Ansgar Church (Danish: ''Ansgar Kirke'', German: ''Ansgarkirche'') is an

evangelical lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

church in northern

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish language, Danish and ; ; ) is an independent city, independent town in the far north of the Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. After Kiel and Lübeck, it is the third-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg's ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Its congregation is the largest within the

Danish Church in Southern Schleswig The Danish Church in Southern Schleswig () is an evangelical Lutheran church in Southern Schleswig in Northern Germany. The church was founded by the Danish minority of Southern Schleswig and is affiliated with the Danish Seamen's Church and Chur ...

. The church is named after

Saint Ansgar Ansgar (8 September 801 – 3 February 865), also known as Anskar, Saint Ansgar, Saint Anschar or Oscar, was Archbishopric of Bremen, Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen in the northern part of the Kingdom of the East Franks. Ansgar became known as the ...

Building

The creation of a new church in northern Flensburg was first proposed in 1949 by Martin Nørgaard, a pastor originally from

Handewitt Handewitt () is a municipality in the district of Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated near the border with Denmark, approximately 7 km west of Flensburg. Handball The Handball-Bundesliga team SG Flensbur ...

. Because of difficulty raising funds, the grounds were not purchased by the church until 1962. Construction of the church and its community hall were funded by a donation from A.P. Møller and his wife Chastine Mckinney Møller. The building was modeled, in part, after Notmark Kirke, a church on the Danish island of

Als Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, terminal neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of both upper and low ...

. It was designed by the architect

Kay Fisker Kay Otto Fisker (14 February 1893 – 21 June 1965) was a Danish architect, designer and educator. He is mostly known for his many housing projects, mainly in the Copenhagen area, and is considered a leading exponent of Danish Functionalism. ...

, who died before construction began. After Fisker's death, the project was completed by architects Robert Duelund Mortensen and Svend Høgsbroe. Construction began in 1966, and was completed in November 1968. As of January 5, 2007, the church has been placed under monument protection, and was remodeled in 2008.

Congregation

The Flensburg North Congregation was established in 1948. The church has approximately 650 members, belonging to around 500 households. It remains the largest congregation within the Danish Church in Southern Schleswig.

Pastors

* 1948–1951 Otto Marius Warncke * 1951–1983 Martin Friedrich Nørgaard * 1952–1959 Christian Overgaard * 1959–1977 Martin Torodd Kontni * 1978–1982 Bjarne Sandal * 1982–1995 Per Østerbye * 1996–2013 Sten Haarløv * 2003–2016 Preben Kortnum Morgensen * 2016–2018 Christina Theresia Frøkjær * 2019–present Merethe Neldebjerg Jørgensen

References

{{coord, 54.80232, 9.42393, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:DE, display=title Churches in Schleswig-Holstein Buildings and structures in Flensburg Churches completed in 1968 Churches in the diocese of Haderslev 20th-century Church of Denmark churches