A church was built here in around 1150, but it only stood for about 100 years. It was replaced by a larger church, known as the Church of Our Lady. The plan was that the church would accommodate more functions, and was therefore larger than most provincial churches.
The church in Haderslev came under the bishop of Schleswig, but from the 1260s, functioned as a “branch cathedral” for the northern part of diocese. The priests, here called canons, were in charge of all the church matters, supervised the parish priests, and trained young men who would later could go into the service of the church.
When Duke Christian, later King Christian III, was given control of Haderslev and Tørning county from 1525, the Church of Our Lady took on a central role in the Reformation. A supporter of Martin Luther’s new doctrine, he converted the Church of our Lady into a Protestant church. In 1528, Duke Christian issued the so-called “Haderslev articles”, a set of rules for how church services should take place from then on, and how the priests should look after their office.
In 1920, the border between Denmark and Germany moved from Kongeåen to Kruså, separating a large section of Southern Jutland from the cathedral in Schleswig. The Church of Our Lady became the cathedral of the new diocese. The first bishop of Haderslev took up office in 1923.