Gavnø Slot, South Zealand

Gavnø Slot on South Zealand is built upon the foundations of a Dominican convent which queen Margrethe I established in 1402, Sct. Agnes convent , a four winged cloisterdesign from which few rests remain in the south wing of the present main building with the chapel.

The three winged main building from 1755 appears as a perfect Rococco mansion with the yellow chalked walls under a black glazed tiled roof. The interior is magnificent. The church with its Gothic vaults origins undoubtedly from the earliest days of the convent in the beginning of the 1400s.



In the reformation year 1536 the convent was abolished like all other Danish cloisters and taken over by the Crown, but in 1584 king Frederick II exchanged the property to his vasal Hans J. Lindenow. After the Swedish wars Gavnø was sold to admiral Niels Trolle and the Trolle-family later exchanged the estate with the powerful Scanian Thott-family who are still the owners of Gavnø now 300 years later.

The interior is marked with the unique painting collections of Baron Otto Reedtz-Thott, one of Denmarks biggest private collections. Furthermore he left a large book collection of 140.000 volumes, now at the Royal Library.

The church is one of Gavnø's attractions. It was a part of the Dominican cloister, but some of the inventory is Baroque with a magnificent altar piece and pulpit from 1670. A headless troll -which is a figure from the family Trolle's coat of arms - supports the pulpit. A fine Late Gothic crucifix and a bride's stool from the 1500s are interesting parts of the inventory.



Gavnø is placed upon an island by the entering of the town Næstved. The original drawbridge was succeeded by a pile bridge in 1766, but in the storm 1872 the pile bridge was destroyed and succeeded by the present solid stone bridge. The landscape garden from the 1850s is inspired by English garden design and has rests of the Baroque garden from the beginning of the 1700s. The lime tree avenue and the big trees in the garden are from Otto Reedtz-Thott's time in the beginning of the 1800s.

From 1960 Gavnø has been a n independent institution and the park and parts of the main building are open to the public. The famous tulipe park opened in 1967 with thousands of tulips and other bulb plants. Furthermore there are roses and herbaceous perennials and a sommerfugleland (butterfly-country) , which is open to the public during the summer season.

photo 2007: grethe bachmann

Selsø Manor and Selsø church / Selsø kirke, Horns herred, Frederiksborg amt.

Selsø Manor

Selsø Manor

Corner of Selsø Lake

A little harbour by Selsø

Selsø church

Selsø Manor
Selsø is first mentioned in the historic sources in 1288 in the Latin term "curia" referring to a larger manor. It belonged to the bishop in Roskilde until the reformation 1536 - and until 1556 to the Crown - but in 1559 it came to rich noble family Ulfeldt. Jacob Ulfeldt moved the manor away from the church to its present position, and he built in the 1570s a new Renaissance main building in red monk bricks from the demolished convent in Roskilde, St. Clara, where he in 1571 bought 1/2 million bricks.
The main building was surrounded by moats and a pointed block wall with towers in the corners. Later Selsø Manor was marked by a rebuilding in 1728-34. The main building was "freed" for its Renaissance decoration and tower. The old porthouse was replaced by the present square portbuilding in early Rococco style. After a thorough restoration in the 1970s the main building appears again in its former glory untouched by the "bessermachen" in the 1800s.

Selsø Manor was in 1972 rented by herregårdshistorikeren (Manor historian) Bernhard Linder , who established a manor museum in the main building. Riddersalen (The Great Hall) is remarkable with a stuccato loft and marbled panels from the 1730s. Here are also several paintings from the 1700s by the Dutch artist Hendrik Krock. In the vaulted cellar from the 1500s is a big kitchen which is often presented as Denmarks oldest manor kitchen with open fireplace and walled laundry. Besides alternate exhibitions are exhibitions of old agricultural tools, weapons and domestic utensils.

