With needle and thread, The Queen has crafted a new antependium for the Castle Church in Wittenberg. The antependium was created with the embroidery technique petit point, in which fine details appear diagonally by means of half cross-stitching.

“I sew diagonally all of the time – that provides the nicest background. It becomes like a surface. It was something my mother taught me,” The Queen told the daily newspaper Politiken in an interview done in connection with the unveiling of the new antependium.

By request from the Castle Church in Wittenberg The Queen had agreed to undertake the construction of an antependium to the Castle Church in connection with its reopening, which has taken place to mark that, in 2017, it has been 500 years since the reformer Martin Luther nailed 95 theses up on the church’s door. That was the beginning of The Reformation, which reshaped large parts of Northern Europe, both religiously and politically. Denmark officially affiliated itself with The Reformation in October 1536 and, with this, the Danish church became Lutheran.

The luther rose

From now on, the antependium will be used during Christmas, Whitsuntide and special events at the Castle Church in Wittenberg.

As the recurring motif, The Queen has chosen the Luther rose, which was created by Martin Luther in his time.

In Kristeligt Dagblad, The Queen put the ideas behind the design of the antependium into words: “I thought it was very obvious to use the Luther Rose as the central motif. The Luther Rose is mounted over the door of the house where he lived in Wittenberg. It is the white rose with five petals, which is typical of the stylized rose of The Middle Ages, and in the middle is a black cross on a red heart. The rose is very central in Christian symbolism.”

The Queen has used more than 500 hours filling in the altar cloth with the “small stitches”.

The living connection

The Castle Church in Wittenberg was reopened after the restoration on 2 October 2016. At the celebratory church service the same day, the new antependium was unveiled with the participation of, among others, The Queen. The red cloth with the flames and the Luther rose in the middle formed the backdrop when The Queen, shortly after the unveiling, spoke in the historic Castle Church:  

“We have, in Denmark and in the Danish church, reason to be thankful for the Reformation period’s close connections between Wittenberg and Denmark. I am glad that this connection is also alive today.”

In 2017, this connection is marked by the Reformation Jubilee, for which The Queen serves as patron.