Church events before 1850 - past centuries

Church life before 1100

It is considered certain that King Svend Estridssøn was able to go to church in Slangerup, when he periodically lived there from the mid-1000s. It is inconceivable that such a religiously committed man, who initiated the parish and stift division of the country, was not a practicing Christian. His son, Erik, who was born here, must of course also have been baptized in the town. Naturally there has been clergy in the city. So it is likely that St. Mikael's Chapel was built in the mid-1000s. Skt Mikael's Chapel might be the oldest field stone church building in Slangerup. The king has wanted a construction worthy of a king, and has therefore been behind the construction of a small church on the hill that required removal of part of the old bronze age construction on the spot.

Around 1100 Skt. Mikael's Chapel

Excavations in the 1970's shows that the first stone building at the current church site was a chapel with apse where apsis door today is located. According to curator Græbe this stone building was constructed a little later than 1100. The chapel was later replaced by a village size church, which through the following centuries was extended several times, and in the early 1400's had a tower added.

1411 Inauguration of former Skt. Mikael's Church after reconstruction

On November 13th, 1411, the former Skt. Mikaels Church was inaugurated after renovation or construction of a tower, whose lower part is seen in the current church tower. On bell-ringers loft of the current tower, one can still see the level at which the former bell-ringer loft was siting.

1573 City Church said to be Heavily Dilapidated

This year it was said that the City Church - that is, the former St. Mikhael's Church - and not the convent church - was very dilapidated, and it had so little income that they did not cover maintenance of it.

1576 Churches on Sjælland give economic Support to the Church in Slangerup

On September 29th, 1576, the City Church in Slangerup was granted 1 Danish mark from each church on Sjælland. The church was so small that the congregation had to stand in the churchyard during Sunday service. At that time is was mandatory to go to church service on Sundays in Denmark.

1587 The King give the City a loan of 1000 Rigsdaler to a new church

1588 Inauguration of current St. Mikhael's Church in Slangerup

Possibly the church was first inaugurated the following year. Arne Sundbo writes in his book about Slangerup, that the church on February 6th, 1589 was so complete that it was only missing a small steeple to a bell. The architect and builder Hans von Stenwinckel wanted the church to have a small steeple to a bell on the middle of the nave ceiling - just like the Margrethe steeple on Roskilde Cathedral.

1593 King forgives half of the Loan towards the new church

On August 24th, 1593, the King waived the 500 rigsdaler, which had not beem paid back of the loan towards the new church. This happened so the city could pay the architect and builder Hans von Sten Winkel, who had repeatedly asked the king ensure that he got his payment from the city - something the King was apparently annoyed about.

1615 Fine of 5 Rigsdaler for Disturbance at the Priest residence

One of the city's accountants, Jens Møller, had a tendency to libel and violence. This year he was fined 40 Rigsdaler for twice haggling with the city mayor and 5 Rigsdaler to be given to the poor for disturbances at the minister Hans Pedersen Tikøb's residence.

1620 Churches on Sjælland again give support to the Church in Slangerup

In 1620 a tax was imposed on the churches on Sjælland to support the purchase of a rectory for the priest in Slangerup. The church bought the rectory on April 24th, 1620, and proof of this is still preserved. This rectory served the parish for the next 200 years. It was located north of the church in Præstestræde - the current Kannikestræde. The land was 41 cubit against the street and 125½ cubit deep. A cubit is an ancient measure of length equal to about 63 centimeters or two feet. A few years after the purchase Præstestræde was paved the modern way, ie with gutters along the houses on both sides of the street. In 1759 additional land was purchased, and the rectory got an exit towards Kongensgade.

1624 Fine of 20 Rigsdaler for showing up Drunk at Church

City treasurer Jens Møller continued to have difficulty controlling himself, and this year it resulted in a fine of 20 Rigsdaler for insults towards the mayor and for showing up drunk for church.

1634 Sherriff Frederich Urne donates a baptismal font to the Church

Sherriff Frederich Urne donated this year a baptismal font to the church. It is the baptismal font still used in church today, and on the large dish in the baptismal font is written "Dete Becken Høer For Sangte Michels Kieche Slangerup 1634". Frederich Urne stated in a letter dated January 2nd, 1632 "I, Frederich Urne to Bregentved, Royal Majesty commander of Kronborg and Frederiksborg". Bregentved is one of the largest estates in central Sjælland near Haslev. The current main building is however constructed after the time of Frederich Urne.

1732 Pietism moving into Skt. Mikael's Church

This year pietism came to Skt. Mikael's Church with the colorful pastor Ditlev Gotthard Zwergius.

1745 Church receives money board for collection of a rich merchant

In 1745 merchant Boie Nielsen and wife Maren Nielsdatter Gad donated on the occasion of their daughter's wedding with Lars Granberg a money board showing dogs licking Lazarus' wounds to Slangerup Church. This money board still exists in the church.

1827 East gable of tower crashing

1827 East gable of tower crashing In1827 the east gable of the tower crashed into the church. In the subsequent reconstruction the upper part of the tower was reinforced with jernankrer, as those found in many medieval buildings. In the tower in Skt. Mikael's Church these jernankrer are placed almost below the roof. In the years before the crash, which is not known to have cost human lives, one had oberserved significant cracks in the towers east gable. Experts in church buildings today points out that the tower's lower and older part, dating from the church before 1588 are built better and more carefully than the newer upper part. Perhaps the city's men who financed the church building in the years just before 1588, were a bit too busy and had too little money. Several things could indicate this. Among others things several years went by after the new church building's inauguration in 1588 before the buillder and architect Steenwinckel the Elder had his payment.

