The Danish Church - a short Summary 1/2

Source: Niels Peter Stilling, Danmarks Kirker, Politikens forlag 2000.

I: 800-1150
Paganism and Christianity

The first misson work arrived in Denmark in the 820s, but it is not known when the actual conversion to Christianity took place. The pope ordered in 822 the archbishop of Reims, Ebbo, to preach God's word among the pagan Danes - and Ebbo came to the foot of Jutland in 823 and baptized many Danes. A few years later, probably in 826, the Danish king Harald (Harald Klak) brought the missionary Ansgar to Denmark, but they were both driven out of the country in 827.

Ansgar in Hamburg

But Christianity was being preached 20 years later in Denmark. Ansgar was in 845 on good terms with the Danish king Horik, who gave him permission to build a church in Hedeby (Haithabu). Ansgar was at this point archbishop of Hamburg. Horik was killed in a power struggle in 854, and Haithabu church was destroyed, but reopened in the 860s. Ansgar, who was called the "Apostle of the North", had the permission to build another church, this time in the important trade city Ribe. Ansgar died in 865. It is uncertain if his wooden churches remained, but the princedom in South Jutland now knew a little more about Christianity.

Viking period,cities and Hedeby

replica Viking church, Moesgaard, Aarhus, photo: gb

At the end of the 900s Christianity really spread  among the Danes. In 948 three Danish bishops took part in a church meeting at the emperor's castle in Ingelheim -  Liafdag of Ribe, Hared of Schleswig and Reginbrand of Århus - they were the last of 26 bishops who signed a letter of the 7. June 948. Those three bishops were described as being the marionettes of the Hamburg-Bremen bishop Adaldag, who was eager to get a grip of the management of the Danish bishoprics, but it was doubtful if the bishops were even connected to a church in the three cities. Their starting point might have been mission stations in or just outside the banks of the three Viking towns, Ribe, Schleswig and Århus. In the trading towns the tolerant Nordic Asatru was still thriving beside the less tolerant Christianity. In Ribe, Schleswig and Århus the first Danish churches were confirmed in the emperor's letters from the second half of the 900s.

A letter issued in Magdeburg in 965 exempts the churches in Ribe, Schleswig and Århus from taxes by the German emperor Otto I. The letter says precisely that this matter was about the church properties in the "danernes mark eller rige" (the field or kingdom of the Danes). Otto I's successor Otto III confirms the privilege 20 years later to archbishop Adaldag of Bremen, and in this is only referred to the "kongeriget Danmark" (Regno Danorum). Another church is built in Odense (Odense = Odin's castle). The emperor's letters are issued during the years 965-988, which coincide with Harald Bluetooth's rule, and they bear a strong witness that Harald in this period spread his power to most of Denmark. The agent was Christianity and forced castles: the socalled Trelleborgs, which were built with technical expertise as giant circular plans with the cross as the geometric focal point.

Trelleborg, Zealand, photo: gb

Jelling stone, photo: gb

Harald's proud inscription on the Jelling stone are not empty words. The two-piece inscription says in a modern Danish: "Kong Harald bød gøre dette minde efter Gorm sin fader og Thyre sin moder - Den Harald som for sig vandt Danmark al og Norge og gjorde danerne kristne." The first part of the inscription is obviously a memos for Harald's parents. Another hand has later carved Harald's political programme in the large stone, which has the image of the earliest Christ-figure in the North. The Danes did not become Christians simultaneously because Harald did point the way, but it is remarkable that Harald was buried - not in the starting point Jelling -  but in the newly won Sjælland (Zealand) in Roskilde. The Jellingstone is an essential evidence that something new and lasting was on its way - and  in the following generation's fight between paganism and christianity no one dared to destroy Harald's stone-lined manifesto, Danmarks dåbsattest.





Church organisation.

