St. Clement's Church ( da, Klemens Kirke) is a parish church located in the village of

Klemensker Klemensker is a village in the north-western part of the Danish island of Bornholm. With a population of 633 (1 January 2022), it is located on a crossroads 13 km north-east of Rønne, 7 km east of the coastal town Hasle and 12 k ...

on the Danish island of

Bornholm Bornholm () is a 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. It has usually been ruled by ...

. Completed in 1882 in the Historicist style, it replaces an earlier Romanesque church from the 14th century or earlier. Today the church is noteworthy for works contributed by the Bornholm artist

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 studi ...

. A number of runestones have been found in the neighbourhood, two of which are now in the churchyard.

History

Today's church stands on a hilltop 114 meters above sea level which was also the site of an earlier, now demolished, Medieval church built in the Romanesque style. The old church was almost as long as the new building but only about half as wide. It appears to have been the only church on the island with star-shaped roof vaulting which probably replaced the original wooden ceiling around 1450. Many items of inventory from the old church can now be seen in the Bornholm Museum.C. W. D., ''Klemens Kirle, Klemensker sogn, Bornholm'', leaflet, Hakon Holm, Bornholm. The church is named after

St. Clement of Rome Pope Clement I ( la, Clemens Romanus; Greek: grc, Κλήμης Ῥώμης, Klēmēs Rōmēs) ( – 99 AD) was bishop of Rome in the late first century AD. He is listed by Irenaeus and Tertullian as the bishop of Rome, holding office from 88 AD t ...

, Latin: ''Clemens Romanus'', as documented in early references from 1335. While the name of St. Nicolas (Danish: Sankt Nicolai) was often chosen for churches associated with seafarers, the choice of St. Clement (also associated with the sea) indicates that the church was probably one of the earliest on Bornholm. Like a number of Bornholm localities, the name of the village, Klemensker, is derived from that of its church, the suffix -ker denoting church in the local dialect.

Architecture

Today's church is built of roughly hewn granite blocks while the windows and doors are framed in smoothly hewn elements. The building is 32 m long and 12 m wide. It was completed in December 1882 to a design by the Historicist architect

Ludvig Knudsen Ludvig Harald Knudsen (18 August 1843 – 16 March 1924) was a Historicism (art), Historicist Denmark, Danish architect. He mainly designed churches. Biography Ludvig Knudsen was born in Copenhagen. He was the son of Jens Christian Knudsen ( ...

based on the plans he used for St. Stephen's Church in Copenhagen which had been completed in 1874. Indeed, all the workmen were from Copenhagen despite the fact that the church should have been designed in the Romanesque style with features from the older churches on the island. With seating for congregations of around 1,000, it was initially said to have been one of the largest village churches in Denmark. It consists of an apsis, chancel and a long nave, terminating in a tower at the western end. Flanking the nave, there are large wooden galleries, supported by wooden pillars. The roof and the tower's four-sided spire are of slate. The church's interior reflects the restoration carried out in 1960 under the leadership of

Rolf Graae Rolf Saenger Graae (29 September 1916, Copenhagen – 16 September 1996, Hellerup) was a Danish architect who is remembered for the churches and religious works he completed or restored in the style of the Klint school. He is also considered to be ...

in collaboration with

from nearby Gudhjem who contributed the church's colourful artwork. 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, access ...

is decorated with paintings of the four evangelists while a mosaic above the chancel arch depicts one of the oldest symbols of Christianity, the Paschal Lamb with the flag of victory and the chalice of blood. In 1974, the collaboration between Graae and Høm continued when they designed the facade for the new organ built by Bruno Christiansen and Sons from Jutland. Finally, in 1981 Høm completed the large paintings behind the altar: the dark-blues of Jesus' burial surmounted by the golden tones of the risen Christ. Klemens nave.JPG, The nave, chancel and altar Klemens organ.JPG, The church organ

Runestones

Several runestones have been found in the vicinity. They probably date from the 11th century when a wooden church may have stood on the site. Now standing on the south side of the church, the Lundhøj Stone was found in 1819 being used as a bridge over a brook and is 2.74 meters tall. Designated as DR 399 in the

Rundata The Scandinavian Runic-text Data Base ( sv, Samnordisk runtextdatabas) is a project involving the creation and maintenance of a database of runic inscriptions. The project's goal is to comprehensively catalog runestones in a machine-readable way f ...

catalogue, it bears an inscription which reads (when translated): "Gunild had this stone erected for Ødbjørn, her husband. Christ help Ødbørn's soul into light and paradise. Christ and St Michael help Ødbjørn's and Gunild's souls into light and paradise." On the same site, there are four broken pieces of stone designated as DR 404 with the inscription: "N.N. erected this stone for his brother Sven. God and God's mother (help) his soul ... kil carved these runes and Svenne." The Kuregård Stone, designated as DR 403 and named after the site of its discovery in 1856, on the north side of the chancel is inscribed: "Svend and Kæld erected the stone for their father Julger(?)." There are many other fragments of runestones bearing one or two words, some forming part of the churchyard wall."Rune Stones"
''Bornholm Museum''. Retrieved 22 June 2012. Klemens Kirke Bornholm Denmark runestone2.jpg, The Lundhøj Stone (DR 399) Bornholm - Klemensker - Sankt Clemens Kirke - runesten.jpg, Runestones along the south wall of the chancel Klemensker, Klemensker Kirkegaard, Runesten (2).jpg, DR 403 Klemens Kirke Bornholm Denmark runestone1.jpg, The four broken segments (DR 404)

References

Bibliography

Otto Norn, C. G. Schultz, Erik Skov, "S. Clemens Kirke: Bornholms Nørre Herred"
Danmarks Kirker, Bornholm, Nationalmuseet, Gad, 1954, pp. 275–296.

External runestone descriptions

The following sites on runic inscriptions are from the Nordisk Forskningsinstitut:
Lundhøj Stone

Broken stone

Kuregård Stone
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clement's Church Bornholm 1882 establishments in Denmark Churches in Bornholm Historicist architecture in Denmark Churches completed in 1882 Runestones in Denmark 1880s churches in Denmark