Christiansfeld is a town in Southern Jutland with 3,016
inhabitants (2020), located 13 km north of Haderslev and 18 km south
of Kolding. The city belongs to Kolding Municipality and is located
in the Region of Southern Denmark.
In Folkekirken,
Christiansfeld belongs to Tyrstrup Parish, but the Brethren, which
founded the town in 1773, still stands strong with approx. 450
members. The Brethren Church is located in the middle of the city
and Tyrstrup Church is located in the southern part of the city.
In the European Year of Building Protection
1975, Christiansfeld was named "extremely worthy of preservation". A
number of the town's houses are listed. In 2002-2014, the Brethren
Church, Christiansfeld Municipality (from 2007 Kolding Municipality)
and Realdania, with the help of other foundations, renovated the
city's historic houses in Denmark's largest privately funded urban
conservation project with a budget of DKK 225 million. DKK.
When the houses have been preserved, it is because they are built of
yellow Flensburg stone and not built of half-timbering which was
otherwise prevalent in the 18th century. The woodwork is also
first-class craftsmanship, so only a few windows have had to be
replaced. "The window frames are made of heartwood, which is cut
with the veins in the right direction and treated with linseed oil.
This has made the wood so strong that it is difficult to stick an
awl into it," explains the carpenter who participated in the
renovation.
Christiansfeld was inscribed on the UNESCO World
Heritage List in 2015.
The town is named after King Christian VII, and Feld means "field" in German. The name Christiansfeld is pronounced with emphasis on the first syllable.
Christiansfeld School has 465 students, divided
into 0.-9. grade. The cube at the northern end of the city houses a
sports hall that seats 1,500 people, of which 396 seats are seating.
In addition, there is a gym, squash courts and bowling alleys.
The weekly newspaper Tyrstrup Herreds Tidende or Christiansfeld
Avis, founded in 1924, is published in the city. The city has
several grocery stores. 1 km northwest of the city is Tyrstrup Kro,
which has 27 rooms and meeting facilities.
Arla Foods bought
the former Tyrstrup Dairy, which now houses the group's largest
fresh food terminal with approximately 400 employees.
The Herrnhut Brethren quickly became known in Denmark after it had
established itself in Herrnhut in Germany in 1727. Initially, the
brothers were sent out to do missions in the Danish colonies of Sankt
Thomas and Greenland. In 1736, the Hernnhuts were allowed to establish a
colony in Holstein, but they already left it in 1741 because Christian
VI's conditions were far too strict.
In 1768, Christian VII and
his physician Johann Friedrich Struensee visited the Brethren's colony
Zeist in the Netherlands. They saw an urban society with a thriving
industry and a vibrant economy. They would also like to have such a
power center in Denmark, and the Brethren accepted an invitation to
build a colony in Denmark. Now it was over with strict conditions. In
the concession that the king signed on 10 December 1771 – where
Struensee effectively ruled Denmark – the brothers got, among other
things, 10 years of tax freedom, state subsidy of 10% for all buildings
that were built during the 10 years, customs freedom, own court, no
military service, no forced guild memberships and theological freedom
within the Danish state church. And all Danes were free to join the
brothers if the congregation wanted to admit them. After the fall of
Struensee the following year, the new rulers decided to confirm the
concession.
In 1772, the Brethren bought the southern Jutland
crown estate Tyrstrupgård, and the planning of the town started
according to a strict town plan, where the model was no longer Hernnhut,
but Herrnhaag from 1742. The ideal town was described in detail: length
and width of the church square, which was the center of the town; the
width of the two parallel main streets that framed the square; and the
size of the gardens, because it was something as new as a garden city,
which was created with both ornamental and useful gardens. On the
northern main street were the Sisters' House and the Widow's House, so
that the women could walk the straight way to the north door of the
church, and on the southern main street was the Brothers' House, from
which the men went to the south door. These 3 "choir houses" were a kind
of collectives for the unmarried members of the congregation – there was
not one for the widowers, because they were expected to find a new wife
and form a new family, which had to live in a regular family house. The
Gudsageren cemetery is also divided by gender, the women are to the east
and the men to the west. The grave sites are the same and only have a
small lying stone. The grave sites are not looped, but must lie forever.
