Ørum Church
As you enter the porch of Oerum Church, you are greeted by a unique cultural feature: an old parish assembly board. This board was used by the parish clerk or local official to post messages when a church assembly was to be held—a local gathering where the congregation was informed of new laws and royal decrees that everyone was expected to follow.
Ørum Church stands on a hill in Nr. Ørum, not far from the manor Strandet, for which it historically served as parish church. The owners of Strandet had a private burial site beneath the altar, and the altarpiece, pulpit, and upper pews are adorned with coats of arms and names linked to the estate.
The church features a Romanesque nave and chancel, a Late Gothic tower, and a porch from 1894 designed by architect Wiinholdt of Viborg. The tower dominates the structure, covering two-thirds of the nave’s footprint.
The Romanesque section is built of granite ashlar, while the tower combines ashlar and monk bricks. On the southern corner of the nave is a checkerboard stone with 7 x 11 squares – unrelated to chess, and its meaning remains debated. Similar stones appear at Grinderslev and Grønning churches.
The original ashlar altar table holds a Renaissance altarpiece from 1610–1620, featuring Mannerist paintings of the Crucifixion and Resurrection. During restoration in 1970–72, a wrought iron gate with King Frederik IV’s monogram was added to the altar rail. The pulpit dates from the same period, and the pews are decorated with Pietist allegories from the mid-18th century.
The church’s old bell, likely cast in the 13th century, was used until 1972 and now stands in the tower room. In the porch hangs a historic church assembly board, where the parish clerk or bailiff posted notices. At these assemblies, laws and proclamations were read aloud to the congregation.
Charred beams in the roof structure tell of a battle during the Thirty Years’ War in the 1620s, when 30 peasants were killed and the church set ablaze. This story lives on in Jeppe Aakjær’s novel about the outlaw and freedom fighter Jens Langkniv, which includes a fictional battle between locals and the German enemy.
Contact the sexton at +45 92435642 to arrange a church visit.