Attention stone - Saint Theresa's Foundation

St. Teresa's Institution (1874-1965) - Grotestraat 244

The idea "attention stone" was conceived by Steven Woudstra from Schijndel. There are now more than 250 tiles in the Netherlands, as well as in Belgium and Germany. The purpose of these attention stones is to give visitors a moment to think about (lost) heritage. The tiles are linked to this website via a QR code. This route leads past the 24 tiles in the municipality of Waalwijk.

In 1844 the congregation of the Sisters of Jesus, Mary and Joseph settled in Waalwijk (Grotestraat 292). From 1846 to 1874, the nuns lived on two lots what is now Grotestraat 168 170-172. There they ran a custodial and an elementary school for girls and a sewing school. In 1863 the nuns built a neo-Gothic chapel from various donations. At this time, the church council of St. John's parish conceived the plan to establish a hospice. This hospice began as early as 1871. Thanks to a bequest from pastor E.P. Schrijvers (1836-1870), in 1874 the church council built a convent for the nuns with classrooms, a neo-Romanesque chapel and an infirmary next to St. John's Church. The complex then expanded considerably. The sisters taught a kindergarten and a seven-class elementary school for girls. They taught French, music and crafts.

Girls' schools
At the beginning of the last century the curious fact occurred, that in our country most of the Catholic girls' schools were of a much older date
than the Catholic boys' schools. In Waalwijk this was no different: the St. Teresa school dates from 1874, the sister school
of the parish of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (Besoijen) dates from 1879, the sister school of the parish of St. Clemens from
1889. It took until 1913 before a Roman Catholic boys' school was established, the St. Peter School, named after the patron saint of a wealthy benefactor, Pieter Wijten, who had made a significant financial contribution.

The half-century difference could be explained as follows: For a long time the Primary Education Act of 1857 was in force, which was based on the principle that public education was the rule and special education should be the exception. Special schools (such as R.K. and P.C.) had to be paid for entirely from their own resources. Because of the financial sacrifices of sister congregations, school boards were more easily able to establish and maintain girls' schools than boys' schools.

Hospital
In 1931, the St. Nicholas Hospital was built next to the convent where the sisters provided care for the sick. The hospital was named after pastor and dean Nicolaas van Riel. In 1967, the hospital moved to Kasteellaan. In consultation with the church council, the R.C. ULO school for girls was established in 1938. In 1940, a new elementary school for girls, the 'Teresiaschool', was built in Wilhelminastraat. The convent complex was demolished in phases starting in 1960. Many years later the Rabobank came to this site.