St. Ib's Church (''Sankt Ibs Kirke'' or Ibsker), 3 km south-west of

Svaneke Svaneke (''Swencke'' in 1410, from old Danish ''swan'' swan and ''*wīka'' inlet) is a small town on the eastern coast of the Baltic island of Bornholm, Denmark. It lies mainly in Svaneke parish and partly in Ibsker parish. It is Denmark's easte ...

on the Danish island of

Bornholm Bornholm () is a List of islands of Denmark, Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland. Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. I ...

, is a fine 12th century Romanesque building. The altarpiece was painted by

Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg (2 January 1783 – 22 July 1853) was a Danish painter. He was born in Blåkrog in the Duchy of Schleswig (now in Aabenraa Municipality, in the southern part of Jutland in Denmark). He went on to lay the foun ...

in 1846.Ibs Kirche på Bornholm
''Bornholmerguiden.dk'' Retrieved 29 June 2011 The Renaissance pulpit (ca 1600) was decorated by

Paul Høm Paul Briegel Høm (2 May 1905, Ballerup – 25 September 1994, Gudhjem) was a Danish artist who is remembered for his religious paintings and brightly coloured stained glass windows which decorate a number of Danish churches. Biography Høm stud ...

in 1964 with ceramics of the four evangelists.Sankt Ibs Kirke (Bornholm)
''Den store Danske'' Retrieved 29 June 2011.

Etymology

The church was originally known as ''Beati Jacobi'' (1335), in 1429 it became ''Sancti Jacobs kirke'' (St. James's Church) and later evolved to ''Ibs Kirke'' (''Ib'' being the familiar Scandinavian form of ''Jacob'') which in turn became Ibsker (''ker'' meaning church). Today the parish is officially known as Ibsker."Kirke"
Ordbog over det danske sprog. Retrieved 29 June 2011.

Architecture

The church consists of a Romanesque tower, nave, choir and apsis, all from the end of the 12th century. The porch was added some 200 years later while the extension to the north was constructed in 1867. The tower is of interest in view of its vaulting which can be seen at the western end of the nave, opening up from two arches. The interior is a fine example of the Romanesque style with whitewashed walls and arches of limestone and Bornholm marble. The cross-section added in 1867 changed the character of the building as the nave's original wall was torn down but the church's Romanesque appearance was partly restored in 1964 when a new organ was installed along the axis of the old wall. During the restoration work, traces of frescos or ''

kalkmalerier Church frescos or church wall paintings (Danish language, Danish: ''kalkmalerier'') are to be found in some 600 churches across Denmark, no doubt representing the highest concentration of surviving church murals anywhere in the world. Most of t ...

'' were found but were too faint to warrant further attention.

Furnishings

The altarpiece consists of a painting from 1846 of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane by the renowned Danish painter, C. W. Eckersberg. There is evidence of earlier altarpieces during the Roman Catholic period of the church's history, including the figure of the Virgin Mary, which now hangs over the font, and the crucifix on the nave's southern wall, both from around 1500. The altar's large candlesticks are from 1891 while its seven-armed

candelabra A candelabrum (plural candelabra but also used as the singular form) is a candle holder with multiple arms. "Candelabra" can be used to describe a variety of candle holders including chandeliers. However, candelabra can also be distinguished as b ...

is from 1933. The oldest artefact inside the church is the font which is made of Gotland limestone. Standing at the western end of the church, it is, in fact, taller than it appears as its pedestal is hidden under the floor which, together with other layers of flooring, was added later. There are two bells in the tower, the smaller one from 1773 and the larger from 1822.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibs Church Churches in Bornholm Romanesque architecture in Denmark Lutheran churches converted from Roman Catholicism

Etymology

Architecture

Furnishings

See also

References