Selsø Church
Selsø church was built as a round church ab. 1150, but was rebuilt in ab. 1250 where only the apse was left from the old church. The porch is from ab. 1400 and the tower from ab. 1500.
The church has a beautiful position on a hillside by Selsø lake, which is the rest of a corner of Roskilde fjord. Here was the island Selsø which in the early Middle Ages belonged to the church in Roskilde, and Selsø church was supposedly built as a round fortificated castle church during the troubled period in the 1130s and the 1140s in which the bishops and other important clerical people supported the alternate pretenders.
While Selsø Manor was a church estate it was placed close to the round castle church, but later it was moved to another position. Still it is placed only a few hundred meters from the present church. The inventory in Selsø church is marked by the neighbourhood of the family Ulfeldt. A couple of herskabsstole ( Lord of the Manor stools) are dated 1593 with Ulfeldt and his wife's coat of armour. The pretty Renaissance altar piece is given in 1605 by Mogens Ulfeldt who also gave the special octagonal baptismal sandstone font decorated with angels' heads.

photo september 2008: grethe bachmann

Maribo cathedral /Maribo domkirke, Musse herred, Maribo amt.

Maribo Cathedral

Interior

Altar piece

Pulpit

The dean has a conversation outside the cathedral

Maribo Cathedral was built as a klosterkirke for the Birgittines. Queen Margrethe I ordered a village Skimminge confiscated in favour of the new convent and monastery in 1408 - and a few years later the klosterkirke was built. Its placement by the lake (Maribo Søndersø) and it's architecture makes it one of the prettiest buildings in Denmark. In the late 1500s the klosterkirke became a parish church for the town Maribo.

The magnificent altar piece Mariatavlen which was in the church before the reformation is now in Engestofte church a few km east of Maribo (see Engestofte). The present Baroque altar piece is from 1641 and the Renaissance pulpit from 1606, the baptismal font is sandstone from 1777. The church has many epitaphs and a considerable collection of gravestones from the 1400s up to the 1600s. Famous is Chr. IV's daughter, Leonora Christine's grave stone.

West of and close to the cathedral are the ruins of the convent. It was very similar to the mother convent in Vadstena. The ruins of the more simple monastery south of the church are hidden under the dean's house.

photo 2003: grethe bachmann

Nakskov Church. Nakskov, Lolland

Nakskov church behind the town square


A portal by the entrance


Interior


The altar piece


The pulpit with sounding board


The gallery with the organ

Iron bound coffer with three locks.

Nakskov church was built during a very long time with various periods' perception of architecture. There is not much left from the original Romanesque brickwork church. Ab. 1400 the citizens started a rebuilding project for a Gothic cathedral which never was finished. A serious fire in 1420 was probably one of the reasons why the rebuilding stopped, and it was not completed until the middle of the 1600s. Much work was made through the centuries and in 1906 was the result. The church and its tower is a strange product of mixed style. Frederick IV said about the tower: "I have never seen such a big man with such a small hat."

The finest piece in the church is the big altar piece from 1657. It was made by the fine Odense-carver Anders Mortensen, who had made a similar altar piece for Sct. Knud church in Odense. The best carver at Lolland from the same period, Jørgen Ringnis made the fine Renaissance pulpit with the sounding board, which is dated 1630. The gallery from 1631 by the church organ (from 1648) was also carved by Jørgen Ringnis. The baptismal font of alabaster is a rare piece. It was made in 1758 by court sculptor Simon Carl Stanley, who is known from his stucco work at Amalienborg Castle and several Danish manors.

The church was heavily damaged during the Swedish attacks on the city in 1658 and 1659. Left of the choir arch is placed a Swedish canon ball which 19. June 1659 was shot through the choir vault "og gjorde på altertavlen stor skade" (damaged the altar piece seriously). Other Swedish shells are walled-in in the tower.

Nakskov church is surrounded by a close built-up area with the town square (Axeltorv) on the south east side. The original church yard was confiscated in 1810, and a new cemetery was placed on the road to Maribo.The name Klostergade a few steps north of the church gives witness to that the town had a Kloster (Monastery) which was established in the 1300s. In the 1400s it functioned as a hospital, but after the reformation it lost its significance as a hospital and was furnished into a fattighus (house for poor people). After the Swedish ravage of the town which was taken after two and a half months siege on the 15. July 1659, only the church building was still standing, but damaged like most other houses in the town. Klosterkirken was heavily damaged and was demolished in 1689.

photo 2003: grethe bachmann

Østofte church / Østofte kirke, Fuglse herred, Maribo amt, Lolland

Østtofte church with the square medieval tower

Behind Østtofte church is a view to an old stubmølle. A stubmølle is a windmill built in wood and placed upon a foot so the whole mill is turned by the wind. Most stubmøller in Denmark were built between 1200-1800, where the Dutch windmill took over.

