Øster Alling church / Øster Alling kirke, Sønderhald herred, Randers amt.

Øster Alling church, ab. 16 km southeast of Randers
Øster Alling sogn, Sønderhald herred, Randers amt.

The northern border of Øster Alling sogn is formed by Alling å and its inlet. Especially to the south is a hilly land with Knivhøj (8o m) on the border of Vester Alling sogn. The church lies in the middle of Øster Alling village. It has a Romanesque choir and nave, a contemporary or maybe shortly after built tower to the west and a late medieval porch to the north. The choir, nave and tower are in raw granite boulders with carved corner ashlars. The north door with a flat cover stone is in use, while the bricked-up south door has a half circular field in the cover stone and a similar in a frame. Original windows in the east and north side of the choir have been re-opened. In the choir was built an octagonal vault, the nave and tower-room have a flat ceiling. The porch is built in raw granite boulder and monk bricks, the gable is half timbered.

Upon the north and east walls of the nave were late Gothic frescoes from ab. 1520 brought to light. The pictures imitate weaved hangings. From the same time are the decorations of the choir vault and a fragmentaric preserved ornaments of the porch. The frescoes were restored in 1884 and 1952 in connection to a main restoration of the church. Walled communion table with a panel from the Renaissance period; the altar piece is a joinery in Renaissance style from ab. 1590, in the middle field a painting from 1854, decoration from 1952. The altar candelabres from ab. 1600. A Romanesque granite font with lion figures. A baptismal bowl in south German type from the 1500s. The pulpit from the same workshop as the altar piece is from 1590, the sounding board from 1610; it was repaired with new ornaments 1952. In the floor of the nave is a cross marked grave stone in granite, probably from the 1600s. In the porch is a rune stone, which was found as a floor stone in the door-opening. Inscription: "Thore rejste denne sten efter Fastulv Myge". ("Thore raised this stone after Fastulv Myge".


Village house

Oustrupgård and 1 farm and 2 bol (small farms) in Øster Alling were conveyed by Jens Larsen Mule in 1347 to Ivar Nielsen (Rosenkrantz). In 1376 O. came to Gl. Estrup, where it still was in 1789.

From 1687 the herredsthing (District Thing) was held in a rented building in Oustrupgårde, in 1733 it was moved to Lille- or Gl. Oustrup in Lime sogn.(parish)

In Øster Alling was a water mill, it was abandoned in the midldle of the 1600s, there are still traces of the dam.

Names in the Middle Ages: Øster Alling (1347 Østerallind, 1467 Alling); Ring (* 1452 Rindh, 1485 Ringh); Oustrupgårde (1347 Austthorp, ½1446 Ovedstrup).

Listed prehistorics: 5 hills, of which the large Øster Bjerghøj close to the border of Vester Alling sogn.
Demolished or destroyed: 34 hills, which mainly were on the hillsides at Oustrupgårde and west of Øster Alling.

Source: Trap Danmark, Randers amt, 1963


photo Øster Alling kirke 2006: grethe bachmann