Gustav Adolph Lammers (26 May 1802 – 2 May 1878) was a Norwegian priest,

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 ...

, artist and

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

. He founded the country's first

dissenter A dissenter (from the Latin ''dissentire'', "to disagree") is one who dissents (disagrees) in matters of opinion, belief, etc. Usage in Christianity Dissent from the Anglican church In the social and religious history of England and Wales, and ...

congregation, the first church to officially break away from the Church of Norway.

Biography

Lammers was born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, Denmark. He was the son of Ernst Anton Henrik Lammers (1770–1847) and Seriane Magdalena Hagen (1773–1843). His father was a Generalmajor. From 1818, he was a student of

Hans Linstow Hans Ditlev Franciscus (Frants) von Linstow (4 May 1787 – 10 June 1851) was a Danish/Norwegian architect who designed the Royal Palace in Oslo and much of the surrounding park and the street ''Karl Johans gate''. Background Hans Ditlev Franc ...

at the State Craft and Art Industry School () in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway, which he combined with studies in theology. He took his

examen artium Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1 ...

in 1821 and earned his cand. theol. at the

University of Christiania The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

in 1825. He was a priest at the Hospital Church in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

from 1827 to 1835, during which time he was influenced by

pietist Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christianity, Christian life, including a social concern for ...

and Moravian views and came to know Bishop

Peder Olivarius Bugge Peder Olivarius Bugge (2 December 1764 – 6 December 1849) was a Norwegian priest and politician. He was the bishop of the Diocese of Nidaros from 1804 until 1842. Biography Peder Olivarius Bugge was born at Holt in Nedenes county, Norway. ...

. Lammers was then appointed parish priest in

Bamble Bamble is a municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Langesund. General information Name The Old Norse form of the na ...

. From 1839 to 1844, he was the parliamentary representative at the Storting for the County of Bratsberg (now

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

). He served as the architect of the newly constructed Bamble Church which was built in 1845 in Gothic revival style. He also designed

Hisøy Church Hisøy Church ( no, Hisøy kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Arendal Municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the village of His on the island of Hisøya. It is one of the churches for the Hisøy parish which is ...

in Arendal (1846–1849), Tanum Church in Larvik (1848–1850) and a chapel in

Skien Skien () is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county in Norway. In modern times it is regarded as part of the traditional region of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the ...

(1850). Additionally he designed altarpieces for a number of churches including Bakke Church in Trondheim (1833), Bamble Church (1845), Fiskum Church in

Øvre Eiker Øvre Eiker is a municipality in the traditional and electoral district Buskerud in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Eiker. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hokksund. The old municipal ...

(1866) and Bø Church in

(1866). While studying in Germany, Lammers had a religious experience. Upon returning to Norway, he came into contact with a like-minded family focusing on prayer and the reading of the scriptures. In 1845, the Dissenter Act was passed, allowing Christian church gatherings for services other than those of the Church of Norway. Lammers was ordained head minister () of Christians Church in Skien, but left the Church of Norway in July 1856. Andreas Hauge, son of the more well-known

Hans Nielsen Hauge Hans Nielsen Hauge (3 April 1771 – 29 March 1824) was a 19th-century Norwegian Lutheran lay minister, spiritual leader, business entrepreneur, social reformer and author. He led a noted Pietism revival known as the Haugean movement. Hauge is als ...

, then took over as head minister in Skien. Lammers then started ('the Free Apostolic Christian Congregation'), the first

congregation to break with the Church of Norway. The same year, he also published ('Defense of the Free Apostolic Christian Congregation and its ). Within several years, there were Lammers

free churches A free church is a Christian denomination that is intrinsically separate from government (as opposed to a state church). A free church does not define government policy, and a free church does not accept church theology or policy definitions from ...

and groups in some twenty locations in the country. After members of the new congregation began to practice

rebaptism Rebaptism in Christianity is the baptism of a person who has previously been baptized, usually in association with a denomination that does not recognize the validity of the previous baptism. When a denomination rebaptizes members of another denomi ...

, Lammers returned to the state church in 1860. The congregation was dissolved in 1874. Artistic interests took a greater place in Lammer's life after this. He also published several collections of hymns, including (Skien, 1852). He is buried at in Skien.

Personal life

In 1829, he married Henriette Nicoline Rode (1810–1898), daughter of military officer Hans Henrik Rode. Lammers was the uncle of singer

Thorvald Lammers Thorvald Lammers (15 January 1841 – 8 February 1922) was a Norwegian baritone singer, choral conductor, composer, and biographer. Lammers was born in Modum, and made his stage début in Oslo in 1873. He founded the choir known as ''Korfor ...

Influence

The Mission Covenant Church of Norway considers Lammers one of its founders. Lammers was noted by Henrik Ibsen as an influence for the character of

Brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create ...

in the play of the same name.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lammers, Gustav Adolph 1802 births 1878 deaths Clergy from Copenhagen Oslo National Academy of the Arts alumni University of Oslo alumni 19th-century Norwegian Lutheran clergy 19th-century Norwegian architects Norwegian artists Norwegian male artists Members of the Storting Norwegian ecclesiastical architects