Denmark - Roskilde Cathedral (2)

Roskilde Cathedral.

Sent by Kirsten, a postcrosser from Denmark.

Denmark - Roskilde Cathedral (1)

Roskilde Cathedral.

Sent by Genek, a postcrosser from Denmark.

Roskilde Cathedral is the earliest major ecclesiastical building in brick in northern Europe and had a profound influence on the spread of brick for this purpose over the whole region. Both in its form and in its setting it is an outstanding example of a north European cathedral complex, especially noteworthy for the successive architectural styles used in the ancillary chapels and porches added during the centuries during which it has served as the mausoleum of the Danish royal family.

The first religious structure on the site was a wooden church built around 980 by King HaraId Bluetooth. This was replaced successively by two travertine structures, built in 1030 and 1080 respectively. In the mid-12th century brick-making was introduced into Denmark by craftsmen from Lombardy, and Bishop Absalom decided around 1170 to rebuild his cathedral in this new material; his work was continued after his death in 1191 by his successor, Bishop Peder Suneson. The original structure was Romanesque; however, when only the eastern half had been built the plan was changed, under the influence of Gothic. The transept was located further back and the towers planned for the choir were removed to the west end. Work was virtually complete by around 1275, apart from the north tower, finished at the end of the 14th century.

Roskilde Cathedral is an aisled basilica in Gothic style with a semi-circular chancel gallery. The structure is essentially in brick, with occasional use of small boulders in the interior. Externally the walls stand on a plinth of granite ashlars two courses high; in the interior there is a hollow chamfered plinth of the same material. Traces have been found of the use of squared oak beams for reinforcement, further evidence of the early date of the structure, at a period when the builders were still uncertain about the properties of the new material, brick. The interior walls were originally bare, apart from the vaulting and the soffits of the arches, which were plastered. Most of the original rich wall paintings have disappeared.

Oluf Mortensen's Porch, named after the mid-15th-century bishop who commissioned it, is one of the finest examples of Danish brick Gothic architecture. Stylistically it is linked with the Gothic brick architecture of northern Germany. It is noteworthy for its fine roof gable and for the asymmetrical but finely balanced form of the lower part of the gable facade. The bricks used for the walling are remarkable for their richness of shading, which demonstrates excellent control of the brick-making process.

In the centuries that followed, chapels, porches, and other structures were built around the cathedral, first by bishops and nobles and later by the royal family, which partly hid the original structure. These included the chapter-house, gradually extended from the early 13th century to the end of the 15th century, the chapels of St Andrew (1387) and St Bridget (later 15th century). Royal additions included the Chapel of the Magi (Christian I: 1460), the Chapel of Christian IV (early 17th century, replacing two earlier chapels), and the Chapel of Frederik V (1772, in neoclassical style). Two royal chapels were built in the present century: the Chapel of Christian IX (1924) and the detached New Royal Ground (1985).

The two-storeyed Chapel of the Magi, completed around 1463, was originally built from glazed brick, but little remains of the glazing. The second storey, known as the Knights' Hall, contains some noteworthy carved stone. The main feature of the Chapel is, however, its rich late medieval mural decoration, which entirely covers the walls and vaults. Christian IV's Chapel, designed as a sepulchral chapel for the king, was the first post-medieval addition to the cathedral. It is constructed in the Dutch Renaissance Style. The steep ribbed vault is the largest in Denmark.

Frederik V's Chapel has a cruciform central chamber connected by a transverse building to the south aisle of the cathedral. Many of the medieval furnishings of the cathedral disappeared at the Reformation, and more were sold at a notorious auction in 1806. Of what remains the outstanding piece is the reredos, a masterpiece of Dutch religious art dating from around 1560. It is a triptych, probably from Antwerp, and bears scenes from the life of Christ. The canons' stalls of 1420 are of considerable importance because of the unique series of pictures on them.

Denmark - Fanø Dragefestival

Fanø Dragefestival or Fanø Annual Kite Festival.

Sent by Rita, a postcrosser from Denmark.

"The annual international kite festival, which in 2012 is being held on 14-17 July, attracts up to 5,000 participants from all over the world and crowds of spectators to Fanø. The 5,000 kite-flyers have spent the cold winter designing and creating new and exciting kite models in a myriad of shapes and colours. The sky is the limit! The kites are launched into the air on Rindby Strand during the four-day-long festival."(Source)

Denmark - Fragment Map of Jylland

Fragment Map of Jylland in Denmark.

Sent by Inga from Denmark. Terima kasih.

This is from Wikipedia : Jutland (/ˈdʒʌtlənd/; Danish: Jylland; German: Jütland, Danish: [ˈjyl.anʔ]), historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German border to its south. The German state of Schleswig-Holstein is part of the Cimbrian Peninsula but not part of Jutland.

