The island of Bornholm and land of my Danish heritage

Gudhjem is a small fishing village on the northern coast. Its population as of 2010
is about 750. It has gained distinction for its smoked herrings produced in the
ubiquitous smokehouses around town.

It is also home to Denmark's largest windmill and to the Olaf Host Museum, a Danish painter of the mid 1900's who spent much of his life and artistic career in Gudhjem.
Ronne is the capital of Bornholm and has a population of around 14,000. It was founded in the 13th century and has increasingly become a tourist destination for countries like Germany, Poland and Sweden.
Though wind technology contributes to Bornholm's energy need, an undersea cable which extends from Sweden provides the majority of the electrical power. The colorful fields of bright yellow are rapeseed which is processed into canola oil.
Remarkable sunsets as this are common for Bornholmers.
A nice place to live
This colorful ship takes its passengers to the tiny island of Christianso and its sister islands of Fredericks and Graesholm which are about 11 miles distant from Bornholm. Graesholm is a bird reserve and the population of about 100 people live on the other two. Many thousands of tourists make the short excursion there each year.
Osterlars Church is one of four famous round churches on Bornholm. They were all built between 1150 and 1250 AD. Originally, they had flat roofs and the steep conical roofs were added centuries later.
There are a number of old windmills on Bornholm which date from the 1800's. A few are quite large and in impressive condition. Whether the picturesque ones or the large modern versions that are situated in groups across the countryside, both have been and are now employed to harness the energy of nature.
It does snow on Bornholm.
Nexo, Bornholm - Note the bright colors which are quite common for buildings and homes. This is the town where my grandfather grew up.

David Alan Kjøller

Bornholm

Laurits Kjøller

The island of Bornholm has, not unexpectedly, a turbulent history, given where it lies in the Baltic Sea. It is considerably closer to Sweden than to Denmark and for that reason alone it was at times under the control of that country.

Aside from the strategic value of Bornholm from past centuries, this fairly small island has evolved from a place whose inhabitants were largely supported by fishing to a place that has become a tourist attraction for many. Because of proximity alone, Bornholm draws tourists from Germany, Sweden, and Poland.

Not until the latter part of my life did I begin to fully understand and appreciate my Danish ancestry.

The name, Kjoller, in numbers, is rare in the US population. After some research based on the 2000 census, there were less than 125 Kjollers in the entire population. The recent 2010 census would presumably increase that number by a small margin.

I am the only David Kjoller in the current population. I know of one other with my name. To my understanding he lives in Denmark.

I have been able to trace Kjoller ancestors back to 1595. My grandfather's parents and their parents ( great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather ) both lived their entire lives, as can be ascertained, on Bornholm.

My grandfather, Laurits Kjoller, was born on this Danish island which lies in the Baltic Sea about 100 miles from the mainland. The small town of Nexo on the Eastern coast of Bornholm was his home. His parents and his grandparents lived their entire lives in Nexo.

Reaching adulthood, Laurits became an apprentice at a post office but this was not to his liking as he moved to Copenhagen where he obtained other work. During an associated strike he returned and voiced his desire to emigrate to America.

With his parents giving their consent, he sailed for America in September of 1888. Arriving in New York as so many would, he was then 20 years of age. Little is known of his time in New York but he found his way to Chicago where he obtained work.

During the period of 1861 to 1914, almost 30 million people emigrated from Europe to the United States. It was a period of unprecedented immigration.

It was there that a pivotal moment would affect the rest of his life. Finding solace, as many do, in religious activity, he would come under the influence of P.C. Trandborg, a noted evangelist-preacher and teacher. Trandborg, had also emigrated from Bornholm and his early religious activity on Bornholm might well have been known by the young Laurits.

If he had other interests for work it was swept away by the desire to do the Lord's work. Most of the next decade would be spent in his education and preparation for the pastorate.

After studying a couple of years with the Trandberg class, he went west to the newly founded Trinity Seminary in Blair, Nebraska. There he pursued his preparatory studies for four years, graduating in 1894.

In Chicago, he had met an attractive young Swedish woman, Hulda Josefine Peterson, who had been raised in Denmark and emigrated to America. They were married on Sept. 2, 1894.

One day short of 50 years later I was born -- David Alan Kjoller.

After their marriage, they made a prolonged visit to Denmark, and after returning the following summer they made their home in Dwight, Ill. until he had to enter the seminary.

His theology training began at Weidner's English Lutheran School and continued at Trinity Seminary in Blair, Nebraska where he graduated in May, 1899. He was ordained June 6, 1899.

He accepted a call from Bethel Church in Dwight subsequent to his ordination. In 1905, they moved to Minneapolis, Minn. ( the birthplace of my father, Joseph E. ) and served Immanuel Church a year when a call came from a new Danish colony, Daneville, near Westby, Mont. and the North Dakota border.

They were to spend a large part of their ministry on three separate periods in this remote place in North Dakota. The first period, from 1906 to 1911, was filled with hardships both physical and spiritual. But joy and devout friendships would sustain them.

Then came a call from the heart of the synod, the congregation in Blair, Nebraska. Pastor Kjoller brought his gospel message and service to college youth, future preachers, and congregation alike.

Blair was the home of Dana College, a small college where my father, Joseph went to school. Blair is about 20 miles from Omaha. My brother also went to school there several decades later. Coincident with my brother's college years, I was living in Omaha.

After six years Pastor Kjoller resigned and returned again to the Westby parish which now consisted of three congregations. He labored there among his beloved ranch farmers six years, 1917-1922, and then accepted a call to the neighboring parish at Dane Valley near Froid, Montana, where he stayed only two years.

At that time, Western Canadian missions in new Danish colonies were on the increase. With that, he accepted a call from Standard, Alberta, serving there for he next five years. Desiring to return to the U.S., Pastor Kjoller accepted a call from Rolfe, Iowa in 1929 and served there until 1935.

Once again, he returned for a third time to the parish in Westby even though they were unable to support a full time pastor. In 1939, when times became better and a full time pastor could be had, he retired among old friends to Blair, Nebraska.