During the expansion of the university, which was officially opened in 1976, several large old buildings in the city were occupied by the RUL (now UM). Ruud Mestrom has recorded this fact in a modern chronogram on and in three of them.
(NB: The text on Gable stones refers to the faculty or department that was located there in the year of foundation. However, the purpose of the university buildings changes regularly).
In 1980 the former Bonnefanten church became the medical library, as can be read on the chronogram in the interior: ante haC bonI Infantes seV pII LIberI nVnC LIbrI MeDICI Laete serVantVr = Pious children used to be protected here; now medical books are happily stored.
(NB. boni infantes = les bons enfants, from which the name Bonnefanten is derived).
2021: in use as Student Services Centre.
The chronogram hangs next to the entrance inside the former Bonnefanten church, which was part of the monasteryc of the Sepulchreans or the Sisters of the Holy Sepulchre (Latin: sepulchrum = grave). This name is depicted at the top of the pediment, which shows the glorious resurrection of Christ, and the chronogram from 1709 above the door also refers to this.
ERIT SPVLCHRO DOMINI GLORIA
(The tomb of the Lord will receive glory)
In Maastricht the sisters were known as the Bonnefanten, a nickname derived from Les Bons Enfants, an honorary name for the sisters who cared for the sick.
The building served as a monastery of the Sepulchrines from 1626 to 1796. Under French rule all monasteries were abolished. It stood empty for a few years, became a warehouse and from 1816 was used as a barracks. In 1919 this came to an end, because the construction of the new Tapijn barracks was completed. For a long time it then became a kind of "residential barracks" for those who were refused accommodation elsewhere or who were unable to pay the rent charged elsewhere. In 1946 it was decided to restore the entire complex in order to house a museum. From 1952 to 1979 it housed the Bonnefanten museum, which owes its name to the monastery and took it with it when it moved to the other side of the Maas,
Afterwards various service departments of the university were housed here.
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