The Koorkerk is the eastern part of the historically remodeled and divided old abbey church, which in turn is part of the Middelburg abbey complex. Built around 1300, this former canons' choir for the monks of the former Praemonstratenser Abbey consists of a high single-nave early Gothic nave of six bays with masonry net vaults, closed on the east side by a five-sided chancel with star vault. Separated from the church space on the west side is the so-called Wandelkerk.
The original wooden barrel vault was lost in a major fire in 1568, after which the present net vaults were installed. The Koorkerk was dedicated for Protestant worship in 1597. In 1638, the buttresses of the Koorkerk received the crowning that is still present. In 1851-1853, the Nieuwe Kerk located on the west side of the complex was radically "restored" and "modernized," but the Koorkerk remained unchanged.
In the so-called "forgotten bombardment" of Middelburg (Friday, May 17, 1940), the Koorkerk was largely destroyed, although to a lesser extent than the Nieuwe Kerk. Restoration took place in the years 1942-1952, under the direction of H. van der Kloot Meyburg and ir. A. Rothuizen. The present interior dates largely from 1952.
The pulpit, from the Zuiderkerk in Amsterdam, dates from 1621, but was substantially altered in 1820. Probably the frame and in any case the stone base were retained, but the exterior panels were replaced by - for that time - fashionable woodcarving.
The pulpit, made for a (much) larger church building than the Koorkerk, stood in the Zuiderkerk against a pillar, in the middle of the long side of that church. As was customary in the 17th century, the seating and standing areas were located around it, so to speak. The sounding board was built around the pillar and therefore did not hang as far forward as it does today in the Koorkerk. Thus, the soundboard was not as prominent as it is today. The color of the rear panel of the sounding board even now shows that it dates from a later date: originally the pillar ran through it.
