Nørre Alslev Church () in the small town of

Nørre Alslev Nørre Alslev () is a town with a population of 2,363 (1 January 2025) ...

Falster Falster () is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010.

dates from at least 1308, a date found on its early

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

s. Built in the

Early Gothic Early Gothic is the term for the first period of Gothic architecture which lasted from about 1120 until about 1200. The early Gothic builders used innovative technologies to resolve the problem of masonry ceilings which were too heavy for the t ...

style and painted pink according to local tradition, it is best known for its fresco of the death dance.

History and architecture

In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, the church was dedicated to

St Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara (Lycia), Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya ...

. The Early Gothic

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

and

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

are built of brick on a high sloping foundation. The chancel, with a three-sided end, has a stepped frieze. The tower with its stepped gable and the porch are Late Gothic."Nørre Alslev kirke"
, Nordens kirker. Retrieved 25 November 2012.Kirsten Weber-Andersen, Otto Norn, Aage Roussell, Gertrud Købke Knudsen, "Tingsted Kirke"
''Danmarks kirker: Maribo amt, Volume 8'', 1951, Nationalmuseet, pages 1188–1201. Retrieved 25 November 2012.

Interior

The chancel has a dome-shaped vault with semicircular ribs on dwarf columns. The chancel arch is pointed while the nave has a humped vault with clover-shaped ribs and webbing. The present vault has possibly been supported by additional masonry after a fall as evidence of a higher vault has been found. The recently restored

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

is the work of Jørgen Ringnis (1653). The central panel contains an alabaster relief by Henry Luckow-Nielsen (1948). The pulpit (1643) is also by Ringis.

Frescoes

Nørre Alslev Church has frescos from four different periods. They have been restored on several occasions, first by Jacob Kornerup (1825–1913) who discovered them in 1895, then in 1911 by Eigil Rothe (1868–1929) and finally by Harald Borre (1891–1964) in 1941. Those in the

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

date from the beginning of the 14th century, one apparently dated 1308. The Majestas Domini over the chancel arch is from c. 1350. Rothe discovered a number of frescos in the nave which were from around 1400 but they were again covered with whitewash in view of their fragile condition. Around 1500, the entire nave was decorated with frescoes by the Elmelunde Master and his workshop but many of those discovered have again been whitewashed. The most interesting of the Elmelunde frescos is the one on the west wall depicting the death dance. While the death dance (which stems from the plague) can be seen in many church decorations across Europe, it is unusual in Denmark, the only other occurrences being in Egtved and Jungshoved. Given the limited space, the fresco in Nørre Alslev is somewhat simplified but it includes a king, a bishop, a lord and a peasant. Unlike the skeletons often represented in the death dance, the figures there are all fully clothed.Heidi Pfeiffer & Ove H. Nielsen, ''Lolland-Falster – historier i landskabet'', 2012, Lolland-Falsters Historiske Samfund, pages 38–39. .

Gallery

File:Nørre Alslev kirke - Innenraum 1.jpg, The nave and the Majestas Domini (c. 1350) File:Nørre Alslev kirke - Altarraum.jpg, The altarpiece (1653) File:Nørre Alslev kirke - Kanzel 1.jpg, The pulpit (1643) File:Nørre Alslev kirke - Apsis - Madonna.jpg, Apse fresco: the Madonna (13th century) File:Nørre Alslev kirke - Totentanz König und Bischof.jpg, Fresco: the king and the bishop in the death dance (c. 1500) File:Noralslev(59)Døbefont.JPG, Font of Gotland limestone

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norre Alslev Church Churches in Falster Church frescos in Denmark Gothic architecture in Denmark Lutheran churches converted from Roman Catholicism Churches in the Diocese of Lolland–Falster