Church and old vicarage

Church and old vicarage

Where the MFA Hart van Hapert now stands, the Roman Catholic church and vicarage once stood. These were incorporated into the MFA. Read about their history here.

Church of Saint Severinus.

In early 1919, Johannes Cornelis Claassen donated plots C 522, 523, 524, 3112 and 3113 to the Roman Catholic Parish of Hapert, on the understanding that a new church would be built on these plots within ten years.
The old church had become too small and had fallen into disrepair.

So Father van Gerwen had to get to work on this.

The church was designed by architect Caspar Franssen.
His speciality was churches; he designed more than fifty of them. Before the Severinus Church was built,
he had already designed the churches in Casteren, ’t Loo (Bergeijk) and Riethoven.
In his initial design, the church featured a beautiful tower; unfortunately, this was omitted during the design phase.
The contract was awarded to builder J v d Bosch from Helmond for 96,000 guilders. The tower was probably listed separately
in the tender documents. Van den Bosch was to build the tower for 16,500 guilders.
Apparently, the church council considered this too expensive.

In 1938, a gallery was added to the front of the church and a Donatus Chapel was built, alongside a number of other alterations to the interior. 

Severinus of Cologne was the church’s patron saint, having served as Bishop of Cologne in the 4th century AD.
However, Saint Donatus was also venerated. This has been the case
since the deaths of Johanna and Franciscus Claassen , who were struck and killed by lightning in 1897.
Donatus is the patron saint against thunder and lightning.

In mid-2020, the church was deconsecrated.

Vicarage
In the early years of the new church, the vicarage stood some distance away. Plans
were drawn up to build a new vicarage next to the church.
Hendrik Vorstermans was commissioned to design the vicarage. A few years earlier,
Vorstermans had also designed the church in Duizel.
On 16 March 1926, Father van Gerwen applied for a building permit, which was granted on 19 March. That
same month, the tender took place at Café Claassen .
The vicarage was therefore built at a rapid pace. I do not know
who built the vicarage.
Father van Gerwen was its first occupant.

 Convent
In 1929, construction began on a new convent next to the church on Kerkstraat, based on a design by architect J.F. Vervest. The convent was built on land owned by and commissioned by the church council. Sisters from the congregation ‘The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart’ settled there in 1930.
The sisters devoted themselves to education, running a nursery school and sewing classes for girls, nursing (community nursing) and care for the elderly.
Sister Clara was the first mother superior.

The nuns left ‘Klooster Maria Stichting’ in 1967.
The property was purchased in May 1970, through an agent, by Mrs Klaziena Karbaat-Vermeulen from Dordrecht.
She established a rest and care home for the elderly there, which was named Eureka.

Eureka did not exist for very long.
In 1985, it was purchased by Rabobank (formerly Boerenleenbank) through a property company. The new Hapert branch was established
here, off the Oude Provinciale Weg.
The former monastery was demolished and Rabobank built a new office on the site.
Today, it is home to the Hapertse Kluis.