Restoration of the interior

Home Up Movable objects of Art The Paintings The Stained-Glass Windows The Organ The Altars A New Plastering or not? The Polychrome Finishing Upstairs, Downstairs The Counter Reformation		Hopefully the austerity will remain (Br. F. Van Hoorde - April 30, 1992), Leave us the luxury of austerity (illegible name - April 30, 1992), ... but why a second altar ? (illegible name - May 1, 1992), Austere but very clear (Filip Van Pottelberg - May 2, 1992), Beautiful clear church : the copper candleholders are also beautiful but do not really match the rest (illegible name - May 6, 1992), It is a pity of the baroque altar, a bit too much. It would be lovelier without (Marie-Ange Dockers - May 28, 1992), Best not to overdo it with the baroque decoration (illegible name - May 30, 1992),...
	These are only some examples of the spontaneous reactions written down by the first visitors to the renovated choir. Aren't they self-evident ? Should it surprise us that people are impressed by the natural stone mass, now without furniture, plastering, dye and decoration ? Isn't it that austerity in particular which distinguishes this church from the common urban church ? And yet. Yet it is a situation that has never existed in reality. There are opposite opinions as well. Some critical visitors - although they constitute a minority - sense the unreal atmosphere of the choir's interior : After thirty years of renovation works with the community's money one has the impression that everything has been cleaned out; maybe it now stands in heaven ? (Lucifer, May 5, 1992). Pros and cons in short. Let's therefore have a look at the interior of the church as it was in 1961, when the renovation works were commissioned.