Saint Lambertus church

The Saint Lambertus Church dates from 1952-1953. As early as 1219, mention is made of a small church in Berkele (that's what Horst used to be called). In the year 1502, the church in Berkelo was elevated to a parish. The name of the village was then changed to Horst.
The name Lambertus probably comes from the mother church, which was first mentioned in 1405.
Excavations were carried out in the years after the Second World War. Then they discovered remains of an old hall church. The nave of that church was the oldest, with a choir that was added later, which was later replaced by a larger Gothic choir. Around the year 1400 a heavy west tower was built. This tower remained until 1944. Over the centuries, the church has been widened and extended several times. In 1869 the Roermond architect Pierre Cuypers widened the north aisle. Then the church had three naves of equal width. In 1925 the aisles were extended by the architect Caspar Franssen, so that all three naves were the same length. They were also fitted with polygonal closures.

On October 12, 1944, the church and the buildings around it were shelled by the Germans. As a result, the church caught fire. The civilians tried to put out the fire and many artifacts were saved. After the fire, these were placed back in the church, whose vaults were still intact. On November 22, 1944, the Germans tried to blow up the church. The first attempt failed, but the second attempt was fatal to the Medieval Church. The tower was blown off its foundations, and the works of art that still stood in the church were all destroyed. The works of art that had already been removed from the church were stored safely in the cellar of the rectory.

the emergency church
The destroyed church was no longer usable. In June 1946 permission was given to demolish the remains of it. During the demolition, an old Romanesque hall church came to light. This was probably the first church to have stood on this site.