The plank from Hørning church, Randers

Wooden churches were built in the cities and at the magnate farms in the villages, where Christianity gained ground. The church in Jelling was built in the middle of a pagan plan, probably because of Gorm's and Thyra's burial site, but it is not certain if there was any continuity between the pagan holy places and the Christian church. Hørning church north of Århus was built as a wooden church with a gravehill as the center, and a noble lady, who died shortly before the building of the church, was resting in her gravehill under the choir of the wooden church.

coin, Cnut the Great, British Museum

The organisation of the Danish church was initiated already by Sven Tveskæg (Forkbeard) during his rule. English bishops came to Denmark, which annoyed the bishopric in Hamburg- Bremen, where they wanted to manage the development in the Danish church. Sven's successor Knud den Store (Cnut the Great) even visited the papal court in Rome, which was another new act by the royal family, who had placed itfself, not only upon the Danish, but also upon the English throne.

Børglum kloster, photo gb

The bishop of Rhine, Vale, had in the middle of the 1000s arrogated to himself the clerical reign over all of North Jutland, but at his death in 1060 King Sven Estridsen took the opportunity to divide Jutland north of Kongeåen (Kings river) into four bishoprics. Besides the two old bishoprics in Ribe and Århus a bishopric was also established in the old thing-city Viborg - and a bishopric for "øen Vendsyssel" (the island Vendsyssel). The cathedral in Vendsyssel was built in Thy, in Vestervig, but in the early 1100s it was moved to Børglum in Vendsyssel. Besides the North Jutland bishoprics was also the old bishopric in Schleswig, which in the 1000s replaced Hedeby as the trade-center of the district. The Odense bishopric at Funen was founded in the 900s, and the Roskilde church belonged to the same early epoch. In  Skåne and Dalby were established two bishoprics, Lund and Dalby, but in the beginning of the 1100s Dalby was being merged with Lund.

The Christianity got a good grip in Denmark in Sven Estridsen's rule, he was born in England and his contemporary history-writer Adam of Bremen reports that there were 300 churches in Skåne, 150 at Sjælland and 100 at Funen. He says that "the wildness had gone and that the preachers of truth are gaining ground everywhere. The altars of the idols are being demolished and churches being raised everywhere".

replica stone church, Hjerl Hede Open Air Museum, photo:gb

The archbishopric in Hamburg-Bremen was supported by the pope and made still an attempt to claim its right on the church district in Denmark, but the old Danish connections with England made their mark on the Danish church in the end of the 1000s. Some bishops were summoned from England, and the first stone masons were inspired from the other side of the North Sea. English building masters might even have raised the first stone churches in the Danish coastal areas. The relation between paganism and Christianity were still balancing on a tightrope. Most part of the church buildings in Denmark were wooden churches - and the wooden church was not necessarily placed, where the later stone church was raised.

Christian culture.

King Erik Ejegod achieved in 1103 the acknowledgement from the pope of the Danish archbishopric in Lund, which his clever father Sven Estridsen had already letter-exchanged with pope Gregor 7 in 1075. It was succeeded now and the road was cleared for a release from the German church.

Altarpiece Claus Berg, Odense, wikipedia.

Erik Ejegod's successor was his brother Niels, who reigned from 1103 - 1134. The Christianity was smouldering everywhere. A few kept letters from that time lighten the extension of the organisation and rule of the church. Lots of property was willed to the church for the sake of people's peace of soul. The English  archbishop Anselm of Canterbury congratulated the first Danish archbishop Asser with his election and admonished him not to take renegade foreign clericals in his service. The pope underlined that the bishops' taxes to the kurier, the socalled Peter's money, should be paid yearly as an uncut "gift of love". The English monk and historian Ælnoth dedicated ab. 1115 his biography about the murdered Knud den Hellige to his brother the pious king Niels, who at the same time discretely was encouraged to let his power as king decorate his brother's precious relics with gifts worthy of him, letting them increase the beauty of the holy house.  Niels did not ignore the request, but gave in the following years both estate rights and moneygifts to the Odense-church, which at that time probably became one of the richest and most

The Death of Canute the Holy, von Benzon.

magnificent churches, built over the martyr king Knud. (Canute the Holy). The question about taxes to the church, about the commitment of the priests not to get married, about the authority field of the bishops and about the mission work at Rügen were dominant parts of the letters from that period.