Church events after 1850 - our time

1913 Inauguration of "Kingos Minde"

On September 24th, 1913 "Kingos Minde", which was built from voluntary contributions from Slangerup Town and Country Parish residents, was inaugurated. The building was from the beginning operated as an independent nonconformist facility with a board on which the parish priest was born a member, and the obvious candidate as chairman if he so wishes. The status as nonconformist meant that at events in "Kingos Minde" no alcoholic beverages were available.

At the bottom of this page two documents related to "Kingos Minde" are attached. They are in Danish, and are a document from the inarguration mendioned above, and the regulations for the use of the facility.

1921 Complaints about conditions at Slangerup Cemetery

1977 Parish Council takes over "Kingos Minde" as Parish Hall

In a letter dated March 31st, 1977 the chair of the board of the private foundation "Kingos Minde" informed, that the board had approved Slangerup Parish Council's desire to take ownership of the building. The chairman of the board was parish priest Knud Andersen. At that time two loans with security in the building existed: One was a loan in Sparekassen SDS, and the other was a loan in Kristelig Forening for den Indre Mission i Danmark. Some bonds were also associated with the building. The property valuation as of April 1st, 1977 was 125.000 kr.

At the bottom of this page a document in Danish in which priest Knud Andersen confirms the argreement between the Parish Council and the institution owning "Kingos Minde" about the take over.

1981 Major renovation of Slangerup Church started

A cold winter winter day in 1981 a baptism of a little girl was to take place during High Mass, which started at ten o'clock in Skt. Mikael's. The parish priest Knud Andersen was to perform the baptism, and the parents, the child and godparents were summoned to come to the church at half past ten. However, the church's old heating system was broken, and the parishioners and staff froze in the cold old church. So already at ten the priest phoned the family and asked if they could come sooner. They could, and the little girl was happily baptized.

From that January Sunday all religious ceremonies during the renovation was moved to the newly acquired "Kingos Minde", and the large hall of that building was the venue for religious services, weddings, baptisms and funerals for next several months.

2006 Kingos Minde Closed for Public Meetings

Based on a preliminary study of the technical condition of the supporting structures in "Kingos Minde" by the firm Esben Kirkegaard Consulting Engineers A / S in the autumn of 2005, Slangerup Parish Council decided in January 2006 to close the building for all public meetings. The consulting engineering firm also recommended the parish council take the following measures to prevent a worsening of the condition of the building and minimizing the risk to people passing the building on

Strandstræde and other sides:

In the opening between the largest hall and the smaller hall in the middle of the buidling relieve the overhead beam structure by establishing a relieving pillar in the middle, so as to halve the span. The column should be supported all the way down to the base line, which is assumed to be located in wall line.
The two large canapes means, that the rooms on the first floor should not be used, and the areas at terrain level should be barred of, in order to avoid persons in these areas.
On gable facing Strandstræde the projecting ridges should be removed to reduce the size of the gable, thereby the wind-impacted area. At the same time one should anchor the remaining masonry to the underlying rafters by angle brackets and adhesive anchors.

It should be added that the working environment and hygienic conditions in the building does not meet modern requirements. Slangerup Municipality has declared the building worthy of preservation, and would not immediately grant permission to remove the protruding ridges. Hence it was decided in spring of 2006 to cordon off the sidewalk in front of the building. This was especially troublesome for the schoolchildren on their way to either Byvangskolen or Kingoskolen, who used the sidewalk as part of their journeys to school. In the fall of 2006, all the emergency measures were implemented.

2010 "Kingos Minde" Demolished

n the early summer of 2010 "Kingos Minde" was finally demolished to make way for a new parish center. This happened after the Frederikssund Municipality in 2009 had adopted a new plan for the area. The local plan is the reason that the municipality could issue a demolition permit for the old building. Before the demolition had architectural firm HKS Architects designed a project for the construction of a new parish center on the site, which will combine rooms for community events, offices for church staff and premises for teaching of those wishing to be confirmed. After the tender in the spring of 2010, the contractor B. Nygaard Sørensen wib the contract to build the new parish center.

2010 Construction of New Parish Hall Started

In the autumn of 2010 building of the new parish hall finally after archaeologists from Museum Færgegårdens had done a search of the the ground beneath the former "Kingos Minde" for some months, and made the parish council more than half a million kroner poorer. The delay also ment additional cost for winter arrangements, including heating the basement during the coldest month. Parish council had been in contact with local experts on the historical areas and been told that there probably was nothing to excavate for in the area. The Museum Færgegården supported by the National Museum, had a different opinion. What was uncovered: a lot of potsherds from the middle ages, a trækam from the same period, and most remarkably, traces of posts which were dated to around the year 1000. Thus it was proved that people have lived in Slangerup for more than 1000 year.

2011 New Parish Hall Inaugurated

On the first Sunday of Advent 2011, Sunday, November 27th, the new parish center on Strandstræde 4 was finally inaugurated. This happened with a church service, which was attended by parish priests and the dean of Frederikssund deanery and the bishop of Helsingør diocese. After the church service most went to the official inauguration of the building itself with speeches by Bishop Lise-Lotte Rebel, Mayor Ole Find Jensen, Dean Inge Bastkær, Parish Council deputy chairman Henrik Pedersen and sognepræste Caja Winterø. Afterwards all present could walk around the fine new white house. In the basement meeting room drinks and snaks were served. Later that Sunday the the church was again filled for "The nine readings". After the service we marched to the square in front Slangerup's Old Town Hall, where the city's Christmas tree was lit and Skt. Mikael's Choir sang Christmas carols.