Gudhjem Church is the parish church of

Gudhjem Gudhjem is a small town and fishing port on the northern coast of the Baltic island of Bornholm, Denmark. Its population is 736 (1 January 2024). Gudhjem is a popular venue for tourists who are attracted by its steep, picturesque streets, views ...

on the north coast of the Danish island of

Bornholm Bornholm () is a List of islands of Denmark, 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. I ...

. Completed in 1893, it replaces the now ruined St Anne's Chapel (''Sct Anna Kapel'').

History

In the Middle Ages, Gudhjem's St Anne's Chapel served the fishing communities on Bornholm's northern coast and was probably also used by

Hanseatic The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...

visitors from the north of Germany. Based in particular on the fresco's discovered on the south wall, it is estimated that the chapel was built around 1300. Alterations were first carried out in the Middle Ages and again in 1790. With 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 passed from the Archbishopric of Lund to the Danish crown where it still belonged in 1809 but later became fully independent as is the present church. In 1895, the old church was dismantled. The new church, consecrated on 3 September 1893, was located to the west of the old churchyard as it was decided to leave the foundations of St Anne's in place, safeguarding its site as one of the island's last coastal chapels.Otto Norn, C. G. Schultz, Erik Skov, "Allinge Kirke: Bornholms Nørre Herred"
Danmarks Kirker, Bornholm, Nationalmuseet, Gad, 1954, pp. 432–448.

Description

Mathias Bidstrup Mathias Andreas Bidstrup (25 March 1852 – 25 January 1929) was a Danish architect. Biography He was born in Rønne, Bornholm, the son of cobbler Jorgen Bernhard Bidstrup and Marie Hansine Sonne. Mathias Bidstrup attended the Royal Danish ...

, the new church consists of a nave, a polygonal apse at the eastern end and a tower with a spire to the west. It is built of granite blocks and has a slate roof. Some of the artefacts from the old church can be seen in the new one. The

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, ...

in the form of a

triptych A triptych ( ) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all m ...

dates from c. 1475 and is from a Lübeck workshop. The centrepiece shows 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 ...

on her deathbed together with the twelve apostles. The panel on the left depicts

St Anne According to apocrypha, as well as Christian and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary, the wife of Joachim and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the Bible's canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's nam ...

with the infant Jesus as well as

St John Saint John or St. John usually refers to either John the Baptist or John the Apostle. Saint John or St. John may also refer to: People Saints * John the Baptist ( – ), preacher, ascetic, and baptizer of Jesus Christ * John the Evangelis ...

and other saints. The right panel presents St Dorothea with

St Olaf Saint Olaf ( – 29 July 1030), also called Olaf the Holy, Olaf II, Olaf Haraldsson, and Olaf the Stout or "Large", was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. Son of Harald Grenske, a petty king in Vestfold, Norway, he was posthumously given the ti ...

to one side. The pulpit from 1575 was substantially reworked in 1789. Its four panels, separated by columns, show the four apostles."Gudhjem kirke"
''Bornholmerguiden.dk''. Retrieved 16 July 2012.

References

{{Bornholm Denmark Churches completed in 1893 Churches in Bornholm Gothic Revival church buildings in Denmark 1890s churches in Denmark