Enserkerk

Do you visit Schokland? Then you will also discover De Enserkerk. This former Reformed Church of the village Middelbuurt can be found on the former island in the Noordoostpolder. The building was built in 1834 to replace the church built in 1717.

In 1717, a wooden church was built at this site on a brick wall. This church was meant to replace the Ensenerkerk, the church on the southern tip of Schokland. The walls were dark brown. The presbytery dates from 1650.

The wooden church and presbytery suffered badly during the 1825 Storm Surge. By 1830, the building was ripe for demolition. In 1834, a new church was built with a subsidy from the state. The designer was a chief engineer of the Waterstaat. Schokland was not very high and therefore regularly faced floods from the Zuiderzee. For this reason, the regereing decided that the island should be evacuated, a bill that was ratified by King William III in late 1858 and put into effect in 1859.

Only a few residents of the two villages remained on the island, to operate the lighthouse, among other things. Four years before the eviction, the inhabitants of Zuidert had already moved to Middelbuurt and had had to demolish their homes, also because of the increasingly imminent danger of a major flood.

In 1942, the Noordoostpolder was drained and the island was surrounded by land. Today, the church is part of the Schokland Museum and is also used as a wedding location by the Municipality of Noordoostpolder. There is an electronic Heyligers organ in the church.