It is not exactly known when the first kloster was founded in Denmark, but the flowering period began with the establishment by Erik Ejegod of Sct. Knud's kloster in Odense in 1096. The first 12 Benedictine monks for the kloster came from Eversham in South England, and the bishop in Odense, Hubald, came also from England. The klosters in Vestervig, Børglum, Ringsted and Esrom were also founded before 1150. In Herrevad in Skåne  the first Cistersian kloster of the North was built

in 1144. Almost ten years later, in 1153, Esrom kloster was remade into a Cistercian kloster and developed quickly into the spiritual center of the agricultural order in the North. 

Esrom Kloster, photo: gb

Ribe Cathedral "Kathoveddøren", photo: gb

In the the same period the building of stone churches was intensified, both in the country and in the city. Archbishop Asser inaugurated the altar of Lund cathedral on June 30 1123, and at the same time began the building of the cathedral in Viborg and Ribe.

King Niels ruled for 30 years and his rule ended in murder, rebellion and civil war, also and not at least the bishops took part in the battle of Fodevig at the coast of Skåne in the summer 1134, where four bishops were killed. But in spite of this the church building continued as never before, and the kloster foundations too. Several churches were built as fortifications, as a protection against both inner and outer enemies. This were mostly the round churches at Bornholm which were meant to be a retreat for the inhabitants of the island, while the round churches in the rest of the country were a mix of God's house and a power symbol of the local magnate.

Thorsager church, Djursland, photo: gb

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Next II: 1150- 1950.

photo: grethe bachmann 
photo borrowed from wikipedia

Albæk church / Albæk kirke, Randers amt.

Albæk church, ab. 5 km northeast of Randers.

Albæk parish , Støvring herred, Randers amt. 

The church in Albæk has a choir and nave, a tower to the west and a porch at the south side. The choir and nave are from the Romanesque period, built in limestone ashlars upon a plinth with a bevel and above is a round arched frieze, which is only kept in the choir, and lesenes at the corners. The walls were later partly rebuilt, especially in the nave, and a corniche in small red bricks was walled on. From original windows are one in the choir gable, one in the north side of the choir and two in the south side of the nave brought to light in a thorough restoration of the church 1937-38; most of these windows have kept the old wooden frame in the lighting. The north door is bricked up and partly destroyed by a newer window. The south door is in its original place, but has later been remade with a flat curve. A column base, which earlier was in the porch, might indicate that the church had a column portal.

The choir arch is kept inside. The choir, which is remarkably awry in relation to the axis of the nave, got a cross vault in the late Gothic period. The broad western tower is also from the late Gothic period. It is built in blank wall of monk bricks with a vaulted bottom room, which opens to the nave in a round arched arcade and with a pyramid roof, where the weather vane's year 1750 refers to a repair. The whitewashed porch is also from the late Middle Ages with permanent bricked benches and a high stepped gable. The nave had in the Renaissance period got a flat curved barrel vault with stikkapper, resting on wall pillars. (a stikkappe is a lesser vault-piece, cutting into the vault above a door or window).

In the restoration 1938 were found some late Gothic frescoes, some of them coat of arms of the families Bølle, Skade, Banner. It seems that the walls of the nave were covered in frescoes, a few were found at the southside: the saints Elisabeth and Katharina. According to the coat of arms the frescoes seem to origin from ab. 1400.

The bricked communion table with a simple oak cross is from 1938. The earlier altar painting from 1864 hangs upon a wall of the nave. The pulpit, with a carved year 1619, has pillars with decoration- and arcade fields in the original decorations, which was re-discovered in 1937-38; in the fields are fru Kristence Viffert's coat of arms. A Romanesque granite font with double lions and a baptismal dish with the year 1624. Upon the wall of the nave hangs a memorial of herredsfoged ( bailiff) Peder Nielsen Østrup (+ 1653) and wife. A door wing with old mounts between nave and porch. A church ship, the brig "Peters Minde" from ab. 1878.

Buggesholm belonged earlier to Dronningborg rytterdistrikt (military ), but was bought for private ownership in 1766. In 1870 it was bought by Søren N. Skjødt of  Skjødtsminde, whose family has owned it since. In 1932 it was taken over by Niels Skjødt.   

