Tranebjerg is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

, situated at the centre of the South Island of

Samsø Samsø (Anglicized: "Samso" or "Samsoe") is a Danish island in the Kattegat off the Jutland Peninsula. Samsø is located in Samsø municipality. The community has 3,724 inhabitants (2017) (January 2010:4,010) called ''Samsings'' and is 114&n ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. It is the largest town on Samsø and also the municipal seat of Samsø Municipality. Tranebjerg is an old town, with a big village church from the 14th century and was once home to Brattingsborg Castle, a royal castle that burned down in the year 1289. Of the more modern facilities the town is home to a tourist office and an

Ecomuseum An ecomuseum is a museum focused on the identity of a place, largely based on local participation and aiming to enhance the welfare and development of local community, local communities. Ecomuseums originated in France, the concept being develope ...

. At the Ecomuseum, restored old buildings like an active oldfashioned

smallholding A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...

, a skipper-farmhouse, a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...

and a

grain mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separated ...

amongst others, exposes the connection between Samsø's landscape, culture and inhabitants through the ages which includes an exhibition of the islands Stone Age past, traced to about 9.000 BC.

History

Tranebjerg is first mentioned in 1424 as ''Tranberg'', but has been inhabited long before that. Tranebjerg was the location of a castle, Brattingsborg Castle, in the 1100s-1200s. The castle was burned down by Stig Andersen Hvide in 1289, and not discovered again until 2008 where the castle's church was discovered.

Tranebjerg Church

Tranebjerg Church is located in Tranebjerg and was built in the late 1300s. The church has several

embrasures An embrasure (or crenel or crenelle; sometimes called gunhole in the domain of gunpowder-era architecture) is the opening in a battlement between two raised solid portions ( merlons). Alternatively, an embrasure can be a space hollowed ou ...

, which indicate that the church has had a defensive role in the town. The altarpiece is from 1615. The church went through a significant restoration between 1866 and 1869, where all windows in the church was also replaced. There are two organs in the church, one from 1954 built in

Kongens Lyngby Kongens Lyngby (, Danish for "the King's Heather Town"; short form Lyngby) is the seat and commercial centre of Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Lyngby Hovedgade is a busy shopping street and the site o ...

, the other from 1909 and built in

Horsens Horsens () is a city on the east coast of Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 61,074 (1 January 2022) and the municipality's population is 94,443 (), making it the 8th largest city in De ...

. A model ship from 1850 to 1851 hang in the church. It is a model of the ship of the line ''Christian VIII'' which was blown up in 1849 during the

Battle of Eckernförde The Battle of Eckernförde was a Danish naval assault on Schleswig. The Danes were defeated and two of their ships were lost with the surviving crew being detained. Carsen Jensen: ''Vi, de druknede'' (oversatt av Mie Hidle), Forlaget Press, (2 ...

. It was donated in 1851 by local merchant Jens Peter Gylling and his wife Gjertrud Gylling. The church's

turret clock A turret clock or tower clock is a clock designed to be mounted high in the wall of a building, usually in a clock tower, in public buildings such as churches, university buildings, and town halls. As a public amenity to enable the community to ...

is from the middle of the 1800s and made by A.H. Funch. Another turret clock from 1500s or 1600s was built in Eastern

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

, and later donated to Samsø Museum after suffering severe rust. There are two bells in the church, one from 1400 to 1425 by Nicolaus Eskilii, the other from 1654 by Jørgen Hansen. Danmarkskirker.natmus.dk
"Tranebjerg Kirke" Retrieved 10 August 2020

Notable residents

* Anni Bisso (born 1969), sport shooter

References

External links

Ecomuseum Samsø

Samsø's tourist office
Samsø Samsø Municipality Municipal seats of the Central Denmark Region Municipal seats of Denmark Cities and towns in the Central Denmark Region {{Denmark-geo-stub