Jebjerg Church

Jebjerg Church – Heritage, Reuse, and Revival

Jebjerg Church was built in 1923–24 in Neo-Romanesque style. The construction reused granite ashlar blocks from the original Romanesque church, of which only the tower remains. The tower dates from the late Middle Ages and was raised when the new church was built.

The old church seated only about 125 people, which became insufficient after Jebjerg became a railway town in 1884. Pastor N.K. Glud, who served in Jebjerg-Lyby from 1873 to 1920, was a leading figure in the Grundtvigian revival in Salling. His popularity and the influx of visitors from neighboring parishes created the need for a larger church.

During construction, the old granite blocks were placed as closely as possible in their original order. Around the church, cornice stones from the old chancel were reused as base stones. The two original, undecorated portals were reinstalled near their former positions, and Romanesque window lintels were reused. In the north wall of the chancel, a decorated granite lintel found at the rectory was embedded. East of the church lie two window lintels discovered in the churchyard wall in 1949.

The church preserves its historic furnishings:

• The Romanesque altar table with a reliquary cavity is hidden behind a wooden panel featuring beautifully restored paintings of the four evangelists from 1695.

• The pulpit, made around 1600, is adorned with well-preserved paintings from around 1700.

• In the baptismal room and on the west wall of the nave hang altar paintings and a portrait of Pastor Glud.

• The baptismal font with rope-like carvings is accompanied by a small lead crucifix from the coffin of Pastor Niels Knudsen Schytte.

• On the north wall hangs a large chancel arch crucifix from the late Middle Ages.