Saturday, February 06, 2010

Sønder Vissing church / Sønder Vissing kirke, Tyrsting herred, Skanderborg amt.


Sønder Vissing Church, ab. 12 km west of Skanderborg
Sønder Vissing sogn, Tyrsting herred, Skanderborg amt.



The church in Sønder Vissing has a Romanesque choir and nave with a late Gothic western tower and a porch to the south from the Renaissance-period. The Romanesque building, choir and nave, is built in raw granite boulder, travertine and hard pan. The round arched south door is kept, while the north door, which is flanked by half pillars, is bricked-up like a single window on the north side. Inside is the round choir arch with kragbånd. In the late Gothic period, ab. 1475 was in the choir built one, in the nave four cross vaults upon wall pillars, and at the same time the gable of the choir was re-walled in monk bricks to the east. In the beginning of the 1500s the slender tower was built to the west; it has a pyramid roof, probably from a main repair in 1795. The porch is built in large bricks, it is probably from the first half of the 1600s.



Upon the choir arch is an elegant late Gothic frescoe in winding leaves, while the vault has a simpler ornament. A picture of Sct. George and the dragon is kept, all frescoes are from the end of the 1400s. In the choir was in 1910 inserted a glass mosaic window. - The altar arrangement was made in 1911, and the earlier altar piece, a simple Renaissance work from ab. 1600 with a simple painting, hangs upon the choir wall. Late Gothic candelabres ab. 1550 . Very good, but terribly over-painted late Gothic choir arch- crucifix. A new granite font. The very small pulpit is a pretty work in high Renaissance from 1585. Abundant church ship "Neptun" a fregat, probably from the middle of the 1700s. A strange, probably Romanesque gravestone with a carved cross is placed at the church gate. Portrait stone in choir of Jens Nielsen of Vissingkloster (+ 1591) and his wife.


One of Denmark's most important runestones; Harald Bluetooth's wife, Tove Mistivojsdatter's runestone in Sdr. Vissing church

- Two runestones were found in the parish. One, a very large runestone, was in 1835 found as a side stone by the entrance of the church yard-dike, it is now placed inside the church below the organ. The inscription is: " Tove, Mistives datter, Harald den godes, Gorms søns kone, lod gøre disse kumler efter sin moder". ("Tove , Mistive's daughter, Harald the good's, Gorm's son's wife, let make these kumler after her mother.") The other stone lay as a treadstone in the entrance to the church yard; it is now placed in the porch.The inscription is: "Toke gjorde disse kumler efter sin fader Abe, en klog mand". ("Toke did these kumler after his father Abe, a wise man".)


Romanesque gravestone and runestone in porch

Sønder Vissing Church belonged in the Middle Ages to Voer kloster. Vissing kloster was established before 1249 by one of the bishops in the bishopric for nuns of the Benedictine-order, its history is not well known. Abel burnt down, before he became king, the nuns' town Gl. Vissing except the church, in the 1400s the kloster was abandoned. Its estate came partly to Voer kloster, possibly in an exchange with the Århus-bishop.

Klostertomten/The kloster site is found north of Pindsmølle upon a former peninsula which in east was bordered by Gudenå (river). In a lesser examination by the National museum in 1915 were found some demolished remains of a brick-wall upon a granite boulder foundation and two walled moats, one in boulder and one in monk bricks.

4 sacred wells are known in the parish; Fredskilde by the road to Rye, Frørs kilde upon the earlier school-site, one in the middle of the village and one by the country road in Addit forest.

In a digging at the vicarage's field were in 1898-1901 found 99 speciedalere, the youngest from Brunsvig-Lüneborg 1642.

Names in the Middle Ages: Sdr. Vissing (here? Saxo ab. 1200 vico Wisingo, 1200s Gamlæwisyng); Addit (* 1465 Addit); Vissingkloster (1268 claustro Wising); Vilholt (* 1524 Wilholtz marck, 1573 Wilholt); Nedenskov (* 1458 Nedenskouff marck); Pindsmølle (* 1524 Pindz mølle).

Listed prehistorics: a dolmen chamber with cover stone south of Sdr. Vissing, a stone grave and 19 hills, of which several are rather large: Kongenshøj east of Addit, one of Trebjerg høje west of Sdr. Vissing, Bredhøj, Bavnehøj, the somewhat digged Mejlhøj and a fourth hill, all southwest of Sdr. Vissing, and a hill at Voervadsbro.
Demolished or destroyed: 102 hills, of which many were around Addit. Most of the hills around Vissingkloster, which were rather small, contained Stone Age's single graves, while the hills around Addit mainly are from Bronze Age. -

Some of the largest settlements from Gudenå-culture are situated in the parish. First of all the large sites on each side of Rye bro(bridge), where in 1957 was built a museum for the large collections. Other settlements are at Lysholtgård, Vissingård, Revelmose and Salten ø; out in Revelmose(moor) was found an axe made of aurochs-bones, which probably also belongs to this culture. From Sdr. Vissing is known a settlement with landfill sites from early Celtic Iron Age. Fields from early Iron Age are known from Addit forest ("Kirkegården"). From Addit are known a couple of rich graves from late Roman Iron Age, one with bronze-vessel, knife, brosche, 2 goldrings etc, the other with weapons , glass cup etc.


photo Sdr. Vissing kirke 2003: grethe bachmann

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