Åby Church (

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

: Åby Kirke) is a church located in Åby Parish in

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

, Denmark. The church is situated in the neighbourhood Åbyhøj, west of Midtbyen. The church is today a parish church in the Church of Denmark, serving a parish population of 10.925 (2015). The Åby Church

pastorate A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

is shared with the

Åbyhøj Church Åbyhøj Church ( da, Skt. Åbyhøj Kirke) is a church in Aarhus, Denmark. The church is situated in the western Åbyhøj neighbourhood on Silkeborgvej. Åbyhøj Church is a parish church within the Church of Denmark, the Danish state church, u ...

to the north.

History

The church is situated in the western neighbourhood Åby which was formerly a village. The original church constructed of

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

was built c. 1200 and in the Late Middle Ages it was lengthened towards the west. Two imposts in the chancel arch which were transferred to the new building, the one in the south is, owing to its cylindrical shape, assumed to be an imitation in stone of a decorated wooden post.

Architecture

The present building was constructed in 1872-73 when it was decided it wasn't economical to renovate the former medieval church. The church was designed by

Vilhelm Theodor Walther Vilhelm Theodor Walther (13 November 1819 – 28 August 1892) was a Danish architect and Royal Building Inspector for Jutland. He was born in Kongens Lyngby, Denmark and died in Aarhus. He was twice awarded the Academy's Neuhausen Prize (''Neuhaus ...

, who worked as the royal building inspector for Jutland at the time, in romanesque style imitation inspired by Italian elements. The walls are bands of yellow and red bricks and the building resembles a traditional apse, chancel, nave and tower. In 1929 the tower spire was made taller and clad in copper. In the north wall by the tower a walled off entrance with a staircase presents a curiosity. In older churches there was typically a north and south entrance - men and women entrances - and in most churches the north entrance have later been walled off. The original medieval church also had two entrances and it is thought the architect Vilhelm Theodor Walther chose to emulate this by deliberately putting in a walled off entrance.

Interior

While nothing in the interior remains from the original church a couple of items of church furniture were transferred from the demolished church and are still in use. These are the altar-piece from 1598 with a carved crucificial group in front of the middle panel and

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

paintings on the side panels and the Romanesque

baptismal font A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism. Aspersion and affusion fonts The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). ...

of granite. A crucifix from the latter half of the 11th century has been in the

National Museum A national museum is a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In other countries a much greater numb ...

since 1870. It is probably the earliest of the Jutland crucifixes which belong with the »golden altars« and was presumably made in the same workshop as the Lisbjerg altar. Church-of-Aaby-1.JPG, Church-of-Aaby-2.JPG, Gl. Aaby Kirke 1.jpg, Gl. Aaby Kirke 2.jpg, Gl. Aaby Kirke 3.jpg,

References

External links

Website of Åby ChurchWebsite of Åby PastorateChurch of Denmark's page for Åby Parish
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aby Church Lutheran churches in Aarhus Lutheran churches converted from Roman Catholicism Churches in the Diocese of Aarhus

History

Architecture

Interior

See also

References

External links