Stouby church/ Stouby kirke and Rosenvold, Bjerre herred, Vejle amt.

Stouby church, ab. 15 km east of Vejle, photo: gb

Stouby kirke
The large whitewashed church in Stouby is in its present look a Gothic longhouse building with a tower to the west and a porch to the south. From the original Romanesque travertine church is left only the northside of the nave with a late Romanesque extension to the west. A single round arch window is seen as an outside niche, the extension, which wallwork is thicker than the original wall, has in the top a frieze of narrow *lisens. In the Gothic period, probably ab. 1400-1450, the building was reshaped into a longhouse with a triangular choir finish, which in the east wall has a *firpasblænding. The high, light room has inside four cross vaults with profiled ribs and very narrow *gjordbuer and a half star vault in the choir section. The tower to the west in monk bricks is a little newer than this rebuild, and it lost its vaults at a later date - there is now a beamed ceiling in the tower room, which opens toward the nave in a new tower arch. Its upper sections are cut down till a little above the height of the nave, probably in 1817 (iron numbers  and initials for F.Rantzau). The tower stairway  is in the southwest corner of the nave. The building was restored 1877 and the porch origins from this time.

* lisens = protruding pilastres/bands
* firpasblænding = a glare similar to a fourclover
* gjordbue = a reinforcement curve of a vault


Interior: In the choir are 4 pretty mosaic windows from 1952 by Kresten Iversen. The altarpiece is a skilled carving from 1731 , it was given by Dean Jørgen Knudsen Beesche and made by Jens Jensen or Jørgen Slache. An altarpainting, copy  after Carl Bloch, hangs in the porch (1964). Chalice 1786, given by Carl Adolph Rantzau and Christiane Ernestine Frederiche Vedel. A Romanesque granite font with four horisontal angels, one is Sct Michael, fighting a monster. A pulpit in late Renaissance 1640 with old decorations. A bell from 1708, Friderich Holtzmann.

Rosenvold slot, photo: gb

Rosenvold is mentioned the first time in 1575 when Karen Gyldenstierne, widow after Holger Ottesen Rosenkrantz of Boller and their heirs at R. had permission to seek to Stouby church, while the ealier owners of R. had seeked to Barrit church.  Their son Frederik Rosenkrantz is written of the farm in 1599, but he was exiled the same year because of his relation to Rigborg Brockenhuus and died in 1602. His brother Otte Christoffer Rosenkrantz took over R., but at his death in 1621 R. and Boller had, because of debt, to be sold to Ellen Marsvin, who inn 1630 had to give the farms to her daughter Kirstine Munk. She died in 1658 and her daughter Elisabeth Augusta sold R. in 1660 to stiftamtmand, gehejmeråd Henrik Rantzau (+ childless in 1674). The farm was inherited by his brother's son  kammerherre Henrik Rantzau (+ 1687), his brother grev Otto Rantzau (+ 1719) the son generalmajor grev  Frederik Rantzau (+ unmarried 1726), his brother viceroy in Norway, grev Christian Rantzau (+ 1771), who in 1756 established "Det grevelige Rantzauske Forlods af R".   

Later owners: The family Rantzau up till present.


Rosenvold, the main building is listed in class A.

Some extra details in history: 
The castle ruin is still seen in the forest northeast of Rosenvold. Staksevold was probably withdrawn and broken down by queen Margrethe I in her work of gathering Denmark and the Nordic countries in the second half of the 1300s.

In front of the coast banks on the low meadows towards Vejle fjord and a few hundred meters from the sea Karen Gyldenstierne built her dower house Rosenvold in 1585. Before this her husband Holger Rosenkrantz had established Rosenvold as a main farm ab. 1570. He had bought the areas of the earlier Staksevold, a "røverborg" (robbers' castle), which was a stone tower with a bank and moat and outside with wooden buildings and a stable.
At the death of Karen Gyldenstierne her two sons took over Rosenvold, first Frederik Rosenkrantz, who run into bad luck because of his relation to the queen's Lady in Waiting Rigborg Brockenhuus from Egeskov. As a punishment she was immured at Egeskpov, while Frederik contracted the wrath of the king and was exiled. His brother Christoffer took over the estate, but he got some economic problems and had in 1621 to sell Rosenvold to Ellen Marsvin of Holckenhavn , wjo was the big collector of estate at that time and the mother-in-law of Christian IV. In 1630 Ellen Marsvin was at the kings command ordered to give Rosenvold to her daughter Kirsten Munk, since she was banished from the court after having refused the king access to her chamber. Kirsten Munk's heirs had to sell Rosenvold in 1660 to Henrik Rantzau of Schönweide in Holstein and stiftamtmand in Århus. The Rantzau family is still the owners of Rosenvold and has been for almost 350 years. (source.: Rosenvold.dk/)  

Rosenvold Marina, photo:gb

Gravengård etc was by hr. Oluf Stigsen (Krognos) pawned in 1497 to bishop Niels Clausen in Århus, later it belonged to the son hr. Mourids Olufsen (Krognos)(+ 1550), with whose daugther it came to Holger Rosenkrantz of Boller in 1662. G was from Boller laid out to Gabriel Marselis at Havreballegård.

