Our Rick Steves' European Tour – June 2019
Post-Tour – Jutland, Denmark
At the tour's end, we flew to Aalborg, Denmark, and drove south in search of Gary's family roots near the town of Rold. Yes, Gary's last name is Rold!
Family lore said that when Gary's Great Grandfather Rold immigrated to the U.S., his name was Jensen, but there were too many Jensens in Iowa, so he changed his last name to Rold after the town and forest he had left behind.
Great Grandfather was one of the founding members of the Danish Baptist Church in Cuppies Grove, Iowa. We decided to visit the churches in the region and explore the graveyards. There was only one Baptist church, in the town of Vaarst. The Lutheran churches were all painted white and looked very similar.
The Danish churches and cemeteries were immaculately preserved and groomed by family and church members. We met a couple of ladies who were tending to the cemetery gardens. They explained that untended graves were reused, and their gravestones were laid off to the side.
Google Map of our Route from
Aalborg to Rold
The beauty of the green farmland made it easy to see why, four generations ago, Great Grandfather settled in Iowa.
Our next goal was to find Rold Skov (the Rold Forest). The forest is located in Rebild Bakker National Park – part of which was land donated to Denmark by Americans of Danish ancestry. Historically, Rold Skov was the place where travelers fell prey to the local bandits. Who knows where the Jensen ancestors fit into this picture!
We found Rold Skov, and Gary had his walk in the forest!
Emerging from the forest, we continued our hike through beautiful rolling grassland.
While we didn't find the ancestral gravesites or, thankfully, any bandits, we were so happy that we took the time to visit this beautiful part of Denmark!