Grue Finnskog Church ( no, Grue Finnskog 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 ...

Grue Municipality Grue is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Solør. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Kirkenær. Other villages in the municipality include Bergesida, Grinder, ...

Innlandet Innlandet is a county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (the municipalities of Jevnaker and Lunner were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken on the same date). The ...

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 village of

Svullrya Svullrya is a village in Grue Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located in the Finnskogen area, between the lakes Røgden and Skasen. The village is regionally important as a hub of the Finnskogen culture. The Grue Finn ...

. It is the church for the Grue Finnskog

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

Solør, Vinger og Odal prosti The list of churches in Hamar is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Hamar which includes all of Innlandet county (plus two municipalities in Viken county) in Norway. The list is divided into several sections, one for each d ...

(

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 Hamar The Diocese of Hamar ( no, Hamar Bispedømme) is a diocese within the Church of Norway. The Diocese of Hamar includes all of the churches in Innlandet county plus the churches in Lunner in Viken county. Administratively, the diocese is divided ...

. The white, wooden church was built in a

long church Church building in Norway began when Christianity was established there around the year 1000. The first buildings may have been post churches erected in the 10th or 11th century, but the evidence is inconclusive. For instance under Urnes Stave C ...

design in 1886 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 ...

Niels Stockfleth Darre Eckhoff Niels Stockfleth Darre Eckhoff (5 January 1831 – 26 September 1914) was a Norway, Norwegian architect. He was born in Trondheim, Throndhjem as the son of Christian Martin Eckhoff and his wife Nicoline Johanne Luytkis. He married Nicoline Oti ...

and it was significantly rebuilt in 1950 by the architect Ola B. Aasness. The church seats about 340 people.

History

A cemetery was built in the village of

in 1854 to serve the eastern part of the municipality. In 1862, a small church was built at the cemetery. The building was constructed by Brede Bredesen Kolstad from

Kongsvinger Kongsvinger () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Glåmdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kongsvinger. Other settlements in the municipality include Aust ...

who used drawings by the

Jacob Wilhelm Nordan. The building had seating for about 200 people. The church had no tower, and it is said that the small church bell hung between two pillars outside the church door. This church was built in 1862 and

consecrated 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 ...

on 4 March 1863. In 1883, it was decided to demolish this church and replace it with a new one. The new church was designed by

and the builder was Günther Schüssler. This building had a neo-Gothic design and it was a

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

with seating for about 430 people. This new church was

on 8 December 1886. On 28 January 1948, the roof of the church collapsed under the weight of the snow. The church tower and the western part of the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

remained, but the rest of the building was severely damaged. Some of the interior furnishings were saved. The church was rebuilt soon after using designs by the architect Ola B. Aasness. The lead builder was Kåre B. Bråten. The newly rebuilt church was

on 26 November 1950. This new church has 340 seats.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=December 2021 Grue, Norway Churches in Innlandet Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 20th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1950 1862 establishments in Norway

History

See also

References