Use and conservation of Rhenish tuff

A very brief note on the use of Rhenish tuffstone in Denmark

Timo G. Nijland TNO, PO Box 49, 2600 AA Delft, The Netherlands

Like the Netherlands, the availability of local dimension stones is limited in most of Denmark, notably so-called kvader, blocks derived of erratic boulders (mainly granite) left after the ice ages and some Cretaceous limestone (e.g. Norregaard 1911). At the same time, for western parts of the country (Jylland, Schleswig), good possibilities for transport over water (the Rhine, Zuiderzee and North Sea) are available. The town of Ribe has trading connections to the Netherlands and Germany (e.g. Von Fissene 1991, 1992). As a result, Ritimer tuff has been used on a considerable number of Romanesque churches in Southwest Jylland and Schleswig. An inventarisation has already been made by J. Helms in the late 19th century (Helms & Johnstrup 1894, Helms & Storck 1894; fig. 1), later revised for Southwest Jylland by Fevele (1996). Fevele reports 55 churches in Southwest Jylland, -the northernmost in Hemet, the southernmost in Holstrup and Hojer-, and an addditional 26 in South Schleswig. Notorious examples include the Dom of Ribe (completed ca. 1225; fig. 2) and, more to the inland, the Dom of Viborg. Most of the churches have not precisely been dated, but most have probably been constructed during the latest quarter of the 12th century and the first half of the 13th century, for the latter part overlapping with the genera! transition for timber contruction to stone construction in SW Jylland and N Schleswig (Madsen 2005). In Jylland, tuff occurs as sole dimenstion stone, or togehter brick and/or so-called kvader, the !atter mainly concentrated around Ribe and Ballum (Fevele 1996). In many cases, tuff and brick are (still) covered by a white limewash as protection, whereas the granite blocks are left untreated. Like in the Netherlands and Germany, tuffstone was not only used for masonry and ornaments, but also for sarcophagi, as e.g. recovered during the 1894 restorations works at the Dom in Ribe (Ribes Stifts-Tidene 1894ab). Tuffstone was shipped via the Dutch towns of Deventer and Utrecht. In minor amounts, other stones from the Rhineland came along, such as Drachenfels trachyte (Fig. 3).

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Use and conservation of Rhenish tuff

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Fig. 1. Tuffstone churches in Denmark (from Helms & Johnstrup 1894).

Use and conservation of Rhenish tuff

Fig. 2. The Dom of Ribe, completed ca. 1225 and mainly built with Rdmer tuff (pictures Lieftink, 2014).

Fig. 3. Drachenfels trachyt column in the interior of the Dom of Ribbe (picture D.J. Liefink, 2014).

References

Feveile, C., 1996. Tufstenskirkerne i Sydvestjylland - set i archaeologisk, handelshistorisk belysning. By, Marsk og Geest 6:31-51.

Helms, 3. & Johnstrup, 3.F., 1894. Danske tufstens-kirker, Band. 1. De med vulkansk tuf fra Rinen byggede kirker i Tyksland, Holland og isaer i Danmark: med bemaerkninger om den rinske vulkanske Tuf. Hagerups, Copenhagen.

Helms, 3. & Storck, H., 1894. Danske tufstens-kirker, Band. 2. Nitten vestjydske landsbykirker; med et kort over kirkerne paa den jydiske halvo. Hagerups, Copenhagen.

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Use and conservation of Rhenish tuff

Madsen, 2005. Kalvslund Kirke — en tilsyneladende beskeden kirkes alder og strátag. By, Marsk of Geest 17:22-42.

Norregaard, E.M., 1911. Oversigt over naturlige bygningssten anvendte i Kobenhavn. Meddelelser fra Dansk Geologisk Forening 3(4):549-598.

Ribes Stifts-Tidene, 1894a. Fra Udgravningen ved Kirken. Ribes Stifts-Tidene (217), September 19, 1894.

Ribes Stifts-Tidene, 1894b. Domkirkens Restaurering. Ribes Stifts-Tidene (230), Oktober 4, 1894. Von Fisenne, 0., 1991. Dom aus Laacher Tuffstein in der dánischen Kleinstadt Ribe - enge

Beziehungen zu Andernach. Heimat zwischen Hunsr0ck und Eifel 39(5):3-4. Von Fisenne, 0., 1992. Die Handelsbeziehungen des Laacher-See-Gebietes mit der dánischen

Bischofsstadt Ribe im Mittelalter. Eifeljahrbuch 1992:94-97.

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