The church of Jelling
The church opens at:
Mon-sat: 8.00
Sunday: 12.30
The church closes at:
(daily)
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Jan. |
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16.00 |
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Feb. |
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16.00 |
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Mar. |
|
17.00 |
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Apr. |
|
17.00 |
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May |
|
17.00 |
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Jun. |
|
18.00 |
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Jul. |
|
18.00 |
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Aug. |
|
18.00 |
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Sep. |
|
17.00 |
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Oct. |
|
17.00 |
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Nov. |
|
16.00 |
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Dec. |
|
16.00 |
The church closes during services.
Denmark’s Certificate of Baptism
Two rune stones stand just outside the church door.
On the minor stone, which King Gorm erected in memory of Thyra, his wife, it says,
“King Gorm made this monument in memory of Thyre his wife, Denmarks’s grace.”
Here, for the first time on Danish ground, the name of Denmark is mentioned.
On the big stone, which King Harald Bluetooth erected in memory of h is parents, it says,
“King Harald ordered this monument to be made in memory of Gorm, his father, and Thyre, his mother. The Harald who won all Denmark and Norway and christianized the Danes.”
The last sentence is placed below the oldest picture of Christ in the Northern countries. Therefore, the Jelling monuments are called Denmark’s certificate of baptism.
In 1994 the two burial mounds, the church and the rune stones were admitted to UNESCO’s “World Heritage List” of especially preservation-worthy natural and cultural values. In Denmark only the Jelling Monuments, the Cathedral of Roskilde and the Castle of Kronborg have been admitted to the list.
The Church of Jelling
As a visible expression of his conversion to his new faith Harald built a big wooden church at Jelling. From this church the archaeologists found postholes at the end of the 1970s, when they found the burial chamber. The church and the burial chamber were constructed as a connected whole, so supposedly the church has been erected as a mausoleum for Gorm, the Old.
This early wooden church was burnt down, and so where the two later wooden churches, from which traces also were found. The present church of calcareous rock, which stands on the previous wooden churches, was built about the year 1100, and after Gorm’s mortal remains have been brought back the church is again the church of a royal burial, as Harald Bluetooth intended.
The Church of Jelling is the church of the parish. But it is also the church of all Denmark. Thousands of Danish and foreign visitors come to see the church every year.
King Gorm the Old
King Gorm was buried as a heathen in the Northern Mound about 950, but later, when his son Harald Bluetooth became converted to Christianity he wanted to give his father a Christian burial in the church next to the mound.
When the grave was found in the 1970s a lot of gold threads were found, which had been woven into a royal costume. Pieces of jewellery found show the connection to the Northern Mound.
For years Gorm’s bones have been kept in the National Museum, where the archaeologists have had a chance to do research.
On the 30th August, 2000, King Gorm’s bones were carried back to the Church of Jelling. The bones were laid into a metal shrine, which was placed in a cast concrete chamber in front of the chancel of the church. The tomb is marked in the decoration that now ornaments the floor by a little strip of Sterling silver in the unbroken line of the cross in the floor.
The concrete chamber has been sealed with a capstone with a decoration designed by Jørn Larsen, it carries two wax seals from the National Museum and the following inscription:
“King Gorm buried in the mound 959 and later buried here”
That is the message from the present time to posterity that we are justified in believing that this is the resting place of the mortal remains of King Gorm, the Old, who became the earliest ancestor of all the later Danish kings.
The Sculptor Jørn Larsen
The artist Jørn Larsen, born 1926, was trained to be a house painter, he made his debut at the Artists’ Autumn Exhibition in 1955, member of the association of artists “Grønningen” in 1970, has received the three years’ working grant from the National Fund for the endowment of the arts, and also the Eckersberg Medal in 1978, the Thorvaldsen Medal in 1989, has represented Denmark at the Biennal in Venice in 1993.
Among Jørn Larsen’s many works of art can be mentioned: Decoration of the University of Odense 1979, the county hospital of Roskilde, the Royal Theatre, Copenhagen 1992, Silkeborg Bad 1994, the Church of Udlejre 1996.
In his work with the decoration of the Church of Jelling Jørn Larsen has expressed himself as a three-dimensional artist, who has been able to create a visual harmony within the church through his cogent form and his respect for the church.
The Decoration of the Church in 2000
In 1999 the Danish parliament, the Folketing, established the Year 2000 Foundation with the previous parliamentary chairman Erling Olsen as its chairman. Among other things, it was the task of the Foundation to organize a dignified official celebration of the turn of the millennium.
The setting for the official celebration became the Church of Jelling, to which the Year 2000 Foundation donated an interior artistic decoration. For the occasion an organ music work was composed by Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgren, it was titled “It is so fine to rest in Jelling”.
The decoration work was preformed during the period from April to December 2000. On the 3rd December, 2000, the church was taken into use again at a millennium service attended by Queen Margrethe, Prince Henrik, Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen and a great number of official Danish representatives.
The Decoration
The decoration of the church was planned in a co-operation between the Year 2000 Foundation, the decoration committee of the National Fund for the endowment of the arts and the parochial church council of Jelling. The sculptor Jørn Larsen was selected to be the artist.
The aim of the decoration was that the Church of Jelling was to go through a total decoration integrating the floor, the windows, the benches, and the lighting in an overall decoration that creates peace and solemnity. A number of old elements from the interior of the church, the frescoes, the pulpit etc. were to be integrated in the decoration.
The sculptor Jørn Larsen made the total decoration of the church including all new interiors.
The floor has been covered with a reddish Swedish type of stone, called Tranaas, from the place of origin. The surface of the granite has been treated with a so-called jet baking, which gives it an almost invisible coating.
The cross that is inlaid in the floor has been marked with high-polished Swedish granite like the unbroken line within the cross, which has been cut so precisely that an extra joint in the corners has not been required. The arms of the cross turn towards the altar, the pulpit, and the baptismal font as the symbols of baptism, communion and the word, and the unbroken line turn the thoughts towards eternity.
The stained-glass windows to the south are made of French block glass. The red shades of the eastern window radiate the dawn throwing their light on the stone of the decoration, the communion table, and farther out into the church.
In the two bit south windows of the nave fine green and blue shades have been used, both light and deep blue colours. Not symbols, but signals. They remind you of the spring, the sea, and the sky. The artist has had in mind the Nordic spring and the Vikings’ meeting with the White Christ.
The Frescoes
Originally the chancel held by Denmark’s first frescoes, clearly inspired by Byzantine art. When they were uncovered, they were found to have been so badly preserved that they were broken down in 1875 and in the same year were replaced by Magnus Pedersen’s copies. In the 1920s the frescoes were restored by Johan Thomas Skovgaard, who painted the murals on the southern wall at the same time.
Pulpit and Wounding Board
The pulpit is in the Renaissance style from about 1650, but the Christ pictures in the panels are considerably younger.
Attention is drawn to the royal monograms in the sounding board, since King Christian V the monograms of the Danish monarchs, who have visited the church, have been inscribed there.
The Apostle Figures
In the steeple room of the church six apostle figures from about 1500 can be seen on the northern wall. Of course there have been twelve once, but six of them have disappeared about 1900. From the remaining figures it is easiest to identify Peter with the key and Johan holding the beaker. The female figure is Catharina, the saint of lepers.
The other six apostles were made in the 1970s.
The organ
The organ is built in 1960 von Marcussen & Son and provided with 16 stops.