Grimstad Church ( no, Grimstad kirke) is a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...

Grimstad Municipality Grimstad () is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It belongs to the geographical region of Sørlandet. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of Grimstad. Some of the villages in Grimstad include Eide, Espenes, Fevik, ...

Agder Agder is a county (''fylke'') and traditional region in the southern part of Norway. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder counties were merged. Since the early 1900s, the term Sørlandet ("south ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. It is located in the town of

Grimstad Grimstad () is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It belongs to the geographical region of Sørlandet. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of Grimstad. Some of the villages in Grimstad include Eide, Espenes, Fevik, ...

. It is the church for the Grimstad

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

which is part of the

Vest-Nedenes prosti This list of churches in Agder og Telemark is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark in Agder and Vestfold og Telemark counties in southern Norway. The diocese is based at the Kristiansand Cathedral in the cit ...

(

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

) in the

Diocese of Agder og Telemark The Diocese of Agder og Telemark ( no, Agder og Telemark bispedømme) is a diocese of the Church of Norway, covering all of Agder county and most of Vestfold og Telemark county in Norway. The cathedral city is Kristiansand, Norway's fifth larges ...

. The large, green, wooden church was built in a

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described ...

design in 1881 using plans drawn up by the

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Henrik Thrap-Meyer Henrik Thrap-Meyer (31 July 1833 – 29 December 1910) was a Norwegian architect. He is most associated with a wide range of significant buildings, including churches and schools. Thrap-Meyer was born in Bergen, Norway. He was the son of Jo ...

. The church seats about 1,000 people, making it one of the largest wooden churches in Norway.

History

The first church in the growing town of Grimstad was built in 1849 on a prominent hill overlooking the harbour. The new church was

consecrate Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

d on 2 December 1849. The church was designed by the architect

Wilhelm Hanstein Wilhelm Hanstein (3 August 1811 in Berlin – 14 October 1850 in Magdeburg) was a German chess player and writer. Hanstein was one of the Berlin Pleiades. He helped found ''Berliner Schachzeitung'', later to become ''Deutsche Schachzeitung''. H ...

. The church was not very large, so it was quickly outgrown by the town. There was also a cemetery surrounding the church, but just like the original church, it quickly filled up and it is no longer used. A new cemetery was opened in Frivoll in 1872 and it has been in use since that time. In 1881, the church building was disassembled and moved to the nearby parish of Nedenes and it was rebuilt to become the

Engene Church Engene Church ( no, Engene kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Arendal Municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the village of Nedenes. It is one of the churches for the Øyestad parish which is part of the Arendal ...

(in present-day

Arendal Arendal () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county in southeastern Norway. Arendal belongs to the Districts of Norway, region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the munici ...

). After the old church was taken away, a new, much larger church was built in Grimstad and it was

d on 7 April 1881. The new church was quite large, making it the third largest wooden church in Norway (after

Mandal Church Mandal Church ( no, Mandal kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Lindesnes Municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the town of Mandal. It is one of the two churches for the Mandal parish which is part of the Lister ...

and

Vågan Church Vågan Church ( no, Vågan kirke; nickname: ''Lofoten Cathedral'') is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Vågan Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Kabelvåg on the island of Austvågøya. It is the ...

). Originally, the church was said to seat 1,150 but with today's fire codes, it is now said to seat up to 1,000 people. This was the first Neo-Gothic church in Norway to have its exterior paint examined in the 1960s. After discovering the original colors, the parish had the church repainted to its original colors of a light green with contrasting trim painted in yellow and red

ochre Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...

Media gallery

Grimstad church.jpg Grimstad kirke T194 01 0121.jpg Grimstad, Kirken fra Møllerhejen, ca. 1902 - no-nb digifoto 20140407 00023 bldsa FA0148.jpg Grimstad kirke 1 T192 01 0086.jpg, Grimstad's first church (1849-1881)

References

{{use dmy dates, date=January 2021 Grimstad Churches in Agder Wooden churches in Norway Cruciform churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1881 1849 establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References