Napoleon's Church

The French era - from the end of the 18th century - is an important moment for equality between religions in the Netherlands. Catholics were given - step by step - more space to live their faith and allow church life to flourish, and they regained their old churches in many places. In the predominantly Catholic south, King Louis Napoleon ensured a balance between Catholic and Reformed; he arranged for Reformed church buildings to be built. They are therefore called Louis' churches or Napoleon's churches. Often these are small buildings, because the religious communities in the south were not large. In Oudenbosch, the small church building was already enlarged in 1819. If you look closely above the windows, you can still see this.