History

Heyday

The Grote Kerk Breda as we know it today has its origins around the mid-14th century. Jan van Polanen I, a rich and influential man at the time, bought the seigniory of Breda. He planned to turn Breda into a real city. A huge project for the then small population. About five thousand people lived in Breda at the time. Under Jan van Polanen I, the Grote Kerk Breda became a stone church. Before that, it was a church made of tuff, and even further back probably a wooden church. His son, Jan van Polanen II, commissioned the construction of Breda Castle. What was the high point of this heyday? That took place for the church under the rule of Engelbert II of Nassau and Henry III of Nassau, both high officials at the Habsburg Court. After 1410, the church was gradually extended with a chancel, an ambulatory, a nave with side aisles and a transept to its current size.

A divine miracle

A sacred host. Anyone who has ever attended a Catholic service is familiar with this white piece of bread. But a bleeding host? One of these was found in the town of Niervaert (now Klundert). While cutting peat, a farmer found a host bleeding in no less than five places. Immediately the connection was made with the five wounds of the crucified Christ. In church circles, this was extraordinary. It had to be a divine miracle. Since 1421, this miracle has been housed in the Grote Kerk Breda, in the specially built sacramental chapel. The arrival of this divine miracle in Breda was good news and a source of income for the church and the city. Pilgrims were eager to see the host with their own eyes, making the Grote Kerk Breda a place of pilgrimage in the Southern Netherlands. Unfortunately, the host was lost, presumably during the iconoclasm of 1566. This divine miracle was never recovered. To this day, people are still searching for it.

High and mighty

The tower of the Grote Kerk Breda can be seen from afar. Originally, the tower as we know it today was not there. The old tower collapsed around 1457 and construction of the new (current) tower began some ten years later. Fun fact: for a long time, the Grote Kerk Breda was the only completed Gothic church in Brabant. That shows how important the Dukes of Nassau were in that period. Building a Gothic cathedral is not an easy undertaking. It means you have a lot at your disposal in terms of power and finance. Did you know that the brick-built church was clad with Belgian and French natural stone? We still use similar stones today during restorations.

Important people

The more important the person, the bigger the tomb monument. You can see this, for example, in the monuments of the couples Engelbert I van Nassau and Johanna van Polanen and Jan IV van Nassau and Maria van Loon. They are the earliest ancestors of the Dutch royal family and were important nobility in Breda and in the Duchy of Brabant in the 15th century. Their tomb is no less than eight metres high and features 32 family coats of arms. Renowned architect Pierre Cuypers (of the Rijksmuseum and Nieuwe Kerk Amsterdam, among others) was responsible for the monument's first restoration in the mid-19th century.

The first Prince of Orange-Nassau is buried in Breda

Not many people know it: the royal status of the Dutch royal family begins in Breda. And the name associated with it is René de Châlon. Son of the Lord of Breda, Count Henry III of Nassau, and his wife Claudia de Châlon. He was the very first Prince of Orange-Nassau. In 1530, he inherited the princely title of Van Oranje (of Orange) through the family of his French mother, who held the principality of Orange. His nephew - the famous William of Orange – inherited the prince title after him when René died on a battlefield in 1544 at the age of 25.

René de Chalôn is buried in the Prinsenkapel alongside other members of the early Nassau family. His heart was buried in Bar-le-Duc, France, where his widow and lover Anna of Lorraine had a magnificent cadaver tomb made for him. The tomb located in the Prinsenkapel was therefore not erected in honour of René de Chalôn, but for his great-uncle Count Engelbert II of Nassau and Cimburga of Baden.

Turbulent times

1566, the year of the iconoclasm. Protestants destroyed many Catholic churches in the Netherlands. Especially the statues and effigies. The Grote Kerk Breda did not emerge unscathed from the battle either. The iconoclasm was the start of the Eighty Years' War: the revolt of Dutch Protestant provinces against the Spanish Catholic rule. Breda was occupied by Protestant insurgents between 1566 and 1648, and then again by the Spanish. Finally, in 1647, the church became permanently Protestant. This meant, among other things, that the church's new owners hid the beautiful murals and vault paintings under a thick, white chalk layer. After all, they were not allowed to worship images of saints. But: every disadvantage has its advantage. The white lime layer meant that the paintings were well preserved. When visiting the church, be sure to take a look at the murals and vault paintings. The most original paintings date back to the Middle Ages and were only restored in the 20th century. Breathtaking, aren't they?
 

Decline

Sad times for Brabant. The province was governed by the States General of the Netherlands, but was not allowed to have its own say. Growth and prosperity remained out of reach. This was also evident in the Grote Kerk Breda. Workmen only undertook essential restoration: a new spire after a fire and cheap iron railings instead of authentic parapets on a ruined balustrade. The money simply wasn't there. Things got worse when French soldiers temporarily stayed in the church in the late 18th century, as they – led by Napoleon – occupied Breda. That stay – in addition to the destruction already caused by the iconoclasm and the Eighty Years' War – resulted in even more damage to the church's tombs. Shields denoting noble families were removed. It was not until 1902 that the first restoration of the church began. So as beautiful as the church is today, it had not been that way for centuries.
 

Stinking rich

Just imagine: until 1829, Breda's influential residents were buried in the church. There are more than two hundred tombstones in the Grote Kerk Breda. Those bodies naturally decompose and start to stink. That's where the term 'stinking rich' comes from. From 1829, burials in the church were permanently suspended. The tombstones still have an important place in the monument. They offer us a glimpse into the past and into the lives of influential people who lived in the previous centuries. You are literally standing in and on the past.

Former glory

After the deterioration of the church between 1637 and 1900, restoration was badly needed. In the 20th century, this was done step by step. First the exterior, the church tower and the ambulatory were renovated, followed by the interior. All the murals and vault paintings hidden for centuries under the white chalk layer would reappear, be restored and conserved.

Mummy cat

During restoration work in 1906, stonemasons found a cat in one of the towers on the north side of the church. The animal is weather-beaten and seems to have been there for centuries. The restoration architect takes it home and, after many wanderings, the cat returns to the church in 2020. Carbon dating and a CT scan show with 95% certainty that the animal is almost 600 years old and was bricked in around 1440 -1460, probably as a construction sacrifice. The cat has been on display in the church since 2025. Pupils from local primary schools helped come up with a new name. Daan from group 8 of KBS Jacinta gave the mummy cat a name: Polleke. He was inspired by the tomb of Jan II van Polanen.

No less a person than Queen Beatrix opened the Grote Kerk Breda in 1998 after a second restoration. Several more rounds of restoration would follow in the subsequent years, as part of the restoration programme that will last until 2027. And so the Grote Kerk Breda returns to its former glory. Restoration and maintenance are never finished, of course, and will continue to be necessary in the future.