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votive ship

Illustration — Votive ship in Nexø Church on the island of Bornholm, Denmark A votive ship, sometimes called a church ship, is a ship model displayed in a church. Votive ships are relatively common in churches in the Nordic countries Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland, as well as on Åland and Faroe Islands, but are known also to exist in Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain. The practice of displaying model ships in churches stems from the Middle Ages and appears to have been known throughout Christian Europe, in both Catholic and Lutheran countries.

Also recorded as ship model in church · church ship

votive ship

Dom zu Århus: Votivschiff Unity von 1720, gebaut in Holland als Modell (statt Zeichnung) für Kriegsschiffe an Zar Peter den Großen. Es ist das größte Votivschiff einer dänischen Kirche.

Jürgen Howaldt · Self-photographed · CC BY-SA 3.0 de

Field
ship model · ex-voto · liturgical furniture · votive model

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Illustration — Votive ship in Nexø Church on the island of Bornholm, Denmark A votive ship, sometimes called a church ship, is a ship model displayed in a church. Votive ships are relatively common in churches in the Nordic countries Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland, as well as on Åland and Faroe Islands, but are known also to exist in Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain. The practice of displaying model ships in churches stems from the Middle Ages and appears to have been known throughout Christian Europe, in both Catholic and Lutheran countries.

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wikipedia incomplete · checked 25 September 2026

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In this article

  1. 01Origins and development
  2. 02Notes, references and evidence

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