Today, the Danish parts of Jutland belong to either of the three administrative regions North Jutland, Central Jutland or Region of Southern Denmark. The German parts of Jutland peninsula today form the state of Schleswig-Holstein and the city of Hamburg.

Denmark - Copenhagen - Amalienborg Palace

Amalienborg Palace.

Sent by Rita, a postcrosser from Frederica, Denmark.

This is from Wikipedia : Amalienborg Palace (Danish: Amalienborg, pronounced [aˈmaːˀliə̯nbɔːˀʀ]) is the winter home of the Danish royal family, and is located in Copenhagen, Denmark. It consists of four identical classicizing palace façades with rococo interiors around an octagonal courtyard (Amalienborg Slotsplads); in the center of the square is a monumental equestrian statue of Amalienborg's founder, King Frederick V.

Amalienborg was originally built for four noble families; however, when Christiansborg Palace burnt down on 26 February 1794, the royal family bought the palaces and moved in. Over the years various kings and their families have resided in the four different palaces.

Denmark - Idylliske Odense

Idylliske Odense

Sent by Kristine, a postcrosser from Odense in Denmark. This is the second postcard sent by her.

Denmark - Mapcard

Mapcard of Denmark.

Sent by Kristine from Odense in Denmark.

Denmark - Jelling Mounds, Runic Stones and Church

The large runic stone which is also called 'Denmark's Christening Certificate' with the most ancient image of Christ in the North.

Sent by Anna from Denmark.

The Jelling complex, and especially the pagan burial mounds and the two runic stones, are outstanding examples of the pagan Nordic culture.

Many of the early Danish records relating to the Viking King Gorm and Queen Thyre are recognized by scholars not to be based on reliable tradition. There is no direct evidence that the two large grave-mounds at Jelling were those of the two monarchs. The only irrefutable link is that provided by the two runic stones. Nonetheless, certain facts are incontrovertible. Jelling was a royal manor in the 10th century, during the reign of Gorm and his son Harald Bluetooth. Gorm erected a stone here in memory of his wife Thyre, and the royal couple ruled a realm known as Denmark.

The first wooden church built on the site of the present edifice was the largest of its kind anywhere in Scandinavia. Archaeological evidence suggests that it was built in the later 10th century, during the period around 960 when Harald Bluetooth introduced Christianity into Denmark, as he proclaims on the larger of the two runic stones. A large timber-lined tomb of 10th-century type, containing high-status artefacts, was an integral feature of the design of this first church. The larger of the two runic stones bearing Harald's inscription is located symmetrically between the two burial mounds, which has been shown by archaeological excavation to be its original location. The north mound was constructed over an impressive burial chamber of oak, cut into an earlier Bronze Age barrow of much smaller dimensions. This chamber had been opened before the first excavation took place in 1820. The greater part of its original contents had been removed, but the few remaining items showed that it had been a high-status pagan burial of the mid-10th century. It is uncertain whether this was a single or double burial. The south mound contains no burial chamber. Excavation has revealed that it is built over a stone alignment (possibly a ship-setting of Viking type), precisely orientated towards the Bronze Age barrow underlying the north mound.

The hypothetical reconstruction of the sequence at Jelling is as follows. After the death of Queen Thyre, her husband raised a stone in her memory and laid out a joint funerary monument consisting of two very large mounds. On his death he was buried in the chamber of the north mound, which may already have contained Tyre's remains. After bringing Denmark and Norway together and introducing Christianity into Denmark, their son Harald Bluetooth set up a stone proclaiming his achievements between the two mounds and built an impressive wooden church, in which the remains of his father were reinterred. The two flat-topped mounds are almost identical in shape (a truncated cone) and size. The larger runic stone is located exactly midway between the two mounds. Its inscription reads: 'King Harald bade this monument be made in memory of Gorm his father and Thyre his mother, that Harald who won for himself all Denmark and Norway and made the Danes Christians.' Most of the inscription is on the east face of the stone, and is surmounted by a carved depiction of a typical Nordic dragon in interlace ornament. The remainder of the inscription, relating to the Christianization of the Danes between 953 and 965, is on the south-west face, which also bears the earliest depiction of Christ in Scandinavia. Alongside it is the smaller runic stone. This is not in its original position, which is not known; it has been at its present location since about 1630. The inscription reads: 'King Gorm made this monument to his wife Thyre, Denmark's ornament.'

The present church, which archaeological excavation has shown to have been preceded by at least three churches built from wood, all of which were destroyed by fire, is a simple whitewashed structure built from calcareous tufa, an easily quarried local material. Its reconstruction began around 1100, when it consisted of a chancel and nave; the tower at the west end was added in the early 15th century. Mural paintings dating from around 1100 (and thus the earliest in Denmark) came to light on the walls of the chancel in 1874-75.