It was a boring day, and so Xariana and myself decided to go explore an abandoned monastery somewhere in the East of The Netherlands.
It was built in 1910 by German Jesuits who fled Germany as a consequence of the Kulturkampf. In 1937, the Jesuits handed the monastery over to a community of "white monks" that followed Charles Lavigerie, who later handed the monastery over to a group of Salesians of Don Bosco; who used the building as a seminary till 1971.
In 1974, the building was converted to a public art and exhibition center where amateur artists could explore, utilize and display their creativity. The center featured amongst others a planetarium and a large artificial cave system with an exhibition about evolution. The building was also used for various paranormal events and symposiums. In 1999, the building was abandoned.
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In 2007, a company bought the monastery to convert it into a community center; a project that was started in 2009. The top floors of the building have been partially stripped, but the planetarium and cave-man exhibition are practically untouched.