Sale of the Gasthuisring Generalate

Tilburg, May 13, 2025

It has now been officially announced that the Brothers CMM are leaving their current Generalate in Tilburg. The building is too large and not cost-effective to maintain as an administrative building and small community. The monumental building has been sold to Maas-Jacobs Vastgoed and will be given a new destination.

In 2021, the General Chapter of the Brothers CMM issued urgent advice to investigate alternatives for the accommodation of the general board, currently seated at Gasthuisring 54 in Tilburg. The building, designated a municipal monument in 2016, had been the seat of the general board since 1962. For more than sixty years, it was the administrative heart of the congregation. It symbolized a renewed brotherhood, an ambitious and compassionate educational mission, and hopeful work for a better world. That mission remains unchanged, although the focus is now on Africa and Asia, and all but one of the members of the general board are from Kenya and Indonesia.

New administrative building

Together with the real estate advisor, the general board thoroughly investigated various options for the board’s accommodation. The conclusion was that selling the building on Gasthuisring and moving to a smaller building is the only future-proof option. The general board will live and work in the former brother-house Elim, the building at Schiphollaan in Tilburg where a small community of brothers lived until 2020. The general board expects to move to Elim in March 2026.

From a historical and heritage perspective, this has not been an easy decision. However, it is a choice that the congregation must make if it is to continue its mission in the countries where the brothers are still actively involved. The move to smaller premises will also entail a number of other important changes. The grave of Brother Andreas will be transferred to the congregation’s cemetery on the Steenwijk estate (near Kloosterhotel ZIN) in Vught. The extensive CMM archives have already been largely moved to the Dutch Monastic Heritage Center in Sint Agatha.

Repurposing Gasthuisring

Initially, the board hoped to find a buyer who could give the building a new purpose in the field of education, in line with the mission of the brothers. Unfortunately, this plan proved unfeasible. The buildings at Gasthuisring 52 and 54 and the accompanying garden have now been purchased by Maas-Jacobs Vastgoed. The contracts were signed on May 8, 2025.

Maas-Jacobs’ plan focuses on the construction of homes, while preserving the monumental value of the buildings. In these times of severe housing shortages, the brothers consider this a good alternative. The Maas-Jacobs group is committed to ensuring that people can live and work in a pleasant and beautiful environment, and is passionate about preserving the authentic and historic character of villages and towns.