Vester church/ Vester kirke, Nørvang herred, Vejle amt.

Vester church, photo gb

Vester church has a Romanesque choir and nave with a tower to the west from 1917. The Romanesque building is in granite ashlars and raw boulders upon a beveled-edge plinth - and from original details is the north door, which is out-bricked with a modern window and a plastered lintel, while the south door, which was bricked-up in 1917, is vaguely visible. The north side has kept its low, rather highly placed round-arched windows, one upon the choir, two upon the nave,while the east window of the choir is  bricked-up in the lighting. The round choir arch stands inside with simple framestone, and both nave and choir have beamed ceilings. In 1913 was at the west end of the building built a small tower with glare-decorated walls and a pyramid roof. The bottom room functions as a front hall,  and a porch at the southside of the nave was removed. The church is whitewashed on the south and east side, upon the north side only the upper third of the walls is whitewashed. The church has a modern tiled roof.


Interior: The altarpiece is a painting from ab. 1915 by J.Skovgaard. A chalice from ab. 1850 with stamp: Lind (Horsens). An oval wafer box, made by J.R. Hofgrefe, Vejle. Balustershaped ore candelabres. ab. 1625. Very little, well carved late Gothic choir arch crucifix. A Romanesque granite font, a rather primitive work with vaguely sketched sepals and double rope sticks upon the basin. The foot is shaped like a cubic capital. A south German dish ab. 1550-75. A pulpit in Art Noveau was ab. 1915 given by Niels Jensen and wife, Højby. The earlier pulpit, a simple joinery from the beginning of the 1800s, lies upon the attic. ( 1964) Bell 1833, I.C and H.Gamst.

Rørbæk Hovedgaard, 2009,

photo: gb.

Rørbæk Per Marqvardsen in Rørbæk is mentioned 1487 and 1490, but he was probably not nobility; in 1542 and 1549 R. belonged to Hans Johansen (Lindenov) of Fovslet (+ 1568), in 1561 to his brother  Anders Hansen (Lindenov)( + 1562) and thereafter to A.H.'s daughter Else Lindenov (+ 1613), m. to Absalon Gøye  (+ 1602); her heirs took in common over her estate, but wanted an exchange in 1621; latest from 1630 the farm belonged to Erik Bille of Kærsgård , after whose death 1641 there was a feud about the inheritance.  In 1642 R. belonged to Levin Bülow (+ childless 1657), then to Mogens Høegh (Banner)( + 1659), whereafter it was inherited by Valdemar Skram of Todbøl and Otte Krafse of Egholm. The last mentioned's half came before 1662 to Steffen Rohde's heirs, who in 1667 outbought Valdemar Skram. In 1713 R. was on an auction after Franz Rohde (+ same year) sold to lieutenant Sejer Sejersen  (+ 1715), from whom it came to his brother captain-lieutenant Johan Jakob Sejer (+ 1727) .
Later owners: Peder Simonsen Schiønning, N. Karstoft, Jens Jørgen Bredal of Hammergård, Jean de Trappaud, Arnt Peter Engwari at Havhus, Johan Jakob Sejer, Christen Christensen in Egholm Mill, Søren and Anders Holst, Nikolaj C. Sveistrup, N.A.J. Thyregod, Inger Eriksdatter , J.N. Thyregod, Jakob Helms, Jens Nielsen, Den jyske kreditforening, Iver Hansen Nielsen, Niels Jensen. J. Jensen, H. Ørnsholt Jensen ( in 1964).

Rørbæk Hovedgaard at present: 
Niels Jensen and his descendants are those who have owned Rørbæk for the longest period, from 1902-1991, almost 100 years. In 1991 Niels Jensens descendants sold the farm to Aage V. Jensens Fond, who in 2002 sold Rørbæk Hovedgaard to the family Olesen.

