Steyl

Steyl is a village in the municipality of Venlo (Tegelen district) in the Netherlands and is best known as a monastery village.

Steyl is divided into two areas:

Former Steyl: The old center, located west of the Roermondseweg 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 Maas 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 in the past century, each with their own monastery. Most monasteries were in the 70s of the 19th century at Steyl founded by the German Father Arnold Janssen. 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. 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 are from 1875 and traveled around the world have all contributed to the collection. A short summary: animals from the polar regions and the South American jungles, costumes from China and artifacts from Indonesia. A more sinister element of the exhibition exhibits clothes from two Steyler monks wore 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 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.

Also in Steyl is the Limburg Militia Museum. This museum was a collection of clothes and attributes to see many of Limburg militia. This museum, however, was April 10, 2008 a fire struck. 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.

Steyl is on the right bank of the 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.

Sources

• A.J. Welschen 2000-2005: Course Dutch Society and Culture, International School for Humanities and Social Studies ISHSS, Universiteit van Amsterdam