Daugbjerg is a village in Daugbjerg parish in Fjends herred. The town is especially known for the nearby Daugbjerg Limestone Groups and the associated legends about Jens Langkniv and the nearby Daugbjerg Dås. For those interested in history, there is also the opportunity to visit the restored watermill and Daugbjerg mini village.
History of Daugbjerg
There is evidence of permanent settlement in the town from around the year 400, when the town was located about a kilometer west of the church at the Kærgaard farm. The town’s main industry at the time seems to have been textile production, and the inhabitants of Daugbjerg used the depression to build many wells that were used to dye the textiles.
Over time, the town moved a little to the west, closer to the limestone quarry in Dybdalen just north of the town, and is certain to have been established from around 1100 when the stone church was built. However, there was probably a wooden church on the hill earlier.
Since the lime mines opened and until they closed in 1872, some of the town’s inhabitants worked in the quarrying of lime, which was used in church building and whitening in many parts of Denmark. The mine and the forest in which it is located were later rediscovered and the area was protected.
The fire
On the night between April 20 and 21, 1791, a fire broke out and burned down a large part of the town. In total, 8 farms, 5 houses and 2 barns burned down. This obviously put a financial strain on the town in a time without insurance and its equal. However, those affected seem to have temporarily escaped paying taxes, but that was only a very limited consolation. A fire of that size obviously left its mark on the poor town, and you can see how the fire and legends have been linked in collected folk tales.
Several legends in folklore came to be associated with this fire. Firstly, the stories about the opening of Daugbjerg Dås, where, according to the legends, a treasure is buried there by the mountain men. People trying to see the sight of the town on fire or the threat of it is an integral part of how the story is told. Likewise, there is the story of “Sølle-Jens”. Sølle-Jens was supposed to have been a changeling (i.e. a person exchanged for one of the mountain men from Daugbjerg Dås). The actual replacement was told as a result of the fire where Jens disappeared and only returned several years later.
Points of interest in the city
Daugbjerg Church: A village church built around 1100, the tower built between 1400 and 1500.
Mini village: A faithful copy of Daugbjerg as it looked before the fire in 1791. Consists of 150 buildings in the ratio 1:10
Water mill: Mill that has existed at least since 1611, driving its wheel through Jordbro Å. The mill functioned for a time as a power producer for the town. Discontinued as a mill in 1950, but is today restored.
Daugbjerg Dås: Protected dead ice hill, which is associated with many legends. In recent times it was used as a gathering point for popular and political meetings.
Assembly hall: Originally built in 1908
Disused institutions
School: Discontinued in connection with the new central school in Mønsted 1963
Dairy: Established in 1906 as a private dairy, became a cooperative dairy in 1921
Sources
- Danish legends: Evald Tang Kristensen
- Kærgård, Daugbjerg – A village with textile production from the Late Iron Age: Mette Klingenberg and Kamilla Fiedler Terkildsen
- Skivebogen 1911 : historical yearbook for Skive and surroundings
- Trap Danmark 5: Daugbjerg parish