 In Østrup was once a bishop's manor. It was probably here the Århus bishop Svend in 1191 got the sickness helsot (plague). Ab. 1205 the Århus bishop confirmed that one third of the tiende ( a tax)  from the bishop's manor in Østrup had to go to hr. Gødes præbende ( to the priest), which pope Innocens III confirmed in 1207. Several bishops have issued letters from the manor. Some of the vasals at Østrup were: 1460-69 hr. Niels Christensen (vinranke-Munk), who was the brother-in-law of bishop Jens Iversen (Lange); 1478-79 his son Jens Nielsen (Munk); 1491-1537 Jakob or Joakim Lykke, a sister's son of bishop Eiler (Bølle) in Århus: After this Østrup came to the Crown, it was endowed in 1537 to Mourids von Herlug and was in 1547 transferred to Dronningborg vasalry.

countryside, Albæk

Voldstedet, the castle bank of Østrup lies almost in the middle of Albæk village, cut through by the socalled Borggyde (a small street). West of this lies a four sided low castle islet, which moat is kept to the north and west. East of the street Borggyde is a lower placed square where the National Museum in 1913 did some test excavations on a foundation of a cellar. There was a large square room and lesser out-buildings to the north and west, all built in ashlars and raw granite boulders and monk bricks in the late Middle Ages. There was also a building once at the castle islet, but the foundation was almost gone since a farm was built on the place.  

Niels Jonsen of Albæk is mentioned in 1374.

There are no listed prehistorics in the parish, but there was a round dolmen, a long dolmen ( Stenhøj) and a hill (Grønhøj), all under Østrup manor.

At the eastern end of Østrup forest is a kitchen midden.



Source: Trap Danmark, Randers amt, 1963

Translation: grethe bachmann
Photo Albæk 2009,2011: grethe bachmann   

Linå church, Linå kirke, Gjern herred, Skanderborg amt.

(Photo of the Linå church itself later)

The large church in Linå has an apse, a choir and a nave from the Romanesque period, a western extension from after the reformation with a later added tower and a chapel to the north from 1689. A disappeared porch is mentioned in 1616 and 1664. The original sections are built in granite ashlars and a little hardpan upon a bevel plinth, the apse is decorated with a cornice. Upon the loft stands the east gable of the choir,  built in wellcarved granite ashlars and the western gable in field stones and raw boulder. From the original windows only the east window of the apse is seen as a glare; a piece of a monolith lintel is inserted in the north wall of the nave. Two rich six-pillars portals with relief-decorated tympana are kept. The south portal on the west side of the tower - through which the entrance is to the church - is decorated with a tympanum with Christ. The north portal, which tympanum has a intertwined cross - gives access to the church from the nave to the north chapel.  A third tympanum - with an unfinished or clumsy image of Christ - is now placed inside above the north door, this origins from the broken down Bjarup church together with another tympanum with the crucified Christ, which is inserted in the churchyard wall. The western extension is built in small ashlars, which probably also origins from Bjarup church. The extension might be dated to ab. 1590, when the building was dilapidated, but it was rebuilt, partly by assistance from the king, in stones and limestone from Silkeborg slot (castle). The burial chapel in granite ashlars and with a curved lead roof was built in 1689 according to a sandstone tablet with the coat of arms of Daniel Fischer and Else Linde. The same date, coat of arms and initials are seen upon the finely carved door wing of the chapel to the nave and upon a painted wooden plate, placed above the entrance at the same spot. The tower was mentioned as dilapidated in 1679 and it was probably broken down soon after. In its present look it was probably rebuilt in ab. 1800 in red monk bricks , at the bottom with ashlars from the west gable of the nave. An earlier access was via a flatcurved door to the south. The stairway to the upper storey of the tower is via a stair in the wall. The inside of the church has a flat ceiling the apse a newer half cupola vault. 

