Horten Church ( no, Horten 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 ...

Horten Municipality is a town and municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway—located along the Oslofjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Horten. The municipality also includes the town of Åsgårdstrand a ...

in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the town of Horten. It is one of the churches for the Horten 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 red brick 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 1855 using plans drawn up by the architect Christian Heinrich Grosch. The church seats about 750 people.

History

The church was built by the Royal Norwegian Navy as a

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

church for the Karljohansvern naval station (the town of Horten grew up around the naval base). The church was designed by Christian Heinrich Grosch in 1852. Construction began in 1853 and the completed church was

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 22 August 1855. Present at the consecration were both King Oscar I, Crown Prince Karl (the future king), and his brother Oscar (another future king). It is a

constructed out of brick. If the church had transepts in front of the choir, we would have called it a three-nave basilica. The church has a west tower with stairwells on both sides. The tower can be said to consist of two parts, of which the lower one is the strongest and is supported by buttresses. There is a large

lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural element are typical of Gothic church edifices of the earliest period. Lancet wi ...

over the west door. The nave has stair gables with blind niches in several levels. Originally there were 950 seats, but this has since been reduced to around 750 due to modern fire codes. If standing places are used, however, probably a thousand people walk through the doors on special occasions.

Media gallery

Garnisonskirken på Karljohansvern, Horten, med den gamle klokken fra Horten Verft i forgrunnen.jpg Horten Karljohansvern IMG 3594 Horten kirke rk 84635.JPG Horten kirke (136083321).jpg Horten kirke. F.M.14. - no-nb digifoto 20160511 00188 NB NKF P 02 C 001.jpg

References

{{use dmy dates, date=February 2024 Horten Churches in Vestfold Long churches in Norway Brick churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1855 1855 establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References