as a Catholic church. The church was dedicated to the martyr Stephen, just like the mother church in Beilen. After the transfer of the church to the Protestant community around 1600, the name was somewhat forgotten. Since 2007, the church has officially been called Stefanuskerk again.

The tower of the Stefanuslerk was built earlier. The lower part of the tower is dating back to the 13th century. Later, in 1778, the upper part of the tower was built. The tower has three bells, one of an anonymus bellfounder from early 14th century.

The village church of Westerbork has existed for over 800 years. In an old document from 1206, the "capella te Burcht" was already mentioned. It was probably a small wooden chapel, covered with straw. This historical fact was the reason for the Westerbork community to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the village in 2006. Around 1360 the wooden chapel was replaced by a stone church, which was then somewhat smaller than the current church.