The Life and Afterlives of Bishop Fredrik Nielsen (1845–1907):Social Functions of Church History at the Fin de Siècle

In 1907 Bishop Fredrik Nielsen of Aarhus passed away. He was an early advocate for the foundation of a university in the intrepid city of Aarhus which had recently become Denmark’s second-largest. A former professor of church history at the University of Copen- hagen, Nielsen interpreted the contemporary Lutheran church in Denmark, and his own office, in the light of the history of Christianity. His death and no less than two funeral services sparked an academic and cultural discussion on the nature and task of church history which was also present in the bishop-professor’s own oeuvre. This article cracks the coded messages inherent in that discussion. Nielsen’s death and its codings offer an insight into the social functions of church history at the turn of the twentieth century. While Fredrik Nielsen’s understanding of the church historical endeavor is a product of times long gone, it is fair to say that Aarhus University and its scholarly tradition within the field of church history owes a lot to him.