Risager was in 1542 owned by Birgitte Rostrup, in 1574 by her brother's son Hans Rostrup, in 1589 by Bertel Holck of Højgård, in 1606 probably by Karen Viffert, widow after Timme Rosenkrantz of Rydhave. In 1633 Abel Bryske sold it to Christoffer Gersdorff. In 1662 it was owned by Karen Dyre of Knivholt, who in 1666 deeded it with mill and some estate to her son-in-law Jochum Nordmand of Dubnitz, whose wife Birgitte Arenfeldt still in 1677 is mentioned of R., although it in 1675 by Claus Dyre of Sindinggård was deeded to Anders Rohde of Bajlumgård; in 1714 Albert Sejer's widow died at R. and in 1716 Johan Jakob Sejer of Rørbæk lived here; in 1773 R. was a peasant-farm under Rørbæk.

Rørbæk sø 2009, photo: gb

In the lake of Rørbæk sø, Kulsø and Nedersø is a good stock of pike and bream. At Rørbæk sø is a put and take.

Castle bank ? Upon a leveled eastern end of a bank, originally surrounded by water near the southside of Rørbæk sø, a little northeast of Rørbæk, the farm's earlier place is pointed out. Here is seen a cellar room of raw granite boulder , ab. 13 x 5 m. On this place and upon the small plateau on the nearby land are seen brick pieces. A plank bridge, from which poles were removed in the 1920s, led across the now dried part of the lake to the solid land,  where also were brick pieces upon a small plateau.

By Rørbæk was a farm Stovgård (1543 Stofvegaard).   

Listed prehistorics: 18 hills, of which Kongenshøj at Vesterlund is large, but somewhat digged.
Demolished or destroyed: 74 hills. 

At Vester mølle (mill) is a settlement from Gudenåkulturen.

Names from the Middle Ages  and 1600s: Vester Kirke (1291 Wæstærth); Vesterlund (1419 Vester Lundt); Lindet (1461 Lindued); Skovsbøl (1456 Skousbøll); Risager (1291 Wæstær Risæ, 1638 Risagger); Rørbæk (1471 Rørbech, 1487 Rørbæk); Vester Mølle (1664 Vester Mølle)

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Source: Trap Danmark, Vejle amt, 1964.
photo 2009: grethe bachmann

Østergård, Salling, North Jutland, Viborg amt.

Østergård, ab. 19 km north of Skive
Åsted sogn, Harre herred, Viborg amt.

Queen Margrethe I spent the first half of the year 1408 in Jutland, where she with a large entourage of trusted men went from place to place. Whereever she came, new crowds of clericals and secular gentlemen joined her entourage for a shorter or longer period, partly to bask themselves in her favour , partly to settle important business, which was not always of the most pleasant sort. In the month of January the queen stayed in the old royal town Viborg. From here she crossed Thy, where she guested Ørum castle and the now long gone Hillerslevhus - and after having visited Børglum Kloster she arrived in Hjørring in the month of March, from where she continued her travel south to Ålborg, Randers and Århus. At Midsummer-time queen Margrethe was back at Zealand, probably very satisfied with the achieved results. She had won back much royal estate, which was lost during the turbulent times, and she had secured the friendship of the clergy by giving them costy gifts.

Among those who had to show up at the meeting with the queen in Viborg was "Niels Mikkelsen of Nissum, a knight called Krabbe" - he probably did not meet up voluntarily, since he had much on his conscience. His men had broken the church-peace at Kobberup church, and he had himself together with his maternal uncle Niels Kaas and several others repeatedly broken the thing-peace on Fjends herreds Thing. (district-thing.) He therefore had to make amend, but the "the gracious Lady" let him go, if he gave her some estate in Fiskbæk and elsewhere, which unlawfully had been taken from the Crown. If hr. Niels could have lived for another 100 years, he would have enjoyed to see that one of his descendants, rigsmarsk hr. Tyge Krabbe won back this estate by not so fine means - his greatgrandfather would probably have liked that.

