Holy Mary's Nativity Church (Heilig Maria Geboorte in Dutch)
is on Berg en Dalseweg, at the junction with Dominicanenstraat. The
neo-Gothic Catholic basilica belongs to the second generation of
neo-Gothic churches in Nijmegen. It was designed by father and son
architectural team, Johannes Hermandus Julius Kaijser (1842-1917)
and Jules Kaijser, and was built between 1900-1924 with a brown
brick facade that is articulated by horizontal layers of yellow
brick.
The church had a three-aisled nave at the time of
the senior Kaijser's death, but his son added the transepts, a low
five-sided choir, and the front, where the entrance hall is flanked
on both sides by a tower with stairs that is crowned with an
octagonal spire needle. The large church window above the portal is
flanked by stone statues of the saints Albertus the Great (right)
and Dominic (left). Inside, the church retains original elements
such as flooring tiles and oak pews.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church (Evangelisch
Lutherse Gemeente) is on the north-eastern corner of the junction of
Prins Hendrikstraat and Jacob Canisstraat. It was originally built
in 1898, based on a design by Derk Semmelink (1855-1899). It was
originally used by an evangelical society, but the current Lutheran
congregation moved into the premises in 1924 from a previous church
building that stood on Grotestraat in the very heart of the oldest
part of the city.
The tower was added to the neo-Gothic building in
1929, and a photo exists to show it before that, looking like
nothing more than a slightly grand town house. With its completion,
the Lutherans were able to install the bells from their previous
church, which was demolished in 1959. The present church organ is
the oldest of its kind in Nijmegen, and was made by Matthijs
van Deventer in 1756. The church also houses a pulpit from 1671. Both are
from the earlier Lutheran church.
Holy Anthony of Padua Church (Heilig
Antonius van Padua) is sometimes listed as the Dutch Reformed Church
Byzantine Chapel (Nederlands Gereformeerde Kerk Byzantijnse Kapel),
perhaps to differentiate it from the similarly named Holy Anthony of
Padua and St Anna, which is also in Nijmegen. This church is at
Groesbeekseweg 92, just a short way south-west of the Lutheran church,
opposite the junction with Fort Kijk in de Potstraat.
The church was designed by Jos Margry, the son of
A A J Margry, who was one of three architect brothers in the late
nineteenth century. Jos took over the firm upon his father's death
in 1911. The building was constructed between 1916-1917, despite the
deprivations caused by the First World War, although the planned
tower was abandoned, perhaps for that very reason. The upper part of
the facade above the entrance arch still makes a fairly temporary
impression.