Gezicht op de Hervormde Kerk te Heelsum 1890 - 1920

This photograph, taken by an anonymous hand for Monumentenzorg, captures the Reformed Church at Heelsum, a stark, light brick building, crowned by a modest steeple. The church looms, flanked by trees, inviting contemplation of the sacred space. The steeple, a slender vertical reaching to the heavens, is an ancient symbol of aspiration, of humankind's reaching for the divine. Think back to the Tower of Babel, or the Egyptian obelisks; these architectural forms share the same subconscious desire to bridge the earthly and the celestial. Even today, the steeple's form retains that primal connection to the eternal, though its religious connotations may fade, it persists in our collective memory as a beacon of hope and spiritual yearning. The Reformed Church’s simple steeple, as captured here, speaks to something deep within us, an echo of past reaching toward an ever-elusive ideal.