Hr. Niels Krabbe returned to Nissum very bad tempered, it was not the first time the queen had been pursuing him. His fortificated castle could not secure him against her and his mighty family neither. The castle was placed north in Salling. The theory is that the small square castle bank, rising steeply from the slope east of Hinnerup Å (river) at Åsted village, which later was called Holmshøj or Sallingholm castle, was his home. It is not easy to see, why he is called "from Nissum", since this village is placed upon the other side of the river and earlier was divided from Holmshøj by both a river and a meadow. From the castle bank a road dam leads northwest out into the meadows where still are seen weak rises ; here were found heavy, driven in poles - the rests of a pile castle, which might have been the successor of the castle bank inland.

The family Krabbe is old in Salling, where it besides Nissum or Østergård owned several manors, like Lundegård at the island Fur, Hostrup, Bustrup, to which the rigsmarsk (Tyge Krabbe) wrote himself, and several others, aldso Krabbesholm. Much indicates that the old members of the family was an unruly and violent flock, who reminded about the family Brock at Gammel Estrup. This nature is also recognizable in the family's most distinguished member Tyge Krabbe, but else made the family their mark by indisputable competence and later also by having spiritual interests. The family was connected to Nissum for a long period. Niels Mikkelsen Krabbe was hardly the first member of the family who lived there - the earlier generations are fairly known - but he wasn't the last. Both his son Morten Krabbe, who was a High Court Judge and owned a rich estate, (+ ab.1483), and his son Glob Krabbe, also named Lucas Krabbe, lived in Nissum, but the old castle was abandoned. Glob Krabbe established the farm (manor) Østergård south of Åsted upon the other side of the river and built the heavy Gothic building, which still stands today. It is one of few manor buildings from the time before the reformation, which has kept its look almost unchanged up till the present.


The manor was built upon a flat, square bank, surrounded by banks and moats, which were kept water-filled by dams. The building is four-winged and includes a small yard, only 8,75 m each square. It is built in late Gothic style in bricks upon a high plinth of raw granite boulder and with a cellar under the whole two-storeyed building. It is said that an inscription was upon a beam in the yard saying that Lucas Krabbe put down the first stone for this foundation in 1516. On the gables of the south wing were earlier a couple of hanging bays , possibly "hemmeligheder" (secrets = toilets). Behind the 2-3 feet thick walls the unruly Krabbes could feel secure towards wronged class companions and peasants. When the peasants in Grevefejden (civil war) ravaged in Salling and let "the red cock"crow (fire) on the castles of their oppressors, they probably also wished to chase the squire of Østergård away from his home, but if they tried to, they probably failed. Later was no need to have a fortificated castle like this, but banks and moats were kept until the 19th century. Now is only a small rest left.

Glob Krabbe died a few years after the reformation (1543)and was buried in Åsted church, where his wife was also buried, and where a head stone reminds them. He had feuds with his peasants till the end. Their son Iver Krabbe (+ 1561), who in his youth had the family's hot blood in his veins, became a rich man, rigsråd and the holder of several important vasalries. He and later his widow bought much estate in exchange with the Crown. This estate was situated near the farm, and he also achieved free birkeret (judicial rights) of all estate in the parish a year before his death. This right followed Østergård until 1688. He probably built the last two wings of the manor.

After his death his widow fru Magdalene Banner kept the farm, she followed her husband to the grave in 1597 and was buried by his side in Åsted kirke. She had given vaults and a new pulpit to the church. It seems that she before her death gave Østergård to her daughter Anne Krabbe, who from 1580 was widow after rigsråd Axel Viffert and later was married to Erik Kaas of Vorgård in Himmerland (+ 1598). She died childless in 1625, but the heirs did not accept the inheritance. Østergård was not taken over by strangers though, it came to her sister's daughter Otte Lindenov of Borreby's widow Anne Tygesdatter Brahe, (+ 1636), and when her son Otte Ottesen Lindenov's widow fru Vibeke Clausdatter Podebusk (+ 1645) - who had a livsbrev (ownerrights for life) on the farm - in 1639 married hr. Knud Ulfeldt of Svenstrup, who was killed in the war 1657, the farm came to him and then to his stepson, kammerherre Christian Lindenov,who was amtmand (district) in Norway and the last of the Krabbe-descendants who owned the old family-farm.


