9 kmSikringsstilling Nord
Traces of World War I in the landscape; good background on the borderland and marsh region.
Ballum Church is located at Vesterende 31B in Ballum Vesterende. Ballum is not one single village, but several scattered settlements, and here the church stands as the focal point in the dense part of the built-up area. What makes it special is not only the church, but the space around it: the street, the houses, the churchyard wall and the tower lie so close together that the village almost encloses the churchyard.
Inside the church, the apse is the obvious place to look. Here you will find late Romanesque wall paintings with Christ in mandorla, symbols of the evangelists and several figures. The paintings are only partly preserved and heavily repainted, but they are considered important traces in the transition from Romanesque to Gothic times. The church also contains Romanesque building elements and later additions, so several building phases can be read in a single building.
Vesterende Ballum lies at the transition between Hjerpsted Bakkeø and Ballum Marsh. The church tower serves as a clear landmark in the open landscape, and from the area there are views over Ballum Enge and toward the Wadden Sea, Rømø and Sylt. South of the church lies the former courthouse, later used as a school and mission house, adding yet another layer to the small, tightly knit cultural-historical whole.