A medieval bricked communion table with a niche. The altarpiece in Renaissance with a painted date 1616 and relief-carved coat of arms of the vasal Christen Holck and wives, Karen Krafse and Marie Below. In the large field was at a restoration brought to light the original inscription, which had been covered by a  crucifixion-painting, (now kept at the loft) upon wood with inscription and year 1693, above which was a painting upon canvas, painted by A. Lyders, Århus 1863, now hangs upon the wall of the nave. A slender (colours cleansed off) figure of John the Baptist from a Catholic altarpiece (ab. 1500) stands at the north wall of the nave. Altar chalice given by colonel Adam Erenreich von Preen. Brass-candelabres, probably copies in Gothic style. A Romanesque granite font with lion figures and male head. A newer brass baptismal dish. Pewter baptismal dish and øreskål (ear bowl), according to engraved initials, coat of arms and date given in 1694 by colonel Adam Erenreich von Preen and wife Anna Sophie von Lesbrant, made by the Århus- kandestøber (pewterer)  Hans Nielsen Godtlænder, these things are now in Den gamle By, Århus. A baptismal jug in pewter from the late 1800s. An octagonal pyramidal font-lid in wood is kept at the loft of the choir. A simple pulpit and sounding board from ab. 1630 with the coat of arms of Christen Holck and his second wife Marie Below. Entrance and decoration from 1936. Newer pews, a Baroque priest stool in the northwest corner of the choir. A memorial for the killed soldiers in the war 1848-50.  Church ship, bought in Hamburg, 1939. Bell from 1908, from the Smithske støberier, with inscription from the recast bell from 1738 by H. Tessien.

In the north chapel burials for the members of the family Fischer. An epitaph for von Preen and three wives has disappeared.  A Romanesque gravestone with a portrait-relief of a man and with inscription: Asserus, was in 1862 moved from Linå Kro's (the Inn) stairs to the south wall of the tower. Some gravestones with  portrait-reliefs for a parish priest  (Rasmus Nielsøn)  and wife. A memorial for a dean (Bagger) and wife etc.


On top a hillside a little northeast of Mollerup was the disappeared Bjarup kirke, which small congregation still in 1524 paid landehjælp (taxes) and which in 1528-29 was one of the churches, which had to deliver a church bell to king Frederik I for recast. The site of the church, covered with low earth-rises, is still visible. The building consisted of apse, choir and nave in granite ashlars. It was 25 m long, the nave 14 m broad. At the west-end is seen a low circular rise, probably the trace from a tower. The church was probably broken down in the 1500s, but still in 1808 the priest-report mentions that the churchyard-dike was visible, and the walls of the church were preserved in a height of  50-75 cm above ground; there were no graves to see, but round heather knolls, where the graves were; likewise was found a stone with two carved feet, probably from a picture ashlar. The parish once belonged under Linå pastorat, it consisted of the villages Bjarup, Volstrup (now in Dallerup parish) and Bottrup (which has disappeared). Upon the site Thor Lange, whose uncle owned Kalbygård in Låsby parish, has raised an iron cross in 1915.

Dynæs was by Valdemar Atterdag conveyed in 1360 to hr. Palne Jonsen (Munk), whose son-in-law hr. Ove Hase in 1401 pawned D. and Laven to hr. Elev Elevsen (Bild). The pawn came with his daughter to hr. Laurids Hvas, married second time to Thore Eriksdatter (Mus), who as a widow married Ove Ovesen (Mur-Kaas). Ove Hase's son Palne Hase tried in 1423 in vain to release the estate, whereafter his sister Inge Ovesdatter, m. to Mads Fredbjørnsen, gave bishop Ulrik in Århus authority to release it. Ove Ovesen had to give D.to him in 1435, and in 1444 the bishop had the ownership-rights transferred from Mads Fredbjørnsen. The castle belonged to the Århus bishops until the reformation, when the Crown took over.


The large Dynæs Voldsted (castle bank) has a picturesque situation upon an isthmus, which from higher land (Dynæs Fang) to the north protrudes out into Julsø (lake), and which connection to land originally was a narrower strip of land, where the road still runs. The square castle bank (60 x 68 m) stands with steep banks and is unusually high, 10 meter above surrounding terrain and 12 meter above the lake; the bank has at the foot been surrounded by moats, which still are seen as cuts in north, west and south. To the east was possibly a moat with an outer dam. Outside the southern moat on the cultivated tip of the isthmus is seen a rise in the terrain, probably a rest of the natural bank, from which the castle bank seemingly was cut. Upon the top has been done various small excavations, and there were finds of monk bricks and granite boulders, but a real archaeological examination of the castle has never been done. North of the northern moat is some kind of front work, which again to the north was protected by a moat. This part of the plan is now very levelled.

