Bredsten church/ Bredsten kirke, Tørrild herred, Vejle amt.

Bredsten kirke, foto 2012: grethe bachmann

Bredsten church has a Romanesque choir and nave with a late Gothic but very rebuilt tower to the west and a porch to the south, probably from 1738-39. It is now furnished as a mortuary. The whole building is marked by a rebuild in 1738-39. The Romanesque sections, the choir and nave, are built in travertine without a visible plinth. In the wallwork are considerable numbers of monk bricks, but since characteristic details are missing, it is difficult to determine, whether this mix of materials is original. From details are only seen the bricked-up round-arched south door, which stands as a deep niche towards the porch, and the smooth round choir-arch. In the late Gothic period was added to the west a tower in red monk bricks with a cross-vaulted bottom room, which now functions as a porch. It has not kept significant original details. In 1738-39 the church owner, etatsråd Lichtenberg, let make a rebuild of the church. The outer walls of the tower were face-walled with small bricks, its vault got plaster profiles and the high spire with an onion shaped middle-section was built. Inside was inserted new vaults in the nave and choir, which east gable got curved Baroque steps and broad round-arched glares. The porch with a similar gable and a barrel vault was built probably from the ground. The porch was in 1911 furnished as a mortuary, and the entrance was placed by the tower room. The building is whitewashed and has leaden roofs.

Bredsten kirke, foto Google Earth

The inventory belongs with few exceptions to the Lichtenberg rebuild. A beautiful, embroidered altar cloth from 1651 is now in Vejle Museum, and a copy from 1951 hangs upon the choir wall. The altar piece is a pompous building in Rococo from 1742 with closed stools in both sides and a painting from 1925 by Rud Petersen. The original altar painting hangs in the church. Baroque candelabres from ab. 1700 in a slender baluster upon a heavy foot and with a flat light-bowl. A very fine late Gothic choir-arch crucifix is spoiled by new gilding. A Romanesque granite font, which smooth basin rests upon a profiled round foot above a square base. South German dish from ab. 1575. A carved fontehimmel (sounding board above the font) is probably from ab. 1740. The square pulpit with sounding board is contemporary to the altar piece and with large biblical figures. From the same period are the pews, which gables all have the carved coat of arms of Lichtenberg.

Kjeldkær belonged in 1366 to Jacob Jensen,  a brother of Lars Jonsen (Panter) (see Skibet church, the farm Kærsgård);  in 1387 to the brothers Anders and Jens Pedersen (Panter), who then pawned it to Jacob Willesen (Rodsteen), who wrote himself of K. in 1406; his son Jes Jepsen (Rodsteen) took over the pawn, but the farm was later redeemed and belonged then to the above mentioned Jens Pedersen's daughter-in-law Mette Pedersdatter (Present) who, when widow, married first Ejler Hardenberg, then hr. Engelbrecht Bydelsbak. The first mentioned owned the farm in 1460-65, and after his son Erik Hardenberg's death in 1500 his widow Anne Rønnow could in 1505 exchange her 1/6 part of K. to Ebbe Strangesen (mentioned below). Grethe Bydelsbak was married to Claus Bryske, who in 1483-85 was part-owner of K. The daughter Kirsten Bryske was married 1) to Ebbe Strangesen (+ 1507), who in 1500 required K. by law , 2) to Henneke von Ahlefeldt (+ 1541) who also required K by law in 1517. Karen Bryske was married to Jørgen Daa, who in 1500 by arbitral was allowed to redeem K, which was pawned at that time. His children sold in 1523 their part of K. to Mogens Gøye, who was married to Mette Albrechtsdatter Bydelsbak, and who in 1532 seemingly owned the whole farm. Although Jørgen Daa's two sons in 1543 sold a part to Claus Bryske's daughter-in-law Kirstine Ulfstand, but in an agreement from 1549 she had to renounce K. to Mogens Gøye's son-in-law, the famous Peder Oxe, who in 1574 exchanged K. to the Crown. (K. was since 1532 split into two farms). In 1578 the Crown exchanged them to Laurids Skram of Hastrup (+ 1587); K. came probably with his daughter Lisbeth Skram to rigsråd Henrik Below of Spøttrup (+ 1606), and then to the son-in-law Christian Thott of Boltinggård (+ 1617), whose son Henrik Thott of Boltinggård in 1651 and 1662 owned K. In 1671 K. belonged to Siver von Lützow, in 1688 it belonged to the son Augustus (Asmus) von Lützow, who in 1694 deeded K. to manager at K., Gøde Hansen, whose widow in 1718 at auction sold K. to Hans Folsach, (later of Gjessinggård), who in 1731 sold K. to Gerhard de Lichtenberg, and with his farm Engelsholm K. came in 1754 to the son-in-law Christen Linde, and in 1767 to his brother-in-law, Hans Henrik de Lichtenberg of Bidstrup.

Later owners: Hans Severin Steenstrup; Laurids Amnitzbøll; Hans Henrik G. Halling; the family Godt; Hans Jensen, Odense; Vingsted fabrikker; A. Andersen Kjeldahl; Karl Christian Lerche; P.Horn. From 1959: E.R.S.Ulbæk.
The main building lies upon a small hill in a beautiful forested scenery surrounded by lowlands. Tbe building is yellow with white details. 

Ebbe Lille from Bredsten is mentioned in 1338. Peder Jonsen (Panter?) of Ravning in 1366.

At Kærbølling were two sacred springs Sølvkilde and Stødbækkilde.

Slotsskansen (castle bank)  in Tørskind was according to legend made by borgherren (lord of the castle) at Koldborg in Vork.

A settlement Alind (1488 Alen bygistedh) belonged to Ravning and was probably situated at Vejle å (river). At Engelsholm was a farm Grundem (1591 Grundem.)  

Listed prehistorics: 14 hills, of which several are rather large: one east of Ravning where were a group of 6, 4 at Balle, one in the northeast corner of the parish and Molbohøj in Ravning skov (forest).
Demolished or destroyed: 29 hills, according to a report from 1638 there was west of Kærbølling a longdolmen, and east of Stensgårde a large hill, edged with stones: Bøgehøj, but their place is not known today.

In Balle was in a overploughed hill found a single grave from Stone Age with war axe, *flække, amber pearl and imprint of the skeleton. 

* flække is an oblong piece of flint with parallel edges from a flint block, which was used for making various things, like knives and tools etc.

Names from the Middle Ages and 1600s:
Bredsten (ab. 1330 Breethsteen); Balle (1460 Bali); Lildfrost (1547 Lille Frøstemark, 1573 Lille Frosteby, 1664 Lilfrøst); Ravning (1366 Rafning); Kærbølling (1460 Kærbølling, Kærbølingh); Søskov (1476 Søøskoff); Ollerup (1460 Ollerup); Bredstenlund (1460 Lwndh, 1578 Brestenlund); Stensgårde (last half of 1400s Stensgaardtt); Tørskind (1524 Tyskynd, 1570 Tuskind By); Kjeldkær (1366 Kiældkyær, 1387 Keldkær).



Source: Trap Danmark, Vejle amt, 1964.

photo 2012 Bredsten kirke : grethe bachmann
photo Bredsten kirke: Google Earth.