The Broerekerk was a Franciscan friary church founded in the 13th century. After the Reformation it served as a Protestant church and a storehouse, and in 1980 it was gutted by fire. Rather than demolish or rebuild conventionally, the ruin was stabilised and a modern glass roof installed over the surviving brick walls in 2006.
The result is unusual and effective: a sheltered open space defined by the remnants of the medieval church, used for concerts, exhibitions, and town events. The walls retain traces of 13th and 14th-century construction and a few late medieval tomb slabs are set into the floor. Worth a short detour from the Martinikerk and Stadhuis.