The ancient
church
of Nederhorst
den Berg
at Home2b.nl
The ancient
church of
Nederhorst
den Berg
This church is situated upon a
small hill surrounded by flat land.
The river Vecht is nearby,
once an important part of the Rhine delta
in the Netherlands.
There is a story being told in
this area, that this hill was artificially made by
a group of women. This seems
to be an indication that this place was an ancient holy place
of the ancient religion before
Christianity.
The staircase goes
up to the church upon the hill.
Even from this
point of view it is visible,
that the structure
to the left of the tower is a later addition.
The church has the same
pattern of design
as the churches of Vries and
Anloo.
The middel part is a
rectangular building with small Roman windows.
Much later the choir was added
to it.
It seems that the tower is
also of ancient design.
Since the windows of the tower
are very small,
the purpose could have been to
defend the place.
The tower is placed
against the rectangular building to the right.
Much to the right
is a later added entrance portal on the Southside.
The door in the
tower is a later break through,
To the left of the
tower also a later addition.
Like the church of
Vries, this building has the symbolic ornaments.
All ornaments have
a numerological meaning.
The people in Vries
had biblical explanations for the symbolic numbers.
This is the South
area of the hill.
Very likely there
are also cellars in this area.
The North side of
the hill is used as churchyard
and is much lower
then the Southside.
The North part of the
building is a later addition.
The door is very
peculiar with an ancient frame with inscription.
It is clear that
the North part of the hill is much lower.
Probably erosion
did this, or maybe the soil of the hill was
used for extending
the church yard.
A special frame with only half
of a mysterious inscription:
The North door has
a very old frame with an inscription
on the left half of
the frame.
The inscription is
not clear and several explanations are given.
Completely clear is
that the inscription gives the name Alburga.
This suggests a
relation with Liudger, the missionary
of the Frisians and
Saxons.
Liudger also
established the nearby churches of Muiden and Loenen along the Vecht.
The churches of
Vries and Anloo were also tributary to Liudger and his cloister Werden.
The three churches
Muiden, Nederhorst and Loenen were property of
the Benedictine cloister of Werden in Essen,
Germany
So it could be that
this frame dates back to around 780AD.
Very interesting
would be the existence of another ancient frame,
somewhere in the
world,
with the other
half of the inscription.
The method of the missionaries
in Western Europe is known:
first break down the local
sanctuary of the ancient religion,
then build a church on exact
the same place,
finally make the area
tributary with feudal rights.
Liudger gave the feudal rights
he created with his converted churches
to his cloister in Werden,
which he founded in 799 or 800AD.
Liudger lived for about five
years in York,
where he met the queen Alburga
and
her daughter the later queen
Alburga
The daughter Alburga became
mother of king Egbert of England.
Daughter Alburga started her
Benedictine cloister in Engeland in the same year
as Liudger started his Benedictine cloister in
Werden
and 10 years later Liudger and
Alburga died almost on the same time.
Alburga was sainted shortly
after her death.
Liudger was a follower of the
idea of peregrinatio.
A Christian has no home on
this Earth and goes on from place to place
to bring the Word.
This movement also preached
the possibility of a marriage in complete abstinention
On the Southside
the original rectangular building is visible.
The two windows in
the middele have the expected small size.
The windows on the left
and the right have been enlarged
The East ending of
the rectangular building.
The choir at the
right was added later.
Very probably the
little window in the middle is the original size.
The set up is very
much the same as other Liudger churches
or churches
tributary to the cloister of Werden.
Robert did not do any measurements yet.
Also the inside was not visited.
All pictures made by Robert.
CopyrightŠ2009 by Robert
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Updated July 31, 2009
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