The Holy Source (Helligkilde), Thyholm

An ancient spring in the Thyholm landscape

The Holy Source, or Helligkilde, lies modestly in the fields south-east of Hvidbjerg, where the Limfjord landscape folds into low hills and sheltering trees. A steady flow of clear, cold water rises straight from the ground, collecting in a small basin before trickling away along a narrow channel. Even in dry summers the spring keeps running, which has long fed its aura of something quietly extraordinary. Though the setting today feels intimate and rural, this small spring once mattered greatly to the people of Thyholm. It provided reliable water in a landscape where wells could run low, and its position close to old routes across the peninsula made it a natural place for travellers and locals to pause. Standing here, with birds rustling in the hedgerows and the soft sound of water, it is easy to imagine it as a timeless pause-point between villages and fjord.

From medieval mention to modern restoration

The Holy Source is first recorded in written sources in the 14th century, but its origins almost certainly stretch much further back. Archaeologists and historians generally view such springs as places that may have been used since the earliest post–Ice Age settlements, when hunters and fishers followed the retreating ice into what would become Denmark. Centuries later, as Christianity spread through Jutland, many of these already revered springs were quietly folded into the new religious landscape. In 1976 the site was carefully restored. Stone edging was laid to frame the spring, a modest access path was created, and the surroundings were tidied without losing their natural character. The result is neither an overdeveloped attraction nor a forgotten corner, but something in between: a simple, respectful arrangement that allows you to read the landscape while still reaching the water’s edge with dry feet.

Legends, healing water and quiet devotion

Like many holy springs across Denmark, Helligkilde has accumulated stories. Over the centuries people came here to collect water they believed could help with sickness, bring protection to livestock, or simply carry a blessing back home. While written evidence is sparse, tradition suggests that visits were especially common around religious feast days and midsummer, when folk beliefs and church customs intertwined. Some tales speak of offerings once left by the water’s edge, small tokens slipped between stones or cast into the outflow as a way of seeking favour. Whether or not you give credence to such legends, the sense of continuity is striking: the same source that filled wooden buckets for medieval farmers still rises unbroken at your feet today. For many visitors, that unbroken line of use is the spring’s real "magic".

Experiencing the spring today

A visit to The Holy Source is an unhurried, sensory experience. You follow a short path between fields and scrub, hearing the muffled sounds of the countryside fade into the background. The cool air around the basin is often a degree or two lower than the surrounding fields, and in damp weather you may notice the earthy scent of wet soil and moss. The water itself is strikingly clear, revealing pebbles and sand where it bubbles up. There is no elaborate visitor centre or heavy signage here, just a few simple features and the gentle murmur of the source. Many people choose to sit for a while on the nearby bank, using the spring as a natural pause during a wider exploration of Thyholm. It works well as part of a day that also takes in churches, coastal viewpoints and small local museums around the peninsula.

A small stop on a wider Limfjord journey

While The Holy Source is a compact site, it fits neatly into the broader story of the Limfjord region. Thyholm is dotted with traces of past lives – burial mounds, farmsteads, small churches and old ferry crossings – and the spring belongs to this network of quiet historical markers. It offers a different kind of highlight: not a panoramic vista, but a close-up encounter with the ground itself and the water rising from it. For travellers interested in cultural landscapes, the spring adds a subtle but satisfying layer to an itinerary. It underlines how even a modest corner by a country road can hold centuries of meaning, and how nature and belief continue to meet in understated ways in rural Denmark. You leave with little more than the memory of cold water and birdsong, yet the place tends to linger in the mind long after the path has faded behind you.