Upon Gammelkol a little northwest of Dynæs lies a  bank, which might be interpreted as a medieval castle bank. It consists of an almost rectangular site (ab. 15x 80 m), surrounded by a dry moat with a bank outside. In the northern end of the site lies an earth hill with a flat circular topsurface with traces of wallwork with mortar.

The family Fischer from Silkeborg owned in the 1600s large parts of the parish, several resided at Lavengård, and Mathias Fischer, major Andreas Bornich and his wife Anne Margrethe Felthaus died at the farm (1704, 1717 and 1724). -   Owner in 1872 J.C. Boeck.

Oluf Eskildsen pawned in 1334 his estate in Bjarup to herr Lyder Limbæk. 

In the parish are known three sacred springs: Tyrens hul at the meadow near Mollerup village; Helligkilden north of Skellerup village; Bjars kilde at the northeast corner of Bjarup churchyard dike.

A legend says that at Kalbygård (Låsby parish) lived three sisters, Lin, Bjar and Dal, who built churches in Linå, Bjarup and Dallerup. When they sailed across Bjarup sø after a church visit, Bjar lost her gold ring in the lake, and she cried a curse, and the lake flooded over its banks, and the fish were on the dry, but inside the first fish,which was opened at Kalbygård, was the ring. Dal's grave is still seen east of Dallerup kirke, if you touch it, there will be cattle disease.

The poet Johan Skjoldborg lived in a house at Dynæs from 1907-14, and he arranged in the years 1910-14 several large folk-meetings at Dynæs. A memorial was raised in 1926 upon Dynæs for Skjoldborg and the meetings.

In Laven is raised a bust in 1950 of the poet Nis Petersen who lived in Laven from 1938 until his death in 1943.

In the parish were at least three villages which have disappeared: Assendrup (1460 Aszenddrop lyche), Torup (1231 Thoretorp) at Skellerup and Remstrup (1261 Rembestrop). At Kærsmølle was the farm Kærsmark (1427 Kyærsmark) , in Linå the house Bøgested (1634 Bøgested.) .

Listed prehistorics: 38 hills, of which several are rather large: Ørnekol north of Mollerup, one hill just north of Laven, one in Linå Vesterskov, one, which belongs to a group of 14 hills in Hesselskov; one, very pretty kept just east of Linå kirke, 2 south of and one north of Skellerup Nygårde and one close to Resenbro. Besides have been found a stone with 55 hollows in the forest at Kærsmølle.
Demolished or destroyed: 100 hills, which mainly were in the eastern part of the parish, where at Hårup, Skellerup and Mollerup Station were some close groups.

In a work in a pit bog in Skellerup were in 1843 found 15 German speciedalere, the latest from Mansfeld 1648.

Names from the Middle Ages: Linå (1376 Lønng sogenn, 1401 Lennow, 1573 Lenno); Mollerup (1423 Maalerup, 1482 Moldrvp); Laven (1401 Laffuend, 1577 Laven); Hårup (1334 Hatterup, 1376 Hatrop, 1577 Horup);  Skellerup (1424 Skældorp); Bjarup (1350 Byrkæthorp, 1586 Bierup); Halved (1433 Halduid); Dynæs (1360 Dyrnes) Kærsmølle (1610 Kiersmølle).


Source: Trap Danmark, Skanderborg amt. 1964.

photo Linå kirke 2007: grethe bachmann

Asmild church / Asmild kirke, Nørlyng herred, Viborg amt

Asmild Church, at Viborg
Asmild sogn, Nørlyng herred, Viborg amt. 

Asmild Church is situated on the eastern side of the lake ' Viborg Søndersø.' It was built around 1090 under the rule of king Oluf Hunger and is one of the earliest stone churches in Denmark. The first building was a large three-naved church with choir and apse to the east and a great hall to the west, which raised above the roof of the nave as a low tower. It was larger than many other village churches built in the 1100-1200s, and with its placement upon a hill by the lake with a view to Viborg it was an impressive building. An explanation of its size was that it was the cathedral of the district before the building of the cathedral in Viborg had finished 1133, but even after this year the bishops still had constant connections to Asmild.

