Køge, Saint Nicholas Church

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Market town church in Køge

Saint Nicholas Church in the heart of Køge is a late Gothic brick church from about 1400. The church is named after Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of travellers. It is also called Køge Church and closely resembles many market town churches around the Baltic Sea. The tower functioned as a fortification and lighthouse. Look up at the very top of the east wall of the tower and you'll see a small ledge that held a lantern in the days when the church tower was used as a lighthouse. The belfry holds five 15th and 16th century bells.

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Witches try a wee bit of magic

Story written by Peter Pentz

Time / Periode 1400

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Saint Nicholas Church got a new font in 1613 thanks to a rather dramatic story. In 1612, the merchant's house on the corner of Køge Square and Nørregade was haunted by magic. It appeared that several of the town's women were practising magic. One was a woman called Mette Banghors. She admitted that she and her friend, Johanne Thommes, had conjured up the devil in the form of a rat. They had also enticed a poor lame servant girl called Kirsten Lauridsdatter to wee in the church font. The witches had promised her she would be cured and would get ten feet of homespun cloth if she did as they asked. During the subsequent interrogations, the two friends named at least ten accomplices – women who were also burned at the stake. One of them was Kirsten the cripple. The sullied font is now housed at Køge Museum and stands in the Chapel of our Lady.