18 kmKirstinelyst - the gateway to Randbøl Heath
A practical gateway to Randbøl Hede with an exhibition, trails, and a picnic area before or after the church.
Jelling Church is not merely next to history, but right in the middle of it. The whitewashed church stands between the two large Viking Age burial mounds and close to the Jelling Stones, making the church interior part of the same story as royal power, runes and Christianity.
From the outside, the church may look like a Romanesque village church, but the site is far more complex. The present stone church stands on the same central site in the monument area where wooden churches once stood. According to UNESCO, the first wooden church was built by Harald Bluetooth after the introduction of Christianity in Denmark.
The chancel is worth noting. It may originally have been the nave of a smaller stone church from the 11th century, and if that interpretation is correct, Jelling Church is among Denmark's oldest stone churches. The tuff stone in the walls is a porous, yellowish limestone deposit that gives the church a different material character from many later village churches.
The church is not just a monument. It is still used as a parish church, with services held almost every Sunday. As a result, it may be closed during services and church ceremonies. It is precisely the combination of everyday church use and national symbol that makes the site special: beneath the same roof, an ordinary Sunday, World Heritage and a royal mystery beneath the floor come together.
The small silver strip in the church floor marks the spot where a reburied man was found beneath the floor of Jelling Church’s first wooden building. The grave is interpreted as a possible reburial of Gorm the Old, but this cannot be established with certainty.
The finds were no small matter: remains of gold brocade from a fine garment and two ornamented silver fittings lay with the man. Bones and teeth indicate a man about 173 cm tall and 35-50 years old.
