Sunday school Haart

Kriegerdijk 10, Aalten

The small, single-classroom schoolhouse in the rural area between Aalten and the German border was built in 1924 on the initiative of the Reformed Church council.

This type of one- or two-classroom Sunday school building could be found in various hamlets throughout the Achterhoek region. In those days, the roads from these areas to the villages were often little more than simple cart tracks. Particularly in winter, these became nearly impassable dirt roads. Much of the land in this area had only recently been cleared for cultivation.

The plot of land on which the building stands was once part of a patch of forest (wasteland) that local farmers were in the process of reclaiming. An association of parents with school-age children purchased this piece of land and built the small schoolhouse using their own contributions.

In this Sunday school, a number of parents took turns telling stories from the Bible and teaching the children Christian songs. The number of children attending varied between 12 and 30. Rev. D. Breukelaar from Aalten and Rev. J. van Dijk from Doetinchem had a significant influence on this work.

Around 1925–1930, partly due to the emancipation movement, a girls’ association and a women’s association were founded. The girls’ association met there weekly, and the women’s association met once a month. At these meetings, the Bible was studied, but social topics were also discussed, such as the position of women in the church and in politics.

From 1945 until 1997, boys’ and girls’ clubs met here, discussing the Bible and/or themes relevant to young people. Both the Sunday school and the clubs operated under a Parents’ Association, which maintained the building. Due to various societal changes, all these associations eventually ceased to exist.

In 2005, the Geldersch Landschap & Kasteelen foundation received the Sunday schoolhouse as a donation from the Haart-Heurne Parents’ Association. In order to preserve the small building, a suitable new purpose was sought. Since 2009, it has been available for rent as a holiday home.

Website: zondagsschoolhuusken.nl