Dannemare Church is a

Neo-Romanesque Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

church in the village of

Dannemare Dannemare is a village on the Denmark, Danish island of Lolland located 11 km south of Nakskov and 19 km west of Rødby. As of 2025, it has a population of 377. History and heritage The area has a long history. Hoby treasure, A tomb from the 1st ...

, some south of

Nakskov Nakskov is a market town on the island of Lolland in south Denmark. The town has a population of 12,200 (1 January 2025) and is the largest town on the island of Lolland. It is located in Lolland municipality in Region Sjælland. Nakskov is situ ...

on the Danish island of

Lolland Lolland (; formerly spelled ''Laaland'', literally "low land") is the List of islands of Denmark#List of 100 largest Danish islands, fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of . Located in the Kattegat, Belts and Sund area, it is part of Re ...

. Built in 1897, it replaced the earlier Romanesque church which burnt down in 1897."Dannemare Kirke"
, FolkeKirke.dk. Retrieved 9 August 2013.

History

The former Romanesque church from c. 1200 was one of Lolland's oldest brick-built churches. It was owned by the Crown after the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

but in 1698 was transferred to the Bådesgård estate which was later owned by Princess Charlotte Amalie. After her death, it was transferred to the State in 1784 until it came into the ownership of local farmers. In 1913, the church gained its independence. The former building was seriously damaged by a fire on 5 April 1895 which broke out in the rectory west of the church. Large sections of the church were relatively unscathed but, despite ministerial recommendations that the surviving elements should be taken into account in the rebuilding, the old structure was demolished on the grounds that a larger building was needed. The new structure, designed by the architect

Aage Langeland-Mathiesen Aage Langeland-Mathiesen (22 May 1868 – 19 June 1933) was a Danish architect. He was active both in building design and restoration, and was associated with the National Museum for many years. His building designs are strongly influenced b ...

(1868–1933), was completed in 1897.Kirsten Weber-Andersen, Otto Norn, Aage Roussell, Gertrud Købke Knudsen, "Dannemare Kirke"
''Danmarks kirker: Maribo amt, Volume 8'', 1951, Nationalmuseet, pages 328-339. Retrieved 14 July 2013.

Architecture

The former red-brick building had consisted of a Romanesque

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

and

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

porch. Today's church consists of a chancel, a nave and a tower whose ground floor serves as a porch. Renovation work was undertaken in 1978. On that occasion, the windows were replaced with stained-glass designs by Mogens Jærgensen.

Interior

Several artifacts were saved from the former church and can now be seen in the new building. The

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

in the

auricular style The auricular style or lobate style (Dutch: ''kwabstijl'', German: ''Ohrmuschelstil'') is a style of ornamental decoration, mainly found in Northern Europe in the first half of the 17th century, bridging Northern Mannerism and the Baroque. The st ...

from the Baroque period was completed around 1640. At the centre, there is a copy of

Carl Bloch Carl Heinrich Bloch (; 23 May 1834 – 22 February 1890) was a Danish painter. Early life and education Bloch was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, and studied there at the Royal Danish Academy of Art (''Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi'') un ...

's painting of Christ's Resurrection. The font from c. 1650 has a hexagonal bowl and is decorated in the

Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

style. In 1976, it was painted blue, representing baptismal water and the joy of baptism. Also of note is the church clock which originally stood in Jægersborg Mansion. It was designed by Poul Petersen in 1771 and restored in 1897 by Bertram Larsen.

References

{{coord, 54, 45, 42, N, 11, 11, 19, E, display=title Churches in Lolland Romanesque Revival church buildings in Denmark Churches completed in 1874 Churches in the Diocese of Lolland–Falster

History

Architecture

Interior

See also

References