A few km northwest of Maribo lies Østtofte church. The church dominates the landscape with its large late medieval tower. The church was built in the 1200s. The tower is almost square with a pyramid roof and it is different from other Danish Gothic church towers. It looks more like a German city portal. The tower's holes indicate that there once might have been an outdoor wooden watchman's gallery.

The porch is from the end of the Middle Ages, while the northern wing is from 1656. The choir is covered with frescoes. The unique pictures in the star-vault are painted ab. 1380, probably by a German master and they belong to the most important in Denmark because of the well-kept colours and the unique representation of Adam's death and the biblical people in dresses from the 1300s. The Baroque pulpit is from 1640s and the altar piece is dated to 1674 . An early Gothic choir-crucifix is in the National Museum in Copenhagen.

In Østtofte and Sørup the king owned estate in Valdemar Sejr's ruling period.
Near Erikstrup in the forest Skåningshave is one of Denmarks most impressive castle banks Eriksvolde with beautiful old trees. It consists of two ab. 33 m broad castle banks, both surrounded by motts and a common bank. Outside the inner bank is another mott and a lower outer bank. The motts are still partly water-filled. The history about this place is not known.

photo 2004: grethe bachmann

Engestofte Manor, Lolland

Engestofte manor


The Gothic altar piece

A Memory table in Engestofte church.

Engestofte manor with church belonged to the Crown since the 1200s, but king Hans sold it in 1496 to Jørgen Baad. After several changes of ownership Engestofte was sold to the wealthy merchant in Nykøbing Falster, Bertel Wichmand. The son was in 1777 ennobled under the name Wichfeld, and the family owned Engestofte for 250 years until 1967.

The yellow-washed classistic main building with the black tiled roof is built by Henning Wichfeld in 1805-07 after demolishing the old three-winged plan. Close to the manor is the simple Gothic church with a ridge turret instead of a tower and with the Wichfeld-family's grave place between the manor and the church. In the church is a wonderful magnificent Gothic altar piece and a memory table for Monica Wichfeld who was a member of the resistance during WWII and died in German imprisonment 27. February 1945 after having rejected an offer of a milder prison Denmark.

Monica Wichfeld was born in England in 1894 and was married to Jørgen Wichfeld of Engestofte. She participated already in 1941 in the Danish resistance and finansed the printing and distribution of the illegal magazine "Frit Danmark" at Lolland. From 1943 Engestofte was a connecting link to SOE (Special Operations Executive) in England, to which her daughter Varinka Wichfeld also was attached. She married Flemming B. Muus.

On 13. January 1944 Engestofte was encircled by German soldiers, who arrested the whole family. Monicas husband and son were released later, while she was brought to Dagmarhus in Copenhagen. On a court-martial in May 1944 she was sentenced to death, but was reprieved with life in prison. In the beginning of June 1944 she was brought to the prison Cottbus in Germany. She died of pneumonia after a three days long march without any food to another prison in Waldheim. She had rejected an offer about a milder imprisonment in Denmark.

photo 2007: grethe bachmann

Søholt Manor, Lolland

Søholt by the lake Søndersø is established after 1576 upon the old lands of Krønge manor with the abolished village Bregerup, probably by Morten Venstermand, whose widow Anne Andersdatter Galt is mentioned of Søholt 1611. She married 1616 Falk Axelsen Brahe of Orebygaard.

After several owners during the centuries the main building was built in 1647 by Justus Fr. von Papenheim. It was rebuilt ab. 1700 by Gehejmeraad Henning U. Lützow who built a three-winged manor. He also landscaped a large Baroque garden and established a chapel which was inaugurated by the well-known priest and poet Thomas Kingo. In 1940 Søholt was sold to cand. jur. Eiler Marcher who restored von Papenheims main building in a respectful way and modernised the home farm and the enterprise.

