Jelling Church

Jelling, Denmark

The current Jelling church was built of limestone around the year 1100. Archaeologists have found traces of three earlier wooden churches on the site. The first wooden church built on the site of the present edifice was the largest of its kind anywhere in Scandinavia. Archaeological evidence suggests that it was built in the later 10th century, during the period around 960 when Harald Bluetooth introduced Christianity into Denmark, as he proclaims on the larger of the two runic stones.

The part of the church burned down in 1679 and it was restored with a new porch. The pulpit dates from the 1650s. Mural paintings were in bad shape until Julius Magnus Petersen replaced them with copies in 1875. Jelling church is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site with Jelling mounds and runestones.

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Address

Thyrasvej 3, Jelling, Denmark
See all sites in Jelling

Details

Founded: c. 1100
Category: Religious sites in Denmark
Historical period: The First Kingdom (Denmark)

More Information

whc.unesco.org

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

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User Reviews

Keizer Soze (2 years ago)
Local church, graveyard and symbolic place with a beautiful history, that starts in the Middleages. Two enormous, ancient stones engraved by the first Dutch kings. Very nice attracion with a splendid sight on surrounding houses, and a former historic village. Around the place there are fortifications partly reconstructed for tourists to imagine the size of the historic location.
Flemming Lorenzen (2 years ago)
Nice....
Krister (3 years ago)
The graet vikingking Gorm the old is probably the on laying under the floor here.
Dani Rojo Gama (4 years ago)
Located next to the stone that represents the adoption of Christianity as the main religion of the Vikings
Bödvar Tomasson (8 years ago)
The rune-stones are a must see for all interested in viking history, marking the birth certificate of Denmark and of great historic value for all the Scandinavian countries.
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Lübeck Cathedral

Lübeck Cathedral is a large brick-built Lutheran cathedral in Lübeck, Germany and part of the Lübeck UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 1173 Henry the Lion founded the cathedral to serve the Diocese of Lübeck, after the transfer in 1160 of the bishop's seat from Oldenburg in Holstein under bishop Gerold. The then Romanesque cathedral was completed around 1230, but between 1266 and 1335 it was converted into a Gothic-style building with side-aisles raised to the same height as the main aisle.

On the night of Palm Sunday (28–29 March) 1942 a Royal Air Force bombing raid destroyed a fifth of the town centre. Several bombs fell in the area around the church, causing the eastern vault of the quire to collapse and destroying the altar which dated from 1696. A fire from the neighbouring cathedral museum spread to the truss of the cathedral, and around noon on Palm Sunday the towers collapsed. An Arp Schnitger organ was lost in the flames. Nevertheless, a relatively large portion of the internal fittings was saved, including the cross and almost all of the medieval polyptychs. In 1946 a further collapse, of the gable of the north transept, destroyed the vestibule almost completely.

Reconstruction of the cathedral took several decades, as greater priority was given to the rebuilding of the Marienkirche. Work was completed only in 1982.

The cathedral is unique in that at 105 m, it is shorter than the tallest church in the city. This is the consequence of a power struggle between the church and the guilds.

The 17 m crucifix is the work of the Lübeck artist Bernt Notke. It was commissioned by the bishop of Lübeck, Albert II. Krummendiek, and erected in 1477. The carvings which decorate the rood screen are also by Notke.

Since the war, the famous altar of Hans Memling has been in the medieval collection of the St. Annen Museum, but notable polyptychs remain in the cathedral.

In the funeral chapels of the southern aisle are Baroque-era memorials by the Flemish sculptor Thomas Quellinus.

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