Hem Church: History Carved in Stone
Hem Church is a charming village church where Romanesque and late medieval architecture blend beautifully. The chancel and nave date back to the Romanesque period and are built of granite ashlar and fieldstone. In the late Middle Ages, the chancel was extended, and both chancel and nave received new gables made of monk bricks with decorative blind arches. The tower and porch were also added during this period.
A restoration in the late 1800s gathered the granite blocks at the base, while the rest of the walls were faced with small red bricks.
Architectural Highlights
A granite capital with two finely carved male heads is embedded in the chancel gable – likely from a former portal.
The tower, nearly as wide as the nave, is built of monk bricks with granite at the base.
The middle storey features twin openings on three sides.
Interior and Furnishings
The church bell from 1150–1200 is among the oldest in Denmark. The bell frame is late medieval.
The wide chancel arch is original.
The granite baptismal font has a smooth bowl with a rounded moulding and a baptismal dish from 1936.
The altarpiece is a small, elegant late Baroque work from the late 1600s with its original painting.
The pulpit is a rustic Renaissance piece dated 1711, with evangelist images in the main panels. The sounding board is slightly younger.
Burial Chapel and Crypt
In the 1780s, Count Trampe of Krabbesholm converted the tower room into a burial chapel for his in-laws, Major General Jens de Poulsen and Charlotte Amalie Wurf. When the church received its first organ in 1944, the coffins were moved to a crypt beneath the tower floor. The ornate Rococo wrought-iron gate with flowing initials remains intact.
Stone Mysteries
At the west wall of the porch stands a curious hollowed stone – possibly an Irish-Celtic baptismal font.
West of the tower lies a large stone with five holes, also believed to be a sign of Irish-Celtic Christianity.