Søholt belongs to the Krønge parish and the church in Krønge is a small brick building (munkesten) with a Romanesque choir and nave and a late Romanesque porch. In the National Museum is a chalice with the Danish lions and an inscription for Queen Margrethe I. The Romanesque Baptismal font is familiar to several fonts on the southern part of Funen. The pulpit is from 1600s. The church bell, cast by Felix Fuchs 1631 hangs in a wall hole (glamhul) in the West gable.

In Krønge north of the most western farm was a now missing main farm/manor (ab. 1400 Krøinge hoffuit gard), which in 1357 belonged to Henrik Ahlefeldt, and in 1397-98 to his son hr. Benedikt Ahlefeldt who 1401 sold all his estate to queen Margrethe I. When Søholt manor was established in the end of the 1500s, Krønge manor disappeared . In 1599 the main building must have existed, since fru Inger Clausdatter Ravensberg, Morten Venstermands mother in law, died 1599 at Krønge.


photo 2007: grethe bachmann

Orebygård, Lolland

Orebygaard

Hotel and Restaurant by Oreby Mill


Old granary by Oreby Mill

Orebygaard has a beautiful situation by the mouth of Sakskøbing fjord and close to the little place of disembarkation Oreby harbor with inn and old granaries. The Valdemar kings had a castle here in the 1200s. In the 1400s the castle owner was the family Bølle.The last member of the family Bølle was Birgitte Bølle , who built a fine Renaissance house like the neighbouring Berritsgaard. The architect was probably Hans Steenwinckel den Ældre.

During the next centuries the manor was gradually neglected, but in 1775 Poul Abraham Lehn of Hvidkilde at Funen bought Oreby. A descendant had the whole building restored in the beginning of the 1800s, which removed most of the Renaissance look.

The present castle building which is built in the 1870s upon the foundations of the Renaissance manor is an attempt to reconstruct the 1500s-building with portal, towers and curving gables.

The part with public admittance is the pretty place Oreby Mill by the Oreby harbor. From the mill which now is "Bed and Breakfast" and wine cellar is a wonderful view across the big sloping lawns to the waters by Sakskøbing fjord.

photo 2007: grethe bachmann

Krenkerup Manor and Radsted church / Radsted kirke, Musse herred, Maribo amt.

Krenkerup

Deer farm by Krenkerup

Radsted Church

Krenkerup.
Only 4 km southeast of the town Sakskøbing you'll find the pretty manor Krenkerup with the fresh yellow-washed walls. The three-winged plan is placed upon an embankment surrounded by water on all four sides. Krenkerup was first mentioned in 1330 where it was a main farm in a village by the same name. Ridder Mogens Gøye was the owner of Krenkerup in 1381, and his family owned it until 1594.

Krenkerup has gone through several rebuildings, additions and restorations and today it appears as a product of the transitional period between Gothic and Renaissance. The owner in 1700 was general Chr. Ditlev Reventlow who established the entailed estate Krenkerup - but when his great granddaughter Juliane Frederikke married the nobleman from Hannover Carl August Hardenberg, their son changed the entailed estate Krenkerup into the count's estate Hardenberg-Reventlow in 1817, and the manor changed name to Hardenberg.

The manor Hardenberg's main building was modernised in the 1800s. In 1938 in connection to a restoration and a reversal to the original buildings from the 1500s Krenkerup got its old name back. The estate Krenkerup is still owned by the Reventlow-family in the name Reventlow-Grinling.

The surrounding manor landscape with extensive stretches of meadow land and old avenues with forests, red deer and flocks of sheep is a wonderful example of Danish nature.

Radsted Church.
Radsted church was built ab. 1250 as a Romanesque village church and extended with a Gothic longhouse in the 1300s. The tower is from ab. 1450 and in the Renaissance period the church was rebuilt with porch, burial vault and increase of tower in 1616-1621. The sacristi is from 1783. The church underwent a thorough restoration in 1868-70, and the tower spire was reconstructed after lightning in 1898.

