HISTORY OF OMØ CHURCH

A stone tablet in the south wall of Omø church tells that it was King Frederik II who, after the Reformation in 1536, instructed his sheriff at Tårnborg by Korsør, Eiler Krafse, to build a church on Omø and hire a priest.

The tablet, which sits in the south wall of the church, can be considered the church's baptismal certificate. It has the following text:

ANNO 1574 ON THE 2ND AVGVSTI KING FREDERICH OR KRAVS COMMANDED TO SEND HERE CHRISTEN OF TORNBORGE TO BE THEN FIRST BOSEINDE'S PARISH PRIEST TO OMØ AND AGERSØ AND TO SEND HIM HIS GOOD STAY AND WE WERE HERE CHRISTEN PRIEST HERE XXXVI YEARS AND DIED TEN 12 MAY ANNO 1619 WHAT OR WI LEFVE ()OR WE DIE THEN WE BELONG TO THE LORD. AMEN.

During the Catholic era, the residents of Omø had lived without a church. The island belonged to Skælskør church and had its own chapel here – the Omø chapel – to which the islanders had to travel for church services.
The first church, which can be considered a chapel – without a tower, was built of wood and only stood for about 25 years until 1601, when it was replaced by a half-timbered church.
From the 2nd church, there is today a loose log of oak, which is suspended above the entrance door in the porch. The text is:

ANNO 1601 POVEL HANS(SON) (O)C NIELS WINTER ALLOWED THIS CHURCH TO BE BUILT.
(Apparently the image cutter has undone his second LOD, as it looks like he tried to delete it again.)

The church has been without a tower, which is why there has been a need to build a smaller bell tower in the cemetery.
The half-timbered church stood for a few hundred years, but was very dilapidated, and in written reports from 1739 it is referred to as "very shabby, like a deserted house". In 1744, "wind and weather had such a strong influence" that the priest could only stand on the pulpit with difficulty.
During the English Wars 1801 – 1814, the church and cemetery were converted into a regular fortification, and accounts from this time tell that the church was now so run down that there was a great need for a completely new church.

 

THE PRESENT CHURCH

The third and current church was built in 1828 at Skælskør church's expense by grocer Harboe from Skælskør. The church consists of a nave and west-facing tower, built of small yellow bricks over a slightly projecting foundation, in which there are some fieldstones. The entrance door to the church on the west side of the tower. The tower room serves as a porch. The windows have round-arched iron frames, and the interior of the church has a flat beamed ceiling. The church is whitewashed with drawn cornices, and the previously characteristic pink plinth is now drawn up in black. The church was already restored in 1851.

The oak altar table probably dates from 1576, but was converted in 1828. The altar table is from 1911 and painted by Tony Møller. There is an old three-winged altarpiece from 1522, which can be seen today at the National Museum (photo of the plaque hangs in the porch).
The altar silver, which is still preserved and stored, dates from 1576 and belonged to the first church on the island, which was built of wood.

About the oldest altarpiece in Omø church, which is now in the National Museum.
In Omø Bladet no. 33 in 1992, we can read the report written by Inger Trumpy, who in her time was employed at the National Museum. Inger Trumpy writes, among other things:

When Omø got its first church in 1578, it was equipped with an older Catholic altarpiece. Today, this beautiful painted triptych has a prominent place in the National Museum's Renaissance section, and the painting is an excellent artistic example of the Catholic faith and saint worship that prevailed in the Nordic countries before the Reformation. After reviewing the meaning of the board, Inger Trumphy ends her account with:
It is strange that a newly built Danish church in 1578 is equipped with an altarpiece, where the motifs are as arch-Catholic as the Omøtavlen. The explanation for this is probably that a quantity of Catholic church furniture suddenly became redundant with the introduction of the Reformation. Omø got a new church in 1601, and the old Catholic plaque from 1522 was then placed over the church's choir door. Over time, both the church and the old sign fell into disrepair. When the sheriff visited Omø in 1829, the painting's motif was almost hidden by dust and dirt. However, the bailiff believed that the tablet should be preserved and sent it to the Antiquities Commission in Copenhagen. On the way to Skælskør, it rained so violently that the board got soaked, but due to the thick layer of dirt, it had become so impregnated that the board resisted the rain, and as I said, it can be seen today in a distinguished place in the National Museum.
 

THE CHURCH BELLS

About the church bells in Omø's three churches
is short to say that the last bell was put up in the mid-1970s following an order from the Norwegian Working Environment Authority and with the recommendation of the provsten, as it was feared that the old bell would crash down on top of the ringer.
The discarded bell is placed in the ceiling of the church. In the literature, we can read that the first bell was placed in a wooden tower out in the cemetery - so the probability that Omø has had three different bells - like the number of churches - exists.

Source: island archive Omø