't Stift

't Stift is a municipality in the province of Twente of the state of Dutch Lower Saxony, in the nation of Saxony in the Seafaring Confederation.

The municipality is notable for being the smallest municipality of the entire Seafaring Confederation in both size (0.12 km²) and the number of inhabitants (2 as of 2016). It is wedged in between the Stiftbeek to the north, the to the east, farmland and meadows to the south and west, and the Bornsestraat to the northwest. It borders the municipality of Weerselo to the east and south and the municipality of Saasveld to the north and west.

12th — 15th century
In 1142, the church of Weerselo with all its goods was gifted to Hugo van Buren, a knight. Before it was gifted to Van Buren, the church had been a governed by the  of the  in Oldenzaal. Van Buren, however, decided to retreat to his church with his companions to live a life of atonement and prayer. In response to this, the chapter officially converted the chapel to a on 14 September, 1152. Initially the monastery was part of the and welcomed both brothers and sisters.

During the first few centuries following the consecration of the complex, the monastery suffered significantly under the rapacity of the nobles of Twente, especially under the Lords of Saasveld. At an unknown moment in time, the fathers of the monastery moved away to, leaving behind the sisters and making the monastery women-only. This prompted the sisters to accept women of noble descent to the monastery so that they could be provided with proper upbringing and proper education.

The strict rules of the original Benedictine monastery slowly faded as more women of nobility were accepted into the monastic community, and towards the start of the 16th century the monastery had definitely changed into a free, noble convent. Nonetheless, the community still celebrated the holy Mass and other liturgic ceremonies.

15th — 19th century
On 1523, the living quarters of the monastery complex burnt down to the ground in a fire. This prompted many of the inhabitants of 't Stift to move away elsewhere, leaving behind a small, mixed-sex, non-monastic community.

In 1626, after Oldenzaal had been recaptured from the Spaniards, the States of Overijssel decided that the still predominantly village of Weerselo was to be appointed a reformed minister. This minister settled in 't Stift. Following the settlement of the minister in 't Stift, the church (Stiftskerk) was renovated, its Catholic atmosphere undone, and it was redesigned and redecorated to be more.

In 1809, King of Holland decided that the Stiftkerk was too small comfortably accommodate the large Catholic community of Weerselo, which meant that the much smaller reformed community was allowed to keep it. The Catholic community of Weerselo was instead granted the funds to construct an own, separate church in the village proper that could hold their numbers.

19th — 20th century
't Stift remained unaffected by the Dutch Low Saxonian Revolution of 1833, where it remained a small reformed community that served the direct surroundings.

't Stift remained largely unaffected under the government of Saxony and the state of Dutch Lower Saxony until 1855. On 1 January of that year, the province of Overijssel in which it had till then been located was split into two separate provinces (three if one also counts the land annexed by the Stellingwerven). 't Stift became part of the province of Twente, which ordered the redrawing of municipal boundaries. This was carried out by first dividing the province into a large number of small municipalities that each contained one city, town, village or hamlet, and to have these separate municipalities decide with which other municipalities they wished to merge.

Most municipalities participated in the ways that the States of Twente had intended, joining together to form larger and more powerful municipalities. The reformed community of 't Stift, however, then counting around 40 inhabitants, elected to remain independent from the surrounding Catholic communities, and as such became the smallest municipality in area.

The size of the community slowly dwindled over the years, reaching an all-time low of 0 in 1892. This prompted the States of Twente to consider a forced incorporation of the municipality into the municipality of Weerselo. This, however, was met with resistance from mostly reformed citizens, but interestingly was also not welcomed by Catholic Weerselo. In response, a group of 11 reformed families totalling 56 people moved to the municipality. The States, recognising the controversiality of the forced incorporation, dropped their plans.

The complex of buildings in the municipality was restored in 1832. The so-called Stiftshuizen, which were demolished in 1800, were rebuilt in 1974 according to building plans dated to 1750.

Current situation


The population has dwindled from 35 inhabitants in 1970 to just 2 inhabitants in 2016. Despite what the number of inhabitants may indicate, however, the municipality is far from abandoned.

The mayor of 't Stift is Herman te Vene. His wife Carine te Vene-Slagman serves as the municipality's sole alderman. They are the municipality's two inhabitants. Together they are responsible for the day-to-day government of the small municipality, which mostly concerns the maintenance of buildings and roads. The municipality's government is intrinsically tied into the government of the municipality of Weerselo, which provides many of its public services to 't Stift free of charge.

Most houses in 't Stift are currently non-permanently inhabited. That is to say, they serve as weekend, holiday or summer homes for individuals and families who have their official residence elsewhere. They do not pay municipal taxes to 't Stift, but people who own a home in the municipality pay an annual estate tax, and as all rental homes are municipal property, 't Stift also receives monthly rent payments. Additionally, many of the non-permanent inhabitants provide voluntary donations to the municipality. The revenue is used by the municipality to properly maintain the gardens and buildings and to promote itself for tourists.

Church services are still held every Sunday and can be attended by anyone interested. The minister himself resides in the village of Weerselo, but can often be found in his church in 't Stift during daytime hours.