The bishop's own house was placed about 375 m east of the church, and bishop Eskil probably lived here in 1132. While celebrating mass bishop Eskil was killed on 20th of October 1132 in front of the altar. The reason for the murder was the civil war, and it was probably done by order of king Erik Emune. In the 1200s a brick house was built for the bishop on Klostermarken, and rests of a stone house have been found at this place. The famous bishop Gunnar, who wrote the first words in king Valdemar's Jyske Lov "Med Lov skal Land bygges" is mentioned in Asmild in 1251. He invited at least once or twice a year the parish people to his house and treated them with costly dinners and noble wines. The bishop's house is still mentioned in 1543.




About 1165 a three naved Augustine convent was built at the south side of the church. The convent belonged like the parish church to Viborg chapter. The church services were performed by the bishop and his canons. In the middle of the 1300s the church was ravaged by a violent fire, and a complete rebuilding was made of the middle part of the nave. There have been several changes up to the 1500. After the reformation Asmild belonged to the Crown - the nuns were allowed to stay, but after 1552 it became a royal entailed estate.

In 1907 the convent burnt down except the East Wing, which later was demolished in 1958. Today only the church building stands with the furnishing and the inventory which the owners since the reformation have given to the more than 900 year old church.

The inventory is old, rich and well preserved. The style being Renaissance, Rococco and Baroque. The Romanesque granite baptismal font is of a simple style and probably from the 1200s. In the western side of the church is a gallery with original portrait paintings of nine Oldenburg kings. In the porch is a rune stone which was found in 1950. The inscription cannot be interpreted fully. It says : 'Thorgunn Thorgot Thjodulvssøns datter satte denne sten efter Bose, sin mand, tidenders mand....... ' ( 'Thorgunn the daughter of Thorgot Thjodulvvsøn placed this stone after her husband Bose, man of times........) - meaning that he was famous and respected.

On the paved parking place south of the church the old buildings of the convent are marked with coloured stones, so visitors may catch an image of, how large it once was. The old well is digged out, and the deep, prettily put up well is seen today.Upon the low piece of land west of the church is a model of the medieval convent garden with old plants and medicinal herbs which was used by the monks and nuns.


Nørreådalen

Names in the Middle Ages and 1600s:
Overlund (1556 Offuerlun(n)d(t)); Gammel Asmild ( *1100s Asmiald, 1304 Asmeld, 1551 Gammel Asmildt); Lille Asmild ( 1664 Lille Aszmild); Asmildkloster (* 1441 Aszmild closter); Søgårde (1524 Siøgardt); Tranborg (1664 Tranborig); Dalsgård (1541 Dalsgord); Holmsgård
(1551 Holumsgaard); Søndermølle (1488 Sønder mølle).

Listed prehistorics: 34 hills, of which 25, among those the large Kongehøj, are situated in a group southwest of Bruunshåb; most of these are Stone Ages single grave hills. Other large hills are Langvadhøj in a plantation at Bruunshåb and Odshøj at Gl. Asmild.
Demolished or destroyed: 49 hills

Upon an islet in Nørreådalen is a settlement from Gudenåkulturen. At Søgårde's heath is a grave from early Roman Iron Age with a clay rattle; a grave with 5 claypots from the same time is known from Overlund. In Broddenbjerg mose (moor) is found a phallic wooden figure, probably an idol from Iron Age.

Source: Trap Danmark, Viborg amt, 1962


photo 2003 and 2007: grethe bachmann

Hørdum church /Hørdum kirke, Hassing herred, Thisted amt.

Hørdum Church


Interior


The Thor Stone is the only picture stone in Denmark.

