Kannikegården i Ribe - award-winning architecture

Kannikegården (Lundgaard and Tranberg 2016) is beautiful and modern award-winning architecture on the cathedral square in Denmark's oldest city, Ribe. The building also contains remains of probably Denmark's oldest brick building and Denmark's first cemetery.

In the period autumn 2014 - winter 2016, Kannikegården was closed Ribe Domsogn's Parish Council built as a parish house and as a framework for ecclesiastical offices in Ribe.

The building was designed by the architectural firm Lundgaaard & Tranberg, Copenhagen, which won the task at a competition in 2012. The building houses a cemetery administration, choir office, provost administration and offices for priests and organists in the city's two parishes. On the 2nd floor there is a hall which is used for concerts, meetings and lectures.

In the "basement" of the building, there are remains of a dining hall (refectory) of a former convent. The monastery burned down in 1176, and the ruin is considered to be one of the oldest brick buildings in Denmark.

Kannikegården is predominantly built of concrete, steel, glass and brick. The tile that characterizes the building is in a special format (34 x 70 cm) and manufactured by Petersen Tegl at Nybøl Nor. The clay is hard burnt and of English origin. The medieval remains of the processional corridor are built together with the new house.

Behind Kannikegården there is a garden, which with terraces leads down to the base of the ruin, which can be seen through glass walls. From here you can move around the building and feel the tremendous thickness of the cultural layers on site. 

In the years 2008/2009 and 2011/2012, archaeological investigations were carried out of the entire now built-up area, where the probably oldest Christian burials in Denmark (the 890s) as well as the preserved ruin were extracted, in addition a fragment of a rune stone and about 100.000 loose objects.

The work on the building has been placed in the hands of the company Jorton as a main contractor with 9 subcontractors.

The building is financed with the fire compensation, loans in the diocesan funds and foundation support.

The ruin and garden section is financed with support from the Realdania foundation.

The First Christians - Denmark's oldest Christian cemetery

In the summer of 2021, it became possible to get all the way down to the ruin. At the same time you can see where graves have been found and you can explore even more via touch screens in history.

Kannikegården can be visited on organized, guided tours. The ruin can also be viewed with a guide, where you get inside the glass and look down on the ruin. Contact +45 75 42 03 50 or anms@km.dk

Updated by: Wadden Sea Coast | info@vadehavskysten.dk