Hvidbjerg Church – Granite, Runes, and Gothic Power
Hvidbjerg Church blends Romanesque calm with Gothic strength. It features a lead-covered chancel and nave from the Romanesque period, built of granite blocks, and a broad, almost imposing Late Gothic tower with a pyramid-shaped roof. A modern porch completes the structure.
During the 1980–1982 restoration, two-thirds of the granite blocks were replaced. On the north side, you’ll find the bricked-up women’s entrance with a beautifully carved granite lintel, and two original Romanesque round-arched windows—now sealed.
In the porch, a runestone is embedded in the wall with the inscription: "Pray for Bo. Bo." The stone, a rough glacial boulder, was found in the churchyard wall.
Inside, the triumphal arch between chancel and nave has been widened. Diagonally across from the entrance hangs a painting of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, painted by A. Dorph in 1898—once used as the altarpiece.
On the back wall is a finely carved wooden figure of Christ—the remains of a medieval crucifix.
The Romanesque baptismal font is decorated with lily motifs, and the baptismal basin from 1575 depicts the Annunciation.
The current altarpiece and pulpit in rural Late Baroque style were donated in 1750 by Christian Linde of Kjærgårdsholm. His coat of arms appears on the altarpiece. The four scenes depict the Crucifixion, Gethsemane, the Last Supper, and the Resurrection—painted in traditional dark folk green and red with gilded accents.
The pulpit, matching the altarpiece in style and era, features the four evangelists.
Until 1963, Hvidbjerg Church was owned by the tithe-payers. That year, it became self-owned—making it the last church in Salling to do so.
