Aarhus Cathedral
The St. Clemens Cathedral in Aarhus (Danish Aarhus Domkirke, Skt. Clemens Kirke ) is the largest church building in the Danish city of Aarhus in Jutland . It is consecrated to the patron saint of sailors, St. Clement , and serves as a cathedral for the Aarhus diocese in the Lutheran Danish People's Church .
Since 2002, the official Danish height measurement Dansk Vertical Reference (DVR90) has been based on the Danish normal height point in the cathedral: It was defined at 5.570 m.
history
The first church in Aarhus was built from wood around 900. It was the first cathedral of the diocese of Aros (today Aarhus) and dedicated to Saint Nicholas . The diocese was founded around 1060 as a daughter diocese of Viborg . The second cathedral was also built as a wooden church near the present one from 1102 under Bishop Ulfketil, and kept the relics of St. Clemen, Bishop of Rome and patron saint of seafarers, which made it particularly popular in Scandinavia .
Bishop Peder Vognsen began building the current church around 1200. He also donated the cathedral school before the cathedral was completed. The Romanesque brick building was completed in 1300 . The bishop's chair was transferred from the Frauenkirche (Danish: Vor Frue Kirke ) to the cathedral.
In 1330 the cathedral and city burned down, the reconstruction was not started for over 100 years. At that time the Gothic had reached Denmark. Reconstruction and enlargement of the cathedral began in 1449 and was completed in 1500. Today the building offers space for 1,200 people.
The Reformation began in 1524 under Hans Tausen , and from then on the liturgy was read in Danish. The Reformation quickly gained a foothold in Aarhus, although the bishop resisted the changes. The Reichsrat had the choice of Christian III. not accepted to the Danish king in 1533, which led to the two-year feud of counts with several prisoners of Catholic bishops. Aarhus' Bishop Ove Bille was imprisoned in the summer of 1536. In the same year the Reformation was officially introduced.
When lightning struck in 1642, the tower went up in flames and was almost completely destroyed. The damage to the interior of the cathedral, however, was only minimal. It was not until the end of the 1920s that the tower was restored and raised to its current height of 96 meters in 1931.
Building
The cathedral is 93 meters long and 96 meters high, making it the longest and tallest church in Denmark. The high altar by Bernt Notke and the baroque tombs by the Flemish sculptor Thomas Quellinus are remarkable in the décor of the cathedral .
Eight bells hang in the bell tower, the oldest ("Martinus") dates from the 13th century. When lightning struck in 1642, not only the tower but also some bells were damaged.
Interior and equipment
The interior is painted over 220 m² with frescoes, most of which date from between 1470 and 1520. Up until the Reformation almost the entire church was painted with frescoes. Even if many of the frescoes fell victim to the Reformation, the cathedral still has more frescoes than any other church in Denmark. The oldest painting, however, still comes from the old cathedral. The Romanesque painting in the northwest is the so-called "Lazarus window" and was painted around 1300. Some paintings, such as those of Saint Christopher and Saint Clement, are the largest portraits in the country. Other frescoes have Saint Michael and Saint George with the dragon on the theme.
The cathedral has only one stained glass window, but it was not designed by Norwegian artist Emmanuel Vigeland until 1926 . With a height of 14 meters, it is the largest glass window in Denmark. The window shows three events: below Christ lies in his tomb on Mount Golgotha, in the middle the crucified Savior can be seen and above Christ stands in golden light.
The altar was carved by the Lübeck sculptor Bernt Notke and consecrated on Easter Sunday 1479. It is one of Denmark's national treasures.
The oak pulpit was created by Michael von Groningen in 1588 and shows scenes from the Old and New Testaments.
The baptismal font was made out of bronze in 1481 by the Flensburg bell caster Peter Hansen . It was a gift from Bishop Jens Ivarsen Lange, who had also donated the high altar two years earlier. The base shows the four evangelists; they are represented as people, but with the heads of the animals assigned to them: John with an eagle's head, Mark with a lion's head, Luke with a bull's head, Matthew is the only one who is represented with the head of a person (or angel). The baptismal font also shows scenes from the life of nine apostles and from the life of Christ: baptism, crucifixion, judgment day and the coronation of Mary. The other reliefs can no longer be identified.
The main organ was made around 1730 by the organ builder Lambert Daniel Kastens , a student of Arp Schnitger . It has been restored, enlarged and brought up to date with the latest technology several times. Most of the registers come from Th. Frobenius & Söhne and were made between 1928 and 2001. With 89 registers it is the largest church organ in Denmark. The case of the organ is in the style of the Baroque.
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The golden door is one of five bars that separate the choir from the nave. It is to be understood more as a warning than a real separation, because a few centuries ago the clergy and the common people were separated within the (Catholic) Church. The grilles come from the German Kaspar Fincke .
As in many other churches in Denmark, a model ship hangs under the crossing as a reminder of the times when Denmark was still a sea power. The ship is named "Enigheden" (German: "Unity") and was probably made in the Netherlands. The Russian Tsar Peter the Great had model warships built in the Netherlands. On the way to Russia the transport ship got caught in a storm near Skagen, but the model ship was saved. Some fishermen bought the model and offered it to the cathedral church as a votive offering . The ship is 2.65 meters long and 3.50 meters high, making it the largest ship in a Danish church.
The cathedral houses several chapels and tombs, mainly in the Romanesque and Baroque style, and a number of monuments. The most important chapel is that of the Marcelis family, designed by the Flemish sculptor Thomas Quellinus . The altar of the chapel is one of the most important altars of its kind in Denmark.
The cathedral's crypt houses the remains of thousands of Danes from all walks of life.
Individual evidence
- ↑ DVR90 - Dansk Vertical Reference 1990 ( Memento of the original dated December 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Information about the organ ( Memento of the original dated February 8, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Danish)
Web links
- Aarhus Cathedral (Danish, English)
Coordinates: 56 ° 9 '24.7 " N , 10 ° 12' 38.1" E