Hunseby Church is located in the village of Hunseby some 3 km north of

Maribo Maribo is a town in Lolland Municipality in Region Zealand, Region Sjælland on the island of Lolland in south Denmark. It was the municipal seat of the former Maribo Municipality, until 1 January 2007, and then it became the seat of the cur ...

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 the middle of the 12th century, the church has 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 tower."Hunseby Church"
''Historisk Atlas''. Retrieved 3 July 2013.

History

The church was originally dedicated to

St Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( ; ; ; ) was an apostle of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was a fisherman and one of the Apostles in the New Testament, Twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus. The title First-Called () used by the Eastern Orthodox Chu ...

as can be seen from the inscription on the oldest bell from 1465. From Romanesque inscriptions in the stonework supporting an old portal, it appears the church must have existed in the middle of the 12th century. Little is known of its early ownership apart from the fact that the Crown had appointment rights shortly before 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 ...

. It remained the property of the Crown until 1565 when it was transferred to Axel Urne til Aarsmarke. One of the later owners was Eggert Christopher Knuth who was married to Sister Lerche. It came under the authority of

Knuthenborg Knuthenborg is a manor house located north of Maribo on the Danish island of Lolland. Originally known as Årsmarke, it was first mentioned in 1372. Today's building was completed in 1866 to a design by Henrik Steffens Sibbern. The medieval man ...

when the county was established by Sister Lerche in 1714. In April 1964, it gained its independence.Kirsten Weber-Andersen, Otto Norn, Aage Roussell, Gertrud Købke Knudsen, "Hunsby Kirke"
''Danmarks kirker: Maribo amt, Volume 8'', 1951, Nationalmuseet, pages 905-922. Retrieved 11 July 2013.

Architecture

Built of fine granite stonework, the Romanesque church is unusually large. The outer walls are plastered and whitewashed while the roof is of red tile. The chancel has retained its Romanesque windows. Compared to the chancel, the nave is higher and wider. A sculpted head on the south wall is said to be King Huns's head, in line with the legend behind the name of the village. The Gothic tower is in red brick with some granite stonework and stepped gables. The

burial chapel was added on the south side of the church in 1851 and completely rebuilt in 1880.

Interior

The round chancel arch has rope-shaped corbels while the chancel ceiling was vaulted in the Gothic period. The Auricular Baroque

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, ...

is from c. 1700 with a painting of the Last Supper and the arms of Eggert Christopher Knuth and Sister Lerche. The

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

, in the

High Renaissance In art history, the High Renaissance was a short period of the most exceptional artistic production in the Italian states, particularly Rome, capital of the Papal States, and in Florence, during the Italian Renaissance. Most art historians stat ...

style, is from 1617 and bears the arms of Knud Urne and Merete Grubbe."Hunseby kirke"
, ''Nordens kirker''. Retrieved 11 July 2013. In the burial chapel, there is an epitaph for Eggert Christopher Knuth (died 1697) and Sister Lerche (died 1723).

Churchyard

Notable burials at the churchyard include Adam Wilhelm Knuth and Helle Stangerup.

References

{{Commons category, Hunseby Kirke Lolland Churches in Lolland Romanesque church buildings Lutheran churches converted from Roman Catholicism Churches in the Diocese of Lolland–Falster

History

Architecture

Interior

Churchyard

See also

References