The pulpit and the altar piece are from the beginning of the 1600s. The altar piece is equipped with wonderful Renaissance masks, so-called faun heads. The original middle part has been changed into a trivial painting.

photo 2004/2007: grethe bachmann

Aalholm Castle, Nysted, Lolland

Aalholm castle

Nysted

The marina by Nysted & Aalholm

Aalholm was already in 1300 a royal castle with a royal vasal. It was built ab. 1300 by king Erik Menved, (1286-1319). Aalholm served as the Danish king's bridgehead during fights about the commercial towns south of the Danish borders. The fights were passed on by Christoffer II but he gave finally up and pawned the whole of Lolland inclusive Aalholm to the North German Graf Johan den Milde. Christoffer's son, Valdemar Atterdag reconstructed the kingdom after 1340 and Lolland and Aalholm came back to Denmark in 1359. Court meetings were held on the castle from 1366 up to the beginning of the 1500s.

After the reformation in 1536 the castle lost its significance in favour of the new Renaissance castle in Nykøbing Falster. In 1725 Aalholm was privatized by an auction where Johan Otto Raben's widow Emerita von Levetzow recieved the deeds of the house in 1726 which in 1734 with other estate entered into the count's estate Christiansholm, named after the widow's paternal grandson Christian Raben. In 1889 the medieval castle was rebuilt.

After 270 years in the ownership of the family Raben-Levetzau Aalholm was sold to direktør Stig Husted-Andersen in 1995. There is no public admittance, only to the pretty park which is surrounded by a beautiful manor-landscape with views and free-standing old trees. Upon a little inlet southeast of Aalholm is a strange romantic layout with a well and two thatched pavillons.

Northwest of the main building is the wellknown Veteranbilmuseum (Vintage cars) which was established in 1964. It is one of the biggest in northern Europe with 4 halls and ab. 300 cars from 1886 until present. Here is also a small preserved railway line and a playground.

photo 2007: grethe bachmann

Nysted church /Nysted kirke, Musse herred, Maribo amt.

Nysted church is from about the 1300s. The Gothic longhouse and the Late Gothic tower and sacristi are built in old bricks (munkesten). The tall pretty Baroque spire is from 1649-50 and was used as a seamark . The church has gone through several rebuildings and restorations.

The altarpiece is Baroque from 1693 given to the church by Fr. Suhr. The baptismal font is bronze with a brass basin given to the church 1697 by Paaske Jensen and his wife Maren Jørgensdatter.

The choir crucifix is Gothic from ab. 1340-1400. The pulpit with a sounding-board is Renaissance from 1605.

In the National Museum in Copenhagen are some pieces from Nysted church: chalice and table from the end of the 1300s and a wine jug from 1593.

Families connected to the church via memory tables, grave chapels,epitaphs: Raben-Levetzau, von Papenhein, Urne, Lerche, von Buchwald.

Five church bells 1) Femklokken ( the Fivebell) from the beginning of the 1300s 2) Tolvklokken ( the Twelvebell) from 1400s 3) a bell from 1400s and 4 ( a bell from 1699 made by Jacob Jeremisen.

Photo: Stig Bachmann, naturplan.dk

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

Karby church /Karby kirke, Morsø Sønder herred, Thisted amt.

Karby church


The interior


The Renaissance pulpit


The Baroque sounding board above the baptismal font


Coat of arms on a church stool , (Thomas Kaas of Ørndrup , his maternal coat of arms)


Romanesque remains by the wall


One of the lion reliefs on the church wall
Karby Church is placed upon a hill in the middle of Karby village near Visby bredning (a bay) by Limfjorden. It is the largest village church upon the island of Mors and is called "The Cathedral of Mors'" The original building in granite boulders is from 1100s, and the rest is built by stages.The large church in Karby is both with its strange Romanesque architecture and its rich inventory of immense antique interest. The Romanesque apse, chorus and nave were followed by five Gothic additions , the porch, tower, sacristy, a western addition and the southern chapel.

