Christ the King Church - Wieringerwerf

A notable landmark in Wieringerwerf: Christ the King Church. It was built between 1939 and 1940, but it’s the tower that made history. During the 1945 flooding, when the German occupiers blew up the dikes and the polder was submerged, the tower remained standing. While the rest of the village disappeared underwater, the tower stayed visible.

This Catholic church was commissioned by the Zuiderzee Foundation. Architect H.M. Martens designed it in the Delft School style, a modest, functional architectural style that you can see throughout the polder. No unnecessary decoration, but honest materials and clear forms. It was a reaction to the ornate Amsterdam School. The Delft School style is based on the ideas of Granpré Molière, who also designed the Wieringermeer villages, so this church fits naturally into the streetscape.

The tower is built of rubble stone and topped with a slate-covered spire. The church stands on a curved street, which makes it stand out even more in the village. After the war, the church was restored in 1947 and extended with a choir for the priest.

When Wieringerwerf was built, Dutch society was still divided into religious ‘pillars’. Each faith group - Catholic, Reformed, and Protestant – had its own church and school. The farms in the polder were distributed accordingly. That’s why each village had three schools and three churches. Even after pillarisation ended, the buildings remained. Until 2024, Wieringerwerf still had three primary schools, quite unusual for a village of this size. Since 2025, all schools have been housed in one modern campus building. You just passed it, it’s located on 'De Terp’, a central hill in Wieringerwerf.

Tip: hop off your bike and take a look inside the church. The sober architectural style continues indoors too.

Photo: ©Rien Hoekenga, Wieringermeer.net