Åsted church

Østergård was in a bad state after the war; 9 farms in Nissum village were destroyed. Christian Lindenov pawned Østergård to the wellknown priest at Vor Frue Kirke in Copenhagen, magister Erik Olufsen Torm, whose widow Søster Worm, a daughter of the famous professor Ole Worm, in 1673 took over farm and estate, which was confirmed by the Supreme Court two years later. The saga of the old nobility was over, and middle-class families moved into Glob Krabbe's old castle. During the latest century it had often been uninhabited and neglected, sometimes owned by people, who lived far away, and sometimes by poor people, who could not pay their bills. Søster Worm managed the farm by a tenant, and after her death in 1685 it came to her son-in-law Jens Henriksen, but times were unfortunate, and he ended up in big debts. He had to pay his peasants with corn and give them horses. This was expensive and he never got anything back.

In 1694 Jens Henriksen had to give up. He sold Østergård to tenant Anders Hansen Høyer at Astrup. He was an indebted man, who had 19 children with three wives, whom he hardly could give food and clothes. He stayed however at the farm until his death in 1727, and the estate went to one of his creditors, the rich mayor Christen Jensen Basballe in Århus, who let it manage by a tenant for about 20 years. It was said that when he grew old, he was so stingy that corn and bullocks piled up at the farm, because he wanted over current price for both this and that. After his death Østergård had several owners. In 1758 it was sold to Niels Andersen Qvistgård.

Qvistgård died only 5 years later, and his widow Johanne Marie Batum brought the farm to her second husband Christian Kjærulff, who in vain tried to sell it. When both he and his wife had died in 1777 in Nykøbing (Mors), where they lived for several years, Østergård was bought by his stepsons Jens og Anders Nielsen Qvistgård. The last mentioned was sole owner in 1786, since Jens had bought a farm in Himmerland. Anders Qvistgård was dependent on alcohol and once caused a scandal when drunk in Åsted kirke, but else he was seemingly a solid Jutland farmer, who took care of his estate and tried to introduce improvements. In order to have disposal over the water - which run in abundance through his meadows and moors - he outbought at a costy expense the copyholder of Nissum Water Mill and let it replace by a wind mill. This showed to be a profit, but else were his improvements hardly radical enough.


Farm buildings close to Østergård, disfiguring the old medieval castle
The ferry to the island Fur north of Åsted and Østergård.

The farm was managed by villeinage until 1805, when all the estate was sold. The main part was already in Iver Krabbe's time in Åsted parish, another part in the neighbouring parishes. While the estate was still complete, the added tiender (taxes) changed all the time. Knud Ulfeldt had a couple of churches added to the farm in 1640, but they were lost in 1673. In 1699 Anders Høyer got a deed on Åsted kirke from the king, but this did not follow the farm permanently. Anders Qvistgård owned the kirketiender (church taxes) of Åsted and Nautrup parish and held the royal taxes of the same parishes, but in 1806 only the two churches were part of the farm. Anders Qvistgård died already in 1792; the following year farm and estate came on auction and sold to Thomas Thomsen of Vindum Overgård. He had moved to Jutland from Funen some years ago, and he gradually became the owner of several big farms in Jutland.

