Thomas Monument

This monument on the church square honours Thomas a Kempis, the town’s most famous son, born around 1380 in Kempen and who died on 25 July 1471 at Agnetenberg Monastery near Zwolle. It was unveiled in 1901.

Thomas of Kempen, as he is also known, was an Augustinian canon of the Congregation of Windesheim, a mystic, and a spiritual writer of the 15th century.

After attending the Latin school in Kempen, he followed his elder brother Johannes to Deventer in 1392, where the Devotio moderna, a movement of new piety, had its origins.

There he studied under Master Johann Boom. In 1399, he moved to Agnetenberg Monastery near Zwolle, where his brother had become prior. He was tonsured in 1406, ordained a priest in 1413, and served as sub-prior and novice master in 1425 and 1447. Thomas a Kempis lived at the monastery for 72 years until his death.

His four-part work De Imitatione Christi (The Imitation of Christ) is famous worldwide. While his authorship was long disputed, it is now generally accepted. Alongside the Bible, it is probably the most influential, widely read, and translated Christian text and continues to guide spiritual life today.

The statue was created by Aachen sculptor Lambert Piedboeuf. It stands on a two-tiered pedestal of Fichtelgebirge granite, surrounded by an octagonal basalt lava border.