Steyl
Steyl is a village in the municipality of Venlo (Tegelen district) in the Netherlands and is best known as a monastery village.
Location
Steyl is on the right bank of the Limburgic river Meuse. A ferry connects Steyl with Baarlo. Steyl in the past has often had to deal with flooding, due to the high level of the Meuse. The last two major floods were in 1993 and 1995. During these floods was much of Old Steyl flooded. Steyl is divided into two areas:
- (1) Former Steyl: The old center, located west of the Roermondseweg, the main road in Tegelen.
- (2) New Steyl: The new area, located east of the Roermondseweg. In popular parlance, this area called Alland.
History
Steyl was in the late Middle Ages and modern times a port on the Meuse for unloading marl, wine, coal and other items for the Gulick hinterland. This brought great wealth to Steyler merchants, especially in the 18th century. Some of the merchants built a large mansion from the revenues earned by their trade as the family's estate Moubis by the family Moubis. The old port on the Maas is now gone but the houses are still forming a picturesque village image of a glorious past. The estate was eventually sold by the family Moubis to a monastic community of nuns which then significantly expanded it with a church and monastery buildings.The village had four congregations[disambiguation needed] in the past century, each with their own monastery. Most monasteries at Steyl were founded by the German Father Arnold Janssen in the 1870s. He had emigrated to the Netherlands because in the newly founded German Empire, the Catholic Church was put under pressure by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in the Kulturkampf. He founded the Divine Word Missionaries (official called Society of the Divine Word (Latin: Societas Verbi Divini, abbreviated SVD), a worldwide catholic missionary congregation. Today the congregation is active in more than 70 countries. His monastic community today includes two mission congregations, one congregation for worship and a congregation of sisters. A fourth congregation of sisters has since then left Steyl. Father Arnold Janssen was on October 5, 2003 in Rome by Pope John Paul II canonized.
Church
The village was a rectory until early last century. Only in 1933 was Steyl by Bishop Lemmens of Roermond elevated to independent parish.
Museums
The Mission Museum is the oldest museum in Venlo. This is an extensive collection on display, based on the experiences of the SVD Fathers. These priests travelled, from 1875 on, around the world and have all contributed to the collection. A short summary: animals from the polar regions and the South American jungles, costumes from China and artefacts from Indonesia. A more sinister element of the exhibition exhibits clothes from two Steyler monks worn by them when they were killed with spear punches during the Boxer Rebellion (1899–1901) in China. Still you see the blood stains and holes in the clothes made by the spears. The uniqueness of this museum is that the arrangement of the collection has not been substantially changed since its inception and is still that of the 19th century.
Another museum is the botanical garden Jochum Hof named after the SVD biology teacher Father Peter Jochum.
Also in Steyl is the Limburgs Schutterij Museum. This museum was a collection of clothes and attributes from many of Limburgs Schutterij organisations (see also militia). This museum, however, was in April 10, 2008 struck by fire. Part of the collection could be saved, but the damage to the old building is significant. The foundation behind the museum is still renovating the building at the same place and continue to exhibit the collection.
Sources
- A.J. Welschen 2000-2005: Course Dutch Society and Culture, International School for Humanities and Social Studies ISHSS, Universiteit van Amsterdam