The medieval castle bank Gravengård was situated close north of Lille Gravengård about 500 m northwest of Stouby kirke.  A farm was earlier  situated at the castle bank. After a fire in 1926 the farm was outparcelled and the site was levelled. The castle bank lay in a pond which water surrounded it on three sides, upon the fourth side was probably a moat. In the 19th century were probably destroyed some banks. Upon the castle bank were buildings in monk bricks.

Rohden was in 1662 two farms belonging under Rosenvold. In 1758 grev Christian Friis (of Vadskærgård) of Frijsenborg deeded both farms to manager Hans Erik Saabye, later of Brantbjerg, and in 1771-72 justitsråd Jørgen Hvass de Lindenplam of Tirsbæk deeded the two farms to Christen Mikkelsen Kjær, who in 1789 only owned one farm, Neder Rohden. This farm his son Jens Kaj Kjær willed shortly before his death in 1826 to his daughter Christiane Kjær, in 1827 m. to Jørgen Hansen, later of Borchsminde.
Later owners: Jacob Lund Eggertsen, Jens Simonsen Buch, Nicolai Jensen Jelling, Johannes Brorson, Flemming Lerche, Folmer Lüttichau.

Niels Jensen of Ullerup is mentioned 1340-46.  

Jysk Nervesanatorium at Vejle fjord, built 1898-99. = Vejlefjord Sanatorium.

According to Pont Atlas Gammelby was originally called Stouby, but since a part of the town burnt down and was rebuilt about 1 km from there, the new town was called Stouby, while the rest was called Gammelby. Since the vicarage lies here, the parish was for a period called Gammelby parish.

forest at Fakkegrav, photo: gb

At the beach were some farms Falsterbo (1664 Falsterboe). Northeast of Hugholm were some houses called Himmerig. From dissapeared farms are Smedegård (1497 Smedegard) in Hyrup and Bjerregård (1683 Bierregaard, Berrgord). Furthermore the houses Knoseborg or Hulvejen (1664 Huolweyen or Knoseborrig), Sanderbækhus (1683 Sanderbech Hues) and Strandhuset (1688 Strandhuuset), de two last mentioned were fisherman's houses. Fakkegrav was earlier named Favrdal (1683 Fougerdal) and later Pakhuset. 




Listed prehistorics: At Rosenvold is Tehøj in which top are two cover stones, probably for a passage grave, and a somewhat disturbed dolmen chamber. Furthermore a large hill south of the church and two hills in Ullerup skov.
Demolished or destroyed: not less than 19 stone graves, of which two were long dolmens, one with 4 chambers; a dolmen chamber and two passage graves. In Pont. Atalse is mentioned at the vicarage a stone -surrounded hill with several chambers,which the parish priest let abolish.

From Rohden is known a small heap of shells from early Roman period.

Names from the Middle Ages and 1600s: Stouby (1399 Stoby, 1498 Stowby); Gammelby (1498 Gamelbi); Hyrup (1477 Hyrop, Hyrøp); Hostrup (1300s Horstorpmark, 1497 Hostrup); Belle (1459 Bælle); Fakkegrav (1664 Fastjgrau); Stoubyskov (1664 Stoubye Schouff); Hjerrild (1610 Herildtt); Hugholm (1683 Hugholm); Grund (1477 Grwnnæ); Rosenvold (1575 Rosenvold); Rohden (1474 Rode, 1475 Rodhe); Grundgård (1495 Grundegaardtt, Grunegaardt); Rønsholtskrog (1683 Rønsholt Sovhues); Gravengård (1462 Grawengart); Bobæk (1664 Boebech); Over Ullerup (1340 Vgelthorp, 1474 Wllerøp), Stoubylund (1511 Stobylundt); Årup Mølle (1458 Arrvp Mølle, Arwp Mølle) .     



Source: Trap Danmark, Vejle amt, 1964.

photo 2011: grethe bachmann