Bethlehemkerk
s-Gravenhage, NL
Dutch Reformed Bethlehem Church in the Bomen- en Bloemenbuurt in The Hague, from 1931. Iconic church in the wide area, partly because of the high tower of 55 m. Extremely important work within the oeuvre of Architectenbureau Meischke & Schmidt. Large hall church with projecting front facade, apse, and tower to the side at the right rear, in the axis of the Laan van Meerdervoort., a beautiful urban development find. Built under strong influence of the Hague School, a fairly sober and businesslike variant of expressionism, visible in, among other things, the angular windows and partly exposed (concrete) construction. Internally covered by a wooden barrel vault. Part of the original interior decoration disappeared during later renovations. For example, the attention wall was renovated in the early 1970s, among other things by partially inserting a partition wall. In doing so, the location of two Royal chairs disappeared, which have been preserved and are now in the meeting room at the back. Since 1995, the church has been used as a "general, central" reformed church of the Reformed Federation modality; a very active church community within the PKN.