Hørdum church was earlier named 'De fire Evangelisters kirke' (Church of the Four Evangelists). It is built in granite ashlars with a long nave, a northern porch and a choir with a half circular apse. Examinations made by the National Museum in 1955 concluded that the choir and apse are the earliest parts of the building from ab. 1170. The south door is walled, and the north door , which is still in use, has a half circular tympanon and relief cross. Under the floor of the nave were found rests of a wooden building, which had been functioning as a temporary nave in connection to the ashlar built choir. The wooden building was later succeeded by the present stone built nave. In the present church several romanesque windows are preserved, one in the apse, one in the northern side walls of the choir and the nave.

The excavations showed that the Romanesque nave from the beginning was built together with a western tower, since foundations were found of the pillars which supported the long gone three double tower arch. In the late Middle Ages a porch was built plus a tower which was demolished in 1817. A new and distinctive tower was built in front of the western gable in 1955 , in the style of a medieval fortification tower.

Inside the church are beamed ceilings and the old triumph arch is preserved. The Romanesque granite font has four engraved crosses. The pulpit is Renaissance from 1625. Upon the ashlar built altar piece is a modern cross and two high ore-candelabres given in 1650 by Hans Hansen and Maren Andersdatter. Two epitaphs in the church, one for fru Hedvig von Itzen, + 1728, and one for her husband Chr. Helverskov of Irup, + 1733. A Romanesque gravestone with a carved cross is in the porch.

The Thor Stone in the porch is the only picture stone in Denmark. The painting shows the tale from Norse Mythology about Thor's fishing for the Midgard Serpent. During the fight his feets go through the bottom of the boat. The stone was first recognized as being a rarity in 1954 and was used as the last step on the staircase to the belltower at that time. It had also been used as a building stone and is therefore incomplete. The stone dates back to the 11th century.

Names in the Middle Ages and 1600s:
Hørdum (*1405 Øster Hørdum, 1424 Hyrdhom)
Koldby (1556 Koelkoede, 1664 Kold kud, 1688 Koldbye); Tøttrup (*1445 Tottrup, 1556 Tøtterup); Irup (*1449 Yrop); Tøttrupgård (1600 Tøttrupgaardt).
Irup belonged to the bishops of Børglum. In 1449 is mentioned the bishop's official Anders Mathisen in Irup, in 1450 Nis Persen, in 1467 Thomas Persen, but already in 1463 and since in 1475 and 1481 Peder Friis (+1483), in 1484 his widow Christine Nielsdatter of Irup, in 1502 the king's official Niels Hvid and in 1512 he bishop's official Jens Sewrensen, all of Irup. At the reformation Irup came to the Crown and was a vasalry until 1556, when it was sold to Knud Gyldenstierne of Ågård (+1568), after whom his widow Jytte Podebusk was the owner. Probably it was inherited by their daughter Karen Gyldenstierne (+1596) married to Axel Gyldenstierne (+ 1603), their son Knud Gyldenstierne (+ 1636), whose daughter Karen G. married the wealthy rigsråd Tage Ottesen Thott. Their son Ove Thott sold in 1661 Irup with some estate to Albert von Itzen from Copenhagen (+ 1679) . His sister's daughter Hedevig von Itzen brought it in 1684 by marriage to the learned High Court Judge Christian Hermann Helverskov (+1733). Various owners up till present.

In Hørdum was a farm Rævsgård (*1435 Reffs gardh, *1449 Ræffsgardh); in Tøttrup the farms Ringgård (1603 Ringgaardt) and Røkkrup (1606 Røchrup). In the parish is also mentioned the mill Lillemølle (1664 Lille Mølle, 1688 Lild wandmøhle).

Listed prehistorics: 3 long hills and 43 hills of which many are large, the 9 m high Høverhøj, where were found a bronzesword and a goldfingerring, Skjoldhøj, Præsthøj, Hvinhøj at Tøttrupgård, one of the Dåshøjene, a hill at Koldby and 3 at Irup.
Demolished or destroyed: 125 hills, of which were the 3 Hvirvilshøje, mentioned in Pont. Atlas and to which a legend is connected about the sea king Hvirvil, who was killed in a fight at the coast of Zealand. Under a large stone in Hørdum were found 5 large amber axes, and also in Hørdum was found a settlement from Roman period and 3 silverbracelets from the Viking Period.

Source: Trap Danmark, Thisted amt, 1961
photo 2003: grethe bachmann