Guy Van Grinsven
Experience Centre
In the Experience Centre you will learn the story of one of the first and richest women's abbeys in the Low Countries. A chronological route through the fascinating history of 600 years of women at Herkenrode, for better or for worse.
The Experience Centre presents to you the story of one of the first and especially the richest convents in the Netherlands in an authentic historic context via an audio guide (or with your own smartphone).
The interesting story of the abbess will take you back in time telling about the hard decisions, the importance of Herkenrode as a pilgrimage site, about the presence of an influential patrons, … In short, discover yourself the chronological trail of 600 years of women on Herkenrode.
Dolf Van Sprengel
Anchored in local Limburg stories
For 600 years, the Cistercian nuns of Herkenrode alternated between periods of prosperity and economic wealth and a culturally advanced life and difficult periods, with war, disease and violence. The timeline connects the story of the abbey with the major social events and the local Limburg stories.
The story of the abbey does not end after these 600 years, with the forced departure of the sisters. The period that followed, in which industry and agriculture injured the site, and the new start for the abbey site, were also included in the route.
The abbess tells
Through sound fragments, among other things, the fascinating past comes to life. The abbess takes you back in time and tells you about the difficult decisions she has to make, about the importance of Herkenrode as a place of pilgrimage, about the presence of an influential patron who made a lot possible for the abbey, ... It's a story full of emotions that won't let you go and draws you into the fascinating world of a women's abbey. A visit to the Experience Center takes about an hour.
TIP: Visit the Experience Center with your own smartphone
All sound clips can be listened to via smartphone. With your own earplugs, you can experience the visit extra comfortably.
Dolf Van Sprengel
Dolf Van Sprengel
Evocation abbey church
The vanished abbey church of Herkenrode appeals to the imagination. In 1826, a fire destroyed most of the church, and in 1843 the remaining walls were demolished. Since then, the architecture of the church can still be reconstructed to some extent by drawings and excavation plans, but what the interior looked like remained a mystery.
This posed a challenge for the Herkenrode-Kuringen Heritage Circle, which reconstructed the interior on the basis of archaeological and survey plans, etc. This resulted in a scale evocation (1/4th) of the interior of the 16th-century abbey church. In view of the positive reactions to this, it was decided to give this evocation a permanent character in the Experience Centre.
Dolf Van Sprengel
TIP: Quick tour through the Experience Centre
Are you short on time, but still curious about the history of the abbey? In the Experience Centre there is the possibility to visit the course via the quick tour or fast route. Through 8 login points, you get a concise picture of the entire history of this beautiful abbey.