The apse and choir are in granite ashlars, built in a primitive technique suggesting high age. The apse was originally higher than now, it has a corniche frieze in ashlars with round arched fields, it is decorated with reliefs. Two ashlars with lions frame the walled-in east window, which is not visible in the changed outer wall. Inside the window is bricked up below the cover store from the outer window. In the choir are some ashlars removed and re-used in the south chapel. Apse and choir ar both circular, the apse with kragsten, the choir without. The Romanesque section of the nave is in raw field stones.

The south door has disappeared and profiled frame ashlars placed on the north side of the nave probably origins from here. The north door is very changed, two of its frame ashlars are placed in the walls of the porch which was built in front of this door. The porch is now used as a tool shed. It is built in monk bricks above a single ashlar course. The western extension's north wall is ashlar in the bottom and monk bricks above. The heavy western tower has ashlars and raw boulder at the bottom and monk bricks above. The tower room with the original cross-vault opens to the nave in a broad point-arched archade. Access to the middle storey of the tower by a free stairway to the north.

The sacristi at the north side of the choir is built in monk bricks above an ashlar course. It has an original cross-vault and a door to the choir. The large south chapel is built in ashlars and raw boulder, partly re-walled after a fire in 1946. The chapel has a round-arched archade to the nave and the windows of the chapel are like other windows of the church much changed. The vault of the sacristi is covered in frescoes from the 1700s of achantus runners and circular medaillons with figures of the Evangelists.

The Romanesque granite communion table is covered in a Renaissance panel with archade-fields from ab. 1600, the top is a monolite-plate and has a relique covered with a stone. The altar piece is Bruskbarok (from ab. 1690) with painting from 1920, the earlier and original painting hangs upon the wall of the nave. The Romanesque granite font is of Morsing-type ; it has a richly decorated Baroque sounding board. The baptismal basin is a Nürnberg-work from ab. 1575. Above the north door of the nave is a small choir-arch crucifix from ab. 1700. The pulpit origins from ab. 1600 with pietistic paintings and a new sounding board with a pidgin. Except the pews beelow the gallery and in the south chapel the pews in the church are Renaissance from 1600-25. Two pews are richly decorated and has the paternal and maternal coat of arms of Thomas Kaas and Anne Vind. The pews by the north door have pretty carved panels. A western gallery from 1680 with contemporary paintings and an organ from 1904. An iron bound pengeblok (money block) Two church bells from 1638 cast by Jørgen Hansen in Århus and Franz Voillard of France.

North of the nave is a strange arrangement of four granite posts which were found in 1913 under the floor of the nave.

Names in the Middle Ages and 1600s:
Karby (*1297 Karleby)
Næs (* 1418 Nees); Torp (* 1505 Thorp); Agerøby (1688 Aggerbye); Ørndrup (*1452 Ørndrup).

Ørndrup belonged in 1452 to Christen Borre, in 1455 to Mogens Borre and later to Erik Høeg (of the family Banner), who fell in Ditmarsken in 1500. His sister Abel Høeg brought it to her husband Niels Kaas (of the family with a sparre (chevron) in their coat of arms, who was the owner of Ørndrup in 1504 and 1511. In 1523 and 1540 it belonged to their son Mogens Kaas, after him to his sons , Niels, Iver and Jens Kaas. The last mentioned died in 1609, his son's son Thomes Jensen Kaas of Ørndrup died in 1651. His daughter Kirsten Kaas (+1693) married Valdemar Skram - the peasants of the district still sang a libellous song about her in the 1700s. Various owners up till the present.

Næs was earlier a farm of the nobility, where in 1418 Mogens Andersen lived and after him it belonged to his daughters Marine, (Peder Svendsen's widow) and her sister. The last mentioned was married to 1) Poul Jensen (or Nielsen), and 2) to Christen Lauridsen. The son of first marriage, the priest Jens Poulsen made an attempt to gather the estate Næs by out-buying his maternal aunt in 1485 and his many half-siblings and then gave it to Voer Kloster in 1490. He had a co-owner, his half brother Laurids Christensen, who also bought parts of the farm and in 1501 pawned a part of Næs to Dueholm Kloster. His sister Kirsten Christensdatter pawned in 1510 a part of Næs to Vestervig Kloster and was still at Næs in 1515. In 1474 Erik Abildgård was mentioned at of Næs.

