Seventy-year milestone rekindles memories of world’s oldest Danish Church

The Scandinavian community from across Yorkshire and the north will celebrate Hull’s status as the home of the oldest Danish Church in the world when they mark the 70 th anniversary of the existing building next week.

The milestone is particularly significant because the original St Nikolaj Danish Seamen’s Church, which was built in May 1871, was bombed on the eve of its 70 th anniversary.

Charlotte Theill, manager of the current site, said: “A previous pastor has sent an email apologising for not being able to attend this year’s celebration and expressing his hope that nothing untoward happens on the eve of this anniversary.”

Nobody was injured when the original church took a direct hit during the night of May 9, 1941, but the building was destroyed. Through the Red Cross, the chairman of the Trust sent a message to Denmark which said: “Nikolaj died tonight.”

The pastor, Helmer Morch, placed a poster in the ruins with a quotation from a hymn by Nikolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig which translates as: “We are God’s house and church now, built of living stones.”

For the rest of the war Danish services continued at the former Mariners Club in Hull, which is now the Mission pub on the corner of Dagger Lane and Posterngate. But in September 1953 the foundation stone from the original church was recovered and placed on a new site at the corner of Ferensway and Osborne Street.

The new church was consecrated on May 9, 1954. A seven-branched candelabra, which was retrieved from the rubble of the old church and then restored, now sits on the altar and will be used for the anniversary service. Another relic is a small rosette of red glass which was also salvaged from the bomb site and which took pride of place in a window in the new building.

Services were held to mark the 50 th and 60 th anniversaries of the current building, and the gathering on Sunday May 12 for 70 years is seen as a special milestone.

In 1996 Princess Benedikte, sister of Queen Margrethe II who abdicated in January, visited the church in Hull with The Bishop of Copenhagen, Erik Norman Svendson, to lead the celebrations of 125 years of ministry. Plans for a 150-year celebration in 2021 were abandoned because of the pandemic.

The service on Sunday will be conducted by Pastor Arne Kristophersen, who served at the church in Hull from 2016 until 2019 and then returned to Denmark. The celebrations will continue with a lunch of Danish delicacies and a speech by Hans Christian Andersen, an academic and broadcaster who has worked with the Danish Church in Hull and Newcastle.

Charlotte said: “We are expecting a lot of people from across the country including members of our congregation and friends of the church from over the years. Danish Church UK is based in Copenhagen and there are now just two churches in the UK – Hull and London. There is still a small congregation in Newcastle but they no longer have their own building.”

The community in Hull still congregates for services to celebrate Easter, a Harvest Festival and Christmas, with the pastors travelling from Copenhagen or London. A one-day Scandinavian Christmas Market attracts around 800 people every November and its success has led to the establishment of Nordic House as a venue for cultural, community and corporate events.

The church will again feature in the Heritage Open Days programme in September when a centrepiece of the items on display will be the organ, built nearly 50 years ago by the Copenhagen firm of Frobenius and ready for a starring role on Sunday. A. Aeolian piano has been re-tuned this week and will accompany opera singer Susanne Gilbert as she performs Mozart’s “Alleluia” and “Springtime on Funen” by Carl Nielsen.

Charlotte said: “Hull has had a Danish Church longer than London and it is very important to keep celebrating our presence here, especially now that we have entered a new area without a resident pastor and with broader interests as we try to become self-sufficient.

“It is also important that people know we are still a church. We only have a few services every year but our congregation stretches far and wide and they come here for the special services which are always conducted in Danish. Our anniversary

service is open to all but we would ask people to let us know in advance if they are coming.”

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Charlotte Theill, manager of the Danish Church and Nordic House, with some of the archive materials and nautical artefacts.