Aakirkeby on Bornholm is home to Rosenkranskirke (Holy Rosary Church), one of the few Roman Catholic churches in Lutheran Denmark (and the only one on Bornholm). It was built, among other things, to minister to seasonal workers from Poland, who worked on Bornholm in large numbers in the early 20th century. The church is decorated with a stained glass window depicting St Jadwiga of Silesia, whose cult was alive among both German-speaking and Polish Catholics.

Aakirkeby town on Bornholm

Bornholm is an island in Denmark in the south-western part of the Baltic Sea. Aakirkeby is situated in the centre of the island's agricultural area. Aakirkeby is the former capital of Bornholm and today the third largest town on the island. It has just over 2,000 inhabitants. The Roman Catholic Rosenkranskirke, or Holy Rosary Church, was built here in the 1930s and is now the only Roman Catholic parish on Bornholm. The history of the church is strongly linked to the presence of Polish seasonal workers on the island, some of whom have blended into the local community.

Poles on Bornholm

Among the seasonal workers on Bornholm a significant group were arrivals from the Polish partitioned territories . It is estimated that in the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century several hundred Polish families came to the island to work. Some of these were seasonal workers, e.g. 149 Polish workers were recorded on the island in 1911 and about 200 in 1918. They worked mainly on the land. Some of these families settled permanently on the island. To this day there are people living among the inhabitants of Bornholm who remember the Polish roots of their ancestors.

Another echo of the customs and living conditions of the hired workers is the phrase "to live the Polish way", apparently still present in the Bornholm language. It signifies a free relationship, a life "on the back foot", i.e. without formalising the relationship, which was said to be common in the labour migrant community. Among other things, to remedy this type of situation, the conservative Danes supported the organisation of a missionary outpost of the Roman Catholic Church to strengthen the morale of seasonal workers. Formally, there were no obstacles, as the ban on Roman Catholic church membership had ceased in Denmark since the 1849 constitution.

From around 1880, Bornholm was visited occasionally by a Catholic priest on a missionary basis. At the beginning of the 20th century the number of Catholics here increased, helped by an increased influx of Poles. In 1915, the Dutch Dominican province, after consultation with the Catholic bishop of Denmark, Johannes von Euch (1834-1922), undertook the organisation of a permanent pastoral post in Rønne, then the island's capital. The first to arrive was a Dominican, Fr I.P. Nielen, who established a chapel here. In 1916, the Heart of Jesus parish was established on Bornholm. Then another Dutch Dominican arrived, Fr Theodoor Josef Zoetmulder (1889-1968).

Father Theodoor Josef Zoetmulder

His main task on Bornholm became pastoral care among Polish workers. The clergyman learned Polish and Danish for this purpose. Most of the Polish workers lived in the eastern part of the island, so in 1917 a mass chapel was set up in rented premises in Aakirkeby. It was named the Rosary Chapel. In 1925, the parsonage that still exists today was completed.

In view of the insufficient size of the chapel, it was decided to build a new, larger chapel that could accommodate up to 200 people. Father Zoetmulder not only initiated the fundraising and construction of the church, but also designed the building and its furnishings. In 1932. Rosenkranskirken - Holy Rosary Church - was ready for use.

Architecture of the church

The architecture of the Roman Catholic church in Aakirkeby follows the Gothic tradition, although it is simplified and modernised. From the perspective of its date of construction (1932), it is conservative architecture, even backward in style. On the other hand, from the perspective of meaning, this reference to medieval, gothic architecture was justified in reaching back to the Christian traditions of pre-Reformation Denmark.

The church is prominent in the local landscape. It is a soaring brick building with a prominent stepped gable in the front elevation and a stepped pointed portal in the central axis. A quadrilateral tower decorated with an arcaded frieze is attached to the side (north) of the front elevation. The ascetic interior of the chancel, with a separate longitudinal arch and wide quadrilateral nave, is lit by a sequence of tripartite pointed windows. The nave is covered by a ceiling with coffered decoration. However, the real decoration of the modestly furnished interior, which shines with the whiteness of the walls, is the colourful stained-glass windows.

The interior of the church and its stained-glass windows

The stained-glass windows in 19th-century historicist style must have been made after 1932. Their author is unknown, although the concept was probably developed by Father Zoetmulder and the founders were Catholic families from Bornholm. Among the figural representations is the figure of St Jadwiga of Silesia. This stained-glass window was placed here not by accident, as to service the church and to deal with Polish seasonal workers, Pastor Zoetmulder brought the nuns of the congregation of Hedvig Søstrene (Sankt Hedvig Søstrene) from (the then German) Breslau to Aakirkeby in 1927.

The cult of Saint Hedwig was close to the Poles, and her patronage of Christian families fitted well with the intentions of pastoral work.

Saint Jadwiga of Silesia

Princess Jadwiga of Silesia (German: Hedwig von Schlesien) - was born around 1178 in Andechs, Bavaria, and died in 1243 in Trzebnica, Silesia. She was the wife of Henry I the Bearded (1165/1170-1238), Duke of Wrocław from the Piast dynasty, and mother of his successor, Duke Henry II the Pious (killed in the Battle of Legnica in 1241). She came from a Bavarian princely family (she was the daughter of Bertold VI, Count of Andechs and Duke of Merania).

At the age of 12, she was married to Duke Henry the Bearded, who, by concentrating more and more Polish lands under his rule (Lower Silesia, and periodically Greater Poland and Lesser Poland), strove to break up the division of the Piast monarchy. The couple were founders of many churches, including the convent of the Cistercian nuns in Trzebnica (1209). Jadwiga was famous for her piety and charity. Her cult developed rapidly. As early as 1267, Pope Clement IV declared her a saint. She was recognised as the patron saint of Poland and all of Silesia, as well as of married couples and Christian families. In the 20th century, she also became the patron saint of Polish-German reconciliation.

In iconography, St Jadwiga is depicted barefoot, wearing a ducal mitre and cloak, symbolising her high social position and ascetic lifestyle (bare feet). In her hand, she holds a pastoral (a sign of the dignity of the Duchess, a religious superior) and a model of a church indicating foundation commitment. Tradition attributes twenty church foundations to Duchess Hedwig, with the largest in Trzebnica, where she spent the end of her life after the death of her husband and where her mausoleum is located.

Significance of the church in Aakirkeby

The existence of a Roman Catholic parish and church on Danish Bornholm is part of the shared history of Polish seasonal workers, emigrants and the European community of believers. A Dominican friar from the Netherlands, nuns from Wrocław, a Silesian patron saint, the thread of a Christian family - these are traces of cultural relations shaping the religious consciousness of people who, wandering in search of work, did not want to part with the faith and tradition of their ancestors. It is also a sign of the Polish presence in shaping Bornholm's economy and history.