The protestant church of Nuenen was built in 1824 and is a simple aislesless church in neoclassic style, which seats about 60 people. Originally it was known as ‘Willemskerkje’, as King Willem 1 often hunted nearby Nuenen and supported the construction of the church.

But the church became world-famous after Vincent van Gogh - while living in Nuenen - early 1884 created an oil painting of the church. Vincent painted the church - where his father was parson - and dedicated it to his mother, who was in bed with a broken thigh bone. After he added the churchgoers more than a year later it became its present name “Het uitgaan van de Hervormde Kerk te Nuenen” (Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen). See PiP.

The painting was exposed in the Amsterdam Museum of Van Gogh for a long time, until 2002, when it was stolen. In September 2016 the painting was recovered in the home of a high member in the Italian mafia.