Churches and monasteries north

Silkeborg Church is from 1877 and Silkeborg’s first church. When the paper mill opened in 1844, only a few people lived here, but eventually the town grew – and needed a church. The church is a Romanesque-style chancel church designed by architect Sibbern.

Svostrup Church is located at the old ford across the river Gudenåen to the noble and royal road from Skanderborg to Viborg.

The church was built in the late 12th century in the Romanesque style, without a tower and with flat ceilings in the chancel and nave. During the High Catholic period (1460–1470), vaults were added to both the choir and the nave, and new frescoes were painted. These frescoes were later whitewashed over.
The porch and tower were added in 1788 by Jean Arnold Fischer, then the owner of Allinggård.
In 2006–07, the church underwent a comprehensive renovation, during which, among other things, the old frescoes from the 1400s were uncovered.

Despite its medieval appearance, Bjerringbro Church was inaugurated as late as 1919.
The church has since undergone two renovations. In 1957, the rectory and the apse were added, and in 1961, the side aisle and the baptismal room were built.
Before the church was built, the residents of Bjerringbro were divided among the three parishes of Bjerring, Hjermind, and Gullev.

People in Ulstrup wanted their own church after World War II. The Ministry of Church Affairs would only pay for half of the church, so the townspeople had to find the other half of the money themselves. The land for the church was inherited by the city. They raised DKK 85,000 and were allowed to start construction. The total construction was estimated to cost DKK 325,000, so the goal of covering half of the cost themselves had not quite been achieved. But an agreement was made that the church could be built in stages, and they were allowed to start construction. They started with the nave in 1952. And in 1961, the city had enough money to add a choir, apse and church tower, while extending the nave by 6 meters. Ulstrupbro Church had another construction period from 1988-1995, when money was given to make the church more beautiful. It was for lights, art and organ. And with this construction period, the church finally looked the way they had envisioned it back in 1948.

Langå Church is an old medieval church and the oldest building in the town. The original church, which consisted of a nave and chancel, is thought to have been built around the 13th century, while the tower and porch were probably built in the late 15th century. Since then, there have been several rebuilds and repairs to the church, including in 1956, when the nave was extended by 6 meters, the tower raised and the choir widened. In the same year, the side aisle was built and the fresco by Ernst Trier with motifs from the Gospel of Matthew was painted.

The current Grensten church was built in 1885. In connection with the church’s 125th anniversary in October 2010, it underwent an extensive interior renovation. The former church was a Romanesque granite ashlar church consisting of a chancel, nave, porch to the south and a ridge turret over the west gable. In October 2010, Henning Toustrup found a document at the Danish National Archives. It was a report of an extraordinary church inspection in 1880, and in this document there was a drawing of the former church’s exterior and a floor plan. These drawings are the only known drawings of the former church.

St. Mortens Church was built of red monk bricks as part of a large monastery complex in the late 1400s and early 1500s. A Latin inscription above the altar indicates when the choir was completed. The inscription reads: “In 1494, Prior J built this—or rather, God.” Prior J refers to the monastery’s abbot, Jens Mathiesen, who was also responsible for the construction of the Holy Spirit House, which was part of the Holy Spirit Monastery.
The Reformation halted the expansion of the Catholic monastery. St. Martin’s Church was designated a parish church in 1534, two years before Denmark officially parted ways with Catholicism.