Fuglse Church

[[File:06-02-11-p5 copie Fuglse (Lolland).jpg|thumb|Fuglse Church, Lolland]]

'''Fuglse Church''' is a parish church located some {{convert|13| km|abbr=on}} south of [[Maribo]] on the Danish island of [[Lolland]]. The original [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] church was almost totally rebuilt in the [[Renaissance architecture|Renaissance]] style in the late 16th century. Standing prominently on a hilltop, the red-plastered building has a tall spire roofed in [[Wood shingle|shingles]].<ref>[http://historiskatlas.dk/Fuglse_kirke_(5894) "Fuglse kirke"], ''Historisk Atlas''. {{in lang|da}} Retrieved 5 August 2013.</ref><ref name=natmus>[http://www.natmus.dk/uploads/tx_tcchurchsearch/Maribo_0715-0734_01.pdf Kirsten Weber-Andersen, Otto Norn, Aage Roussell, Gertrud Købke Knudsen, "Fuglse Kirke"], ''Danmarks kirker: Maribo amt, Volume 8'', 1951, Nationalmuseet, pages 715-734. {{in lang|da}} Retrieved 5 August 2013.</ref>

==History== The medieval church was originally dedicated to [[Lawrence of Rome|St Lawrence]] but after it was rebuilt in 1595 it was dedicated to the [[Holy Trinity]]. After the [[Danish Reformation|Reformation]] it was owned by the Crown until it was transferred to the prefect [[Henning Ulrich von Lützow]] in 1689 who gained ownership of nearby [[Søholt]] the following year. It later came into the ownership of Raben Huitfeld Levetzau til Kærstrup (1835) and then Baron Gottlob Rosenkrantz until it gained independence in 1916.<ref name=natmus/>

==Architecture== The old Romanesque church fell into such a bad state of repair that it was almost completely rebuilt by Henning Gøye til Kærstrup og Søholt in 1595. Now in the Renaissance style, the church consists of a [[chancel]], [[nave]] and tower, with burial chapels to the north and south. Unusually, the north chapel is three-sided. More recently, a small porch was built on the west side of the tower. The chancel, nave and chapels are built of roughly-hued fieldstone with some brick while the tower is in red brick.<ref name=natmus/>

==Interior== The Renaissance triptych [[altarpiece]] (1610), partly reconstructed from an earlier five-winged Late-Gothic work, contains a copy of [[Jacob Jordaens]]' ''Adoration of the Shepherds'' from 1618. The [[pulpit]] ({{circa|1600}}) bears copies of [[Bertel Thorvaldsen]]'s carved figures of Peter, Paul and John which were added later. There are epitaphs to Henning Ulrich von Lützow and his two wives at the entrance to the burial chapel on the north side of the nave.<ref>[http://www.gravstenogepitafier.dk/fuglse3.htm "Fuglse kirke, Lolland. Epitafium. Slægtstavler for Henning von Lützow og 2 hustruer"]. www.gravstenogepitafier.dk. {{in lang|da}} Retrieved 5 August 2013.</ref> The rather primitive [[baptismal font]] from the Romanesque period is in granite.<ref name=natmus/>

==See also== * [[List of churches on Lolland]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.gravstenogepitafier.dk/fuglse3.htm Fulse Church epitaphs] {{in lang|da}}

[[Category:Lolland]] [[Category:Churches in Lolland]] [[Category:Renaissance church buildings]] [[Category:Churches completed in 1595]] [[Category:Lutheran churches converted from Roman Catholicism]] [[Category:Churches in the Diocese of Lolland–Falster]]