Belonging to Ørndrup is mentioned the house Spangen (1664 Spangen, 1688 Spanhutte) and Strandmølle (1664 Stran Mølle).

Listed prehistorics: At Ørndrup the passage grave Torshøj (1638 Tudsberge Høje) with a chamber of 10 carrying stones, but only one cover stone preserved. The hill Arbjergtorn at the vicarage.
Demolished or destroyed: 35 hills, i.e. 3 Trealshøje (1638 Treellshøje) south of Karby.

A large stone in Limfjorden between Karlby and Heltborg. - Klingersten(e) in Torshøj Dyb close to the water's edge north of Ørndrup.

Source: Trap Danmark, Thisted amt, 1961
photo 24 August 2007:grethe bachmann

Tæbring church /Tæbring kirke, Morsø Sønder herred, Thisted amt.

Tæbring church


Tæbring church with free-standing bell tower


Gallery


Romanesque granite Communion table under the white cloth


Renaissance Pulpit


A view to Dragstrup Vig (Bay).
The small Romanesque granite church without a steeple in Tæbring is placed upon a coast brink by Dragstrup Vig (bay). There is a fine view to Limfjorden from a bench behind the church dike, from where the cliff falls steeply down to the bay.

The Romanesque sections of the church are built in well-carved granite ashlars and the walls have several stone mason marks. The church was built ab. the 1100s and restored in the beginning of the 1900s. The choir and nave are Romanesque and the porch from 1919. The choir has Romanesque windows to the east and north, probably re-walled at present. The other windows in the church are from 1919. The well-kept Romanesque choir arch has various profiled kragsten The south door with a straight cover stone is original, though somewhat changed in the outer wall. The bricked-up north door is a glare inside and outside distorted. The porch from 1919 was a replacement of an earlier porch. In 1919 the wooden bell frame by the south wall was moved out into the church yard as a freestanding bell tower.

In the nave and upon the triumph arch are over-chalked fragments of late Gothic and after-Reformation frescoes. A Romanesque communion table is in granite ashlars , originally freestanding, but now placed by the east wall. In the profiled cover plate(in four ashlars)of the altar is a reliquary in an unusual form. It has two relique holes, one heart-shaped and the other square. The altar piece is a simple Renaissance work from ab. 1620. The painting in the large field is of Johan Thomas Skovgård from 1935. A small Romanesque granite font with a smooth basin, re-carved at present. The granite baptismal font and Communion table are from the first building of the church. A south German baptismal bowl from ab. 1575. A pulpit of Næssund-type from ab. 1600, with entrance via the Triumpfh wall, in the large fields are roughly re-painted Evangelist-paintings. The pews, the priest stool in the choir and a grandiose gallery with harmonium origin from the main restoration in 1918-19. At Dueholm kloster is a rather damaged choir arch-crucifix from the church.

Names in the Middle Ages and 1600s:
Tæbring (* 1386 Tybring, *1424 Tæberingh, 1478 Tæbring); Votborggård (* 1435 Wotteborgh, 1452 Votborgh); Votborg Vandmølle (1664 Wotborig Mølle).

Votborg was earlier a manor. In 1435 and 1453 is mentioned Peder Nielsen Bomøve (Lange-Munk) of Wotteborg, whose widow Inger Kaas ( from the family with a sparre (chevron) in their coat of arms) in 1459 wrote herself "aff Wottborg." It seems that she left V. to her brother's son Jens Nielsen Kaas, who in 1477 wrote himself to V. In 1667 it was by Anders Sandberg of Kvelstrup exchanged to magister Jakob Faber. Various owners up till present.

Northeast of Vothorg was the medieval Votborg's Voldsted (castle bank) which except the listed small rests of a castle yard is completely down-ploughed. According to earlier informations the bank consisted of a low rectangular bank surrounded by moats and banks. No findings are known from the place.

Listed prehistorics: The hill Skelletoftehøj at Tæbring.
Demolished or destroyed: 13 hills.
Source: Trap Danmark, Thisted amt, 1961

photo 24. Ausust 2007: grethe bachmann