In 1773, the first 3 houses were built: priest's residence,
superintendent's residence and one that was simply called "the 1st
house" and housed the congregation's first church hall until the real
church, Salshuset, was completed. The 1st house was big enough for the
22 brothers who were there at the start. In the first 9 years, 35 houses
were built, and around the year 1800 the town was completed. In 1806 the
congregation peaked with 756 members. The city attracted master
craftsmen from Germany, so 21 trades were represented, including dye
factory, candle foundry, soap factory, tiled stove factory, cigar and
tobacco factory, piano factory, hat factory, rope factory, margarine
factory, pharmacies, tower watch factory, silver smithy, printing house,
bookbinder, gingerbread baker. The town is still famous for its
gingerbread – a tradition that dates back to 1783. The town also had the
trading house Spielwerk.
The Brethren's Hotel
The Brethren's
Hotel was built in 1773 and was outside the original town, because
people who were not members of the Brethren were not allowed to spend
the night in the town. As can be seen from a board on the corner
Kongensgade/Lindegade, the hotel has been regularly visited by kings and
their families and other dignitaries. Here the armistice between Denmark
and Prussia/Austria was concluded on 18 July 1864.
The hotel came
to be located by the main road between Kolding and Haderslev when it was
led through Kongensgade in 1854. The hotel building had to be shortened
when the road had to be widened in 1930. The hotel still functions with
18 rooms, of which 8 are named after prominent guests and 6 can be
heated with Christiansfeld tiled stoves, of which the hotel has the
country's largest collection. In addition, the hotel has rooms of
different sizes so that courses, conferences, meetings and parties can
be held.
The German era
Before 1864, Christiansfeld was part
of the Duchy of Schleswig, which in the north extended to the southern
part of Kolding town and Kolding Fjord. In 1864, Christiansfeld came
under Prussian rule and lost its northern catchment and its trade
connections because the 8 northernmost parishes in Schleswig were
transferred to the Kingdom of Denmark in a barter with the royal
enclaves in Schleswig. The border therefore came to lie at Høkkelbjerg,
only 2½ km north of Christiansfeld.
Christiansfeld was the
terminus of the Haderslev Amts Jernbaners section
Haderslev-Christiansfeld (1899-1932). The station has been preserved at
Jernbanegade 1, now as a café.
The reunion
After Reunification
in 1920, the Danish state wanted to improve the infrastructure in
Southern Jutland and tie the county better with the rest of the country.
The great Southern Jutland railway law from 1924 included the option to
convert the narrow-gauge county railway section Haderslev-Christiansfeld
to standard gauge and connect it with Kolding Sydbaner either in Taps or
at Hejls landevej. The project was not realized because no private
individual sought a concession for it.
After the reunification,
the Brethren congregation sold its boys' and girls' school and breeding
farm Tyrstrupgård to private individuals after the decline of the
congregation. Although many of Christiansfeld's inhabitants from olden
times had German roots, for the first time in its history the town had a
Danish mayor who was not also a member of the Brethren. The congregation
thus lost one of its privileges from 1771, namely the right to elect the
town's management.
In the facility between Kongensgade and
Gudsageren stands a stone commemorating the reunion. It was unveiled on
10 July 1935, on the 15th anniversary of King Christian X's ride across
the former border 3 km north of Christiansfeld.
The local
authority
In 1867, the town received official status as a village. It
retained this status after reunification, but did not exercise its
option to withdraw from the county municipality. The concept of split
disappeared with the municipal reform in 1970, when Christiansfeld
became the main town of Christiansfeld Municipality, which was formed by
Tyrstrup and 8 other parishes. It was included in the municipal reform
in 2007 in Kolding Municipality.
The Brethren's music collection in Christiansfeld is today one of the largest private Danish collections with sheet music dating back to the founding of the town. From the end of the 18th century Christiansfeld became famous for being a place where music both inside and outside the church was of high quality and the performances as well. Many came to the city to hear concerts and attend hymn-singing services. The scores for 22 very different church motets or short cantatas have been published both in paper form and digitally.