Hof Church ( no, Hof kirke) is a parish church 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 ...

in Holmestrand Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the village of Hof. It is one of the churches for the "Hof, Vassås og Eidsfoss" parish which is part of the Nord-Jarlsberg prosti (

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 Tunsberg. The white, stone 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 around the year 110 using plans drawn up by an unknown architect. The church seats about 210 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1367, but the church was not built that year. The church was likely built in the second half of the 12th century. The building originally included a nave and chancel, which are both made of stone (with timber-framed gables). In 1662, a stone

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is usually located ...

was built on the east end of the chancel. At some point, a church porch was added to the west end of the nave. Like other churches in the area, this one was owned by the Count of Jarlsberg from 1673 until it was sold to the parish in 1765 for 900 rigsdaler. In 1814, this church served as an election church ( no, valgkirke). Together with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it was a polling station for elections to the 1814

Norwegian Constituent Assembly The Norwegian Constituent Assembly (in Norwegian ''Grunnlovsforsamlingen'', also known as ''Riksforsamlingen'') is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly at Eidsvoll in Norway, that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised th ...

which wrote the

Constitution of Norway nb, Kongeriket Norges Grunnlov nn, Kongeriket Noregs Grunnlov , jurisdiction =Kingdom of Norway , date_created =10 April - 16 May 1814 , date_ratified =16 May 1814 , system =Constitutional monarchy , b ...

. This was Norway's first national elections. Each church parish was a constituency that elected people called "electors" who later met together in each county to elect the representatives for the assembly that was to meet in Eidsvoll later that year. In 1815, the old church porch was replaced with a new one. In 1958, the church porch was torn down and a new wooden one was built in its place.

Media gallery

Hof kirke i Hof.jpg Hof kirke Vestfold 02.jpg HOF KIRKE - an10071112073001.jpg Hof kirke Vestfold 01.jpg

References

{{Authority control Holmestrand Churches in Vestfold Long churches in Norway Stone churches in Norway 12th-century churches in Norway 12th-century establishments in Norway Norwegian election church

History

Media gallery

See also

References