In its heyday, the Walfridus church in Bedum, in terms of size, surpassed the city churches of Groningen and Leeuwarden. It started with Walfridus and his son Radfridus. Both had an exemplary Christian lifestyle. They lived around the year 1000 and were martyred by the Normans. Two wooden churches were built on both their graves. The Radfridus chapel stood in the current Kapelstraat in Bedum until around the 17th century and the Walfridus chapel on the current location of the Walfridus church. Many pilgrims came to both graves and Bedum became a place of pilgrimage. The wooden Walfridus chapel became much too small and in the 11th century construction of the first stone church building began. The church was consecrated by the bishop of Munster and he declared Walfridus a saint. His bones were reburied in a relic grave inside the church. It was a hall church in Romanesque style. In the course of 1225 it became a three-aisled cruciform church with a tower, in Romanesque-Gothic style. In the west facade a window with a remarkable cloverleaf shape was added. In 1484 the nave of the church was enlarged and between 1536 and 1564 a large high choir with ambulatory was added, in late Gothic style. The church became a three-aisled cruciform basilica of great allure. From 1594, as a result of the Reduction of Groningen, the church lost its traditional function as a pilgrim church and fell into disrepair. In 1860, after a vault collapsed, the entire roof was demolished, including arches. Around 1880 a (temporary) restoration followed. In 1911 the nave of the church was almost irreparably mutilated and combined with the southern aisle to form one space. The transept was separated from the church hall. In 1985, an archaeological investigation was conducted to the east of the current building. The round choir had once been there, the foundations of which were found. In the years '95-'97, the church was completely restored to its current form. To the east of the church, stones have been used in the park to indicate where and how the former high choir stood. An old element in the interior of the church is the very old chest, from the 16th century, with a painting by Walfridus on the front. During the restoration of the church building (1995-1997), the furniture from the 20th century was removed. A new pulpit was installed and the teak church pews were taken from the Emmakerk in Amsterdam. In the church there is a small baptismal font made of dark oak with a pewter water basin that was used until 1997. Since 1997, a stone baptismal font has been used, made of white stone with a brass water basin from 1997. The Walfridus church in Bedum had a Lohman organ. This dated from 1805 and was replaced in 1927 by the first and only organ built by Hendrik Vegter from Usquert. The new organ was placed on an Art Nouveau organ balcony directly opposite the pulpit. In the past, three statues stood on the organ, but they have disappeared. The organ was restored in 1975 by the Pels & Van Leeuwen company. During the restoration of the church building (1995-1997), the organ was moved to the northwestern corner. The church tower originally had a Romanesque roof and was later built higher, giving it a beautiful spire, the highest in the area. In 1911, lightning struck the tower and the spire burned down. Around 1941, a concrete corset was poured around the base of the tower to prevent the leaning tower from falling over. At that time, the tower was approximately 38 metres high. It is still leaning and is also the leaning tower in the Netherlands. During the tower restoration of 1953-1957, after the upper masonry was demolished, the current Romanesque roof was reconstructed. In 2024, the Bedum tower is 35.704 metres high and leans 2.611 metres. This corresponds to 4.18°. Reason for Bedum to claim that the Walfridus tower is the leaning tower in the Netherlands. For centuries, the Tower of Pisa was considered the leaning tower in the world. This iconic tower leaned as much as 5.5°. The tower was so leaning that it even threatened to fall over. During the 1993 renovation, the tower was straightened slightly. After the renovation, the tower was still 3.96° out of plumb. And that makes the tower of Bedum (4.18°) leaning more than the one in Pisa. But it is not the leaning tower in the world, because that is the tower of Suurhusen on the German Wadden Sea. This tower is 5.19° out of plumb and is also 'officially' in the Guinness Book of World Records as the leaning tower in the world. Text sources: • Rijksmonumenten.nl • Erfgoednieuws.nl • nl.m.wikipedia.org • Orgelsite.nl • Bestemmingbuitenlucht.nl • Hervormdbedum.nl Photo and film sources: • Rijksmonumenten.nl • Orgelsite.nl • Staatingroningen.nl • Beeldbankgroningen.nl • Own photo and film material Music source: • Via YouTube account '@willem-janvanstijn' • The Ten Commandments of the Lord: 1 and 6 ... • Via YouTube account '@JanDekkerorganist' • Northern Nether