In the beginning of the following century it was told that Østergård, Eskjær and Astrup were the only manors in Salling with a dairy. Thomsen had been a co-owner of Eskjær, the other part belonged to his relative. In 1804 Thomsen sold the whole estate, for which he had paid 42.ooo rigsdaler, to three speculators, who paid 100.000 rigsdaler. After a royal licence they sold the copyhold-estate and let in 1806 the main farm and the taxes go back for 56.500 rigsdaler to the previous owner, who kept it until his death in 1823, after which the wellknown studefeder (he was making bullocks fat!) Nis Nissen of Spøttrup became the owner. After him followed kammerråd Hans Tørsleff (1836-46). During the next 100 years the farm had several owners: kammerherre Ernst Emil Rosenørn (1855-71), Johan Chr. Brinck-Seidelin (1871-85), Erik Oscar Julius Hedemann of Nyholm (1885-90), Vallø Stift, who sold it in 1906 to lieutenant Axel Lemming Froberg, who owned Østergård for more than 36 years , until he sold it in 1943 to greve Adam Cyrille Knuth, Hesselbjerg. In 1945 Østergård was bought by a consortium, where J.M.Skov became the sole owner. Owners in 1966 Kristen and Kjeld Skov.

Source: Danske slotte og herregårde, bd. 12, 1966, Nordvestjylland, Østergård, by arkivar, cand.mag. S. Nygård.

Østergård i dag:
In the summer 1998 was the Danish State ready to take over the very decayed buildings. Restorations started in June 2000 with an expected finish in the castle's 500 years jubilee in 2016!


photo Østergård og Åsted 2004: grethe bachmann

Ørslevkloster , Fjends herred, Viborg amt.

Ørslevkloster, ab. 12 km northeast of Skive
Ørslevkloster sogn, Fjends herred, Viborg amt.

The church forms the north wing of Ørslevkloster's four winged house; it consists of apse, choir and nave from the Romanesque period with late Gothic additions - a tower to the west and a porch on the north side. A chapel on the north side of the choir was removed recently after a long time's decay. The Romanesque building is similar to the village churches of the area, but it is larger than standards. It is built in granite ashlars, and the apse, which is almost as broad as the choir, has a bricked-up round arched window to the east, while the original half cupola vault has been broken down recently; at the same time was the apse wall heightened to the wall height of the choir. Choir and nave have beamed ceilings and the high, broad choir arch is preserved with profiled kragbånd. The tower was added in the late Gothic period, the upper sections are mainly built in monk bricks, but large parts are face-walled with small stones. The bottom room of the tower has a cross vault. The porch is also late Gothic like the heavy buttresses on the south side of the nave at the klostergård.( kloster-yard). At the north side of the choir was once an extension, possibly a sacristy, it was later changed into a burial chapel for the family Berregaard. Its cross vault fell down 1835 damaging the sarcophagi, and in the 1950s the rests of the chapel were removed.



The front of the communion table is in rural Renaissance with lively, painted angel heads. The altarpiece is mixed in various pieces, since a high Renaissance piece in 1736 was equipped with wings and figures in an elegant bruskbaroque (in DK 1630-1660). A beam with carvings across the choir reminds about this; it has the coat of arms and names of Fr. Berregaard and Maria Lasson. Upon the confessional from the same period is placed a small Netherland Renaissance altarpiece with alabast relief. Large Baroque candelabres from the end of the 1600s. A Romanesque granite font with a smooth basin. South German baptismal bowl ab. 1575. A sounding board above the font in achantus Baroque, similar to the pulpit from 1740. Richly carved manor pews from the end of the 1500s with Hans Lindenov's coat of arms. In the nave hangs a large Renaissance chandelier.

In the choir epitaph and grave stone over the freebooter Mogens Heinesen, who was executed in 1589 and after the reverse of the judgment in 1590 was buried her.



