We began our morning in Tønder from a walk in the city center. This cheerful elephant was the first thing we stumbled upon. It was definitely a good omen:
Tønder is beautiful. It is the Denmark’s oldest privileged market town. It was first mentioned in the historic records in the middle of the 12th century. Tønder’ center is dominated by houses from the late 17th and early 18th century, when the town experienced rapid growth as a result of its lace industry, but there are also a couple of houses from the 16th century.
We quickly noticed that the buildings in Tønder had a room between them (see yellow arrows on the photo below). Sometimes there were nicely decorated doors there, in other places – just a peace of metal or wood.
In some places there were narrow passages between the buildings:
leading to lovely backyards:
The building culture in Tønder and the many properties lining up the ancient streets in the town are quite unique. One of the most adorable streets of Tønder is Uldgade (Wool street):
The street name has nothing to do with wool. In 1603 it was called Wulf’s Gade, after Hans Wulf who owned a house on the corner to Søndergade. Later somehow the name transformed into Uldgade, but the wool spinners never lived there.
To be honest, I find more charming the buildings that are not fine-tuned, like these on Søndergade, though I understand that living in them is probably not that fun:
We went to see the Kristkirken (Christ’s Church). It was stunningly beautiful, and richly decorated. I’ve read, this church is one of the finest in Denmark in terms of art and furnishings from the Renaissance and baroque times. The present church dates from the end of the 16th century, although the 50 meters high tower is from the earlier Skt. Nicolai Church that stood on this ground before it became too small.
The church got its first organ in 1596. Later the organ was rebuilt a couple of times, and the facade was changed. In 1945 a Christian X’s monogram replaced the one of the German Emperor Wilhelm II’s. The oldest chandelier is from 1594.
There was an organ concert in the church later that day, but unfortunately we had a tight sight-seeing program, and had to move on.
In the tower room we saw this massive stretcher. It was made in 1772 in the Peter Petersen’s workshop. On the long beam there is a relief-cut inscription: “Des northwest Todten Gelages Leichen-Bahre” (Does anyone know what it means?).
Some old buildings near the church:
In the old days a whipping post was of a great importance in the urban life of many towns in Northern Europe. Such a punishment place was called kag. A kagman was a kind of policeman or a soldier who was appointed to punish offenders. For a minor theft, like stealing a couple of apples, (if caught) a person would be chained, whipped, and put in stocks. Simultaneously the victim would loose his/her civil rights and had to leave the municipality. As a reminder to respect the legal system a statue carved out of wood was often placed on the top of the whipping post.
Tønder got it’s last whipping point in 1699. 8 men and 6 horses dragged a load of oak up to town, and a wood-carver carved a soldier-like figure, Kagmanden (the kagman). It is unknown how many years the figure was placed in the market place. Today the original figure which is the only remaining whipping post figure in Denmark is exhibited at Tønder museum, and the copy of it – on its original place on the Tønder’ market place (photo above).
On the same square there are other interesting things to see. The white building on the photo below is the oldest house in Tønder, and the yellow one – The Old Pharmacy.
The oldest house is believed to be built in 1520 as a guild house for the Tønder’s Kalende Brotherhood. This magnificent Gothic gabled house is today Denmark’s only preserved kalendehus. The name kalendehus comes from Latin word kalendae, reffering to the first day of each month. That day was the regular meeting day of the Brotherhood in the house, hence the name kalendehus (kalendae house). The Brotherhood was a religious brotherhood consisting mainly of priests and wealthy citizens, and there were both male and female members. The purpose was to help poor, old, and ill people. Today the building is used as a café, and it has beautiful old Dutch tiles on the walls.
The yellow building (photo above) was build in 1595. In 1671 it was transformed from being a residential house into a pharmacy and had this function until 1989. Today The Old Pharmacy is an interesting shop with 46 rooms and a unique atmosphere. We even saw (expensive) aircraft models there.
A cute advertisement for a knit shop:
We visited Drøhses Hus – a meticulously restored baroque building from 1672 (photo below). Friedrich Wilhelm Emil Drøhse (1820 – 1897), who gave name to this house, bought it in 1859. Drøhse learned the art of book printing and selling in Praque in 1840s. He established Danish book printing, and organised the house as a book selling shop (he also used it as his private home). Drøhse was running his business until his death in 1897.
Drøhses Hus is a museum today, with the exhibitions of the famous Tønder lace, history of the house, and other things.
I liked most the exhibition of the heating stoves in the cellar, dating back to the 15th century:
There were lots of shops, and I couldn’t resist. Vagn was more interested in a Vespa in one of the shops:
It seemed that the residents of Tønder took great care of their pets. A small dog on a warm plaid eating finely cut sausages:
Our next destination was the Tønder Art Museum:
The museum has exhibitions of Danish and Nordic art from the 20th and 21st centuries, impressive modern galleries and collections from the past. The former water tower is also a part of the museum, and is a home to a permanent exhibition of wooden chairs by famous Danish furniture designer Hans J. Wegner.
The chairs are exhibited on the 8 floors of the tower, and visitors are welcome to sit on them. Wegner designed countless chairs, and he donated 36 of the best ones (according to himself) to the museum. Hans Wegner was born and grew up in Tønder, and in that way he wanted “to come home”. From the top of the tower one can appreciate a beautiful view of the town:
Vagn loves (and owns) Wegner’s chairs. I think he tried to sit on each and every of the exhibited ones. He especially liked the one on the photo below, and said he wished it for Christmas:
I liked the exhibition of the modern art, and called the installation made of beer bottles “the sunrise”:
We had afternoon coffee and cakes in the museum’s café, and sat on exactly the same chair models Vagn has at home.
Note the size of the cake I got – I couldn’t eat even a half of it, though it was delicious. South Jutland is well-known for its hospitality and cakes. It is a tradition to make a cake board with 21 kinds of them! It became popular in the middle of 19th century, and is still a part of the culture of that region.
We were overwhelmed with all these fantastic experiences in Tønder. This relatively small town has so much to offer! We agreed to visit Tønder again next year.
*****
Sources of info:
https://www.toender-kristkirke.dk/page/25/kirkens-data
http://www.uwethomsen.dk/start-dan.htm
https://www.visitdenmark.com/denmark/kagmanden-tonder-gdk610733
http://www.klostercafeen-toender.dk/historie1.html
http://kurttoldsted.blogspot.com/2012/07/kalende-broderskab.html
