Løgum Abbey (; ) was a

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

monastery in the present town of

Løgumkloster Løgumkloster (; both mean 'Løgum monastery'), is a town in Tønder Municipality in Region of Southern Denmark on the Jutland peninsula in south Denmark with a population of 3,519 (1 January 2025).

North Schleswig North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. In 1548, the monastery was closed down. The site is now occupied by Løgumkloster Church.

History

Løgum Abbey was founded in 1173 by Bishop Stefan of Ribe who had previously been at

Herrevad Abbey Herrevad Abbey () was a Cistercian monastery near Ljungbyhed in Klippan Municipality, Scania, in the south of present-day Sweden, but formerly in Denmark until 1658. It is now a country house known as Herrevad Castle (). History Herrevad A ...

Skåne Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...

, the first

foundation in

(now in Sweden). Løgum was in a sense a daughter house to Herrevad. The abbey was called "Locus Dei" in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

(''Guds sted'' in Danish), meaning "God's place" and dedicated to the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

. The new wooden monastery was destroyed by a fire in 1190. Bishop Omer of Ribe encouraged monks from other monasteries to go to Løgum to rebuild the abbey and its church. King

Valdemar II Valdemar II Valdemarsen (28 June 1170 – 28 March 1241), later remembered as Valdemar the Victorious () and Valdemar the Conqueror, was King of Denmark from 1202 until his death in 1241. In 1207, Valdemar invaded and conquered Lybeck and Hol ...

gave it several farms to provide it with a steady income. The surviving four-sided abbey complex was constructed of red bricks apparently manufactured on the site in the Gothic style. It was completed during the first decades of the 14th century and consisted of the church and at least two wings, one for the monks and one for guests and the hospital. After the Reformation, the monks were allowed to remain in the monastery until after the death of the abbot in 1548.

Løgumkloster Church

When the abbey was dissolved during the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, the church became the parish church of

. Løgumkloster Church (''Løgumkloster Kirke'') and one wing of the conventual buildings has survived to modern times. The church was built as the north range of the abbey precinct in the form of a Latin cross with a nave and two side aisles. Chapels were added down the sides of the nave over time. The present church building shows a mix of Romanesque and Gothic styles: some arches are rounded Romanesque arches, and others are the characteristic pointed arches of the Gothic style. The tower over the transept contains three bells. The oldest, preserved from the original abbey, dates from 1442 and was cast by an unknown bell maker. The other two bells were relatively recently cast, by De Smithske in 1924 and 1925.

References

Other sources

*Wissing, Jürgen, 1972: ''Kloster Lögum'', in ''Schriften der Heimatkundlichen Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Nordschleswig'', Heft 26, 1972 *Bartholdy, Olga (2006) ''Munkeliv i Løgum Kloster'' (Foreningen Klostermærken)

External links

Løgumkloster Kirke og Sogn website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Løgumkloster Kirke 1173 establishments Cistercian monasteries in Denmark Monasteries in Schleswig-Holstein Monasteries dissolved under the Danish Reformation