Ørslevkloster was founded in the early Middle Ages for nuns, probably from the Benedictine porder. It is mentioned already in the middle of the 1200s and was governed by a prioress. (1468 Ingeborg Mogensdatter) and a prior (1275 Johannes, 1336 Niels Pedersen), who was appointed or which election was confirmed by the Viborg bishops until the ruling period of Chr. I., when the nuns received a letter from the king that told them that no prior could be forced on them against their will. This resulted in a feud in the reformation period with the Viborg bishop. The kloster probably owned some estate, and it had its own birk (judicial district)(until 1800). At the reformation Ø. came under the Crown and was endowed or pawned to nobility, (1537 Henrik Rantzau, 1538 Mogens Kaas(Sparre-K.), 1542 Jens Rotfeld, 1546 Oluf Munk, 1566 fru Mette Oxe, widow after Hans Barnekow, 1568 Hennicke v. Hagen, 1571 fru Anne Lykke, widow after Otte Krumpen, 1575 Malte Jensen Sehested. The nuns still had their maintenance in the kloster, the last prioress was Kirstine Thomasdatter (+ 1581) , the last nun jomfru Mette Mogensdatter (+ 1595), was in 1587 endowed with 2 farms and 1 bol (small farm) in Søby, Kobberup parish in order not to suffer anything when the kloster was sold. In 1584 Fr. II exchanged Ø. with 52 farms, 10 bol, 27 houses and 1 mill to Hans Lindenov (+ 1610), then it belonged to his son Hans Lindenov (+ 1620), and his son Anders Lindenov, who still owned it in 1638, but soon after he died, and it came to his father's half-nephew, rigsråd Hans Lindenov (+ 1642) and his daughter Christence Lindenov (+ 1681); she was married 1) to Axel Gyldenstierne (+ 1637) and 2) to Claus Sested (Sehested?) (+ 1649) and she conveyed 1679 Ø. and Strandet to her daughter's daughter Sophie Amalie Friis (of Haraldskær) , 1682 married to generalløjtnant Johan Rantzau (+ 1708), their daughter Christence Lindenov Rantzau brought Ø. to her husband generalløjtnant grev Christian Frederik Levetzau of Restrup, who in 1719 sold Ø. and Strandet to major, later etatsråd and landsdommer Iver Nicolaj Sehested of Nøragergård, who in 1724 sold both farms (manors) to oberstløjtnant Frederik Berregaard, + same year, whose widow Marie de Lasson (+ 1747) owned it. Later owners: Bünau, Lerche, Bering, Richter, de Hofman, Fønss, Grotrian, Malling, In 1962 rigsgevinde Olga Sponneck.

The main building is listed in class A, it surrounds together with the church a square yard with an entrance via a walled gate between the apse of the church and the end of the east wing. It is in its plan mostly a late Gothic klosterbuilding, but it was marked by a renovation in 1700. In 1920 the building was in decay, and the east wing and a part of the south wing were repaired. In the beginning of the 1930s the owner threatened to break down the not-renovated sections and later maybe the whole manor, but after rigsgrevinde Sponneck took over in 1934 a thorough renovation took place with support from "Det særlige Bygningstilsyn" and from Ny Carlsbergfondet, and some medieval details were brought to light on the west wing of the building. In the east wing is bricked-up an ashlar from a communion table with a reliquary.



Names in the Middle Ages: Hejlskov (1530 Heygellskowg); Hald (*1319 Haal, 1566 Hald); Ørslevkloster (1268 Høstcløf, * 1275 Østerløff).

Lærkenborg was established in 1760 by Jakob Lerche, who lived here after having sold Ørslevkloster. Various owners up til present.

In Ørum lived in the 1. half of the 14th century Lave Grummesen (Saltensee) and ab. 1360 his son Niels Bratze, whose widow Aase Eskildsdatter Falk still lived in 1400.

Listed prehistorics: a 70 m long hill in the heath at Virksund, 42 hills, of which 6 are in a row east of Bøstrup; southwest of Hald is a large group with two other hills.
Demolished or destroyed: 100 hills, they were placed especially close to each other at Hald and at Lund and Bøstup. - Several kitchen middens are known along Virksund and at Ørslevkloster Sø. In a hill at Hald was found an oak coffin with things from Bronze Age: dagger, belt plate, tutulus (jewelry plate in bronze) etc.

Source: Trap Danmark, Viborg amt, 1962

photo Ørslevkloster 2003: grethe bachmann