King Oscar II Chapel ( no, Kong Oscar IIs kapell) 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 in

Sør-Varanger Municipality Sør-Varanger ( sme, Máttá-Várjjat, fkv, Etelä-Varenki, fi, Etelä-Varanki, russian: Сёр-Вара́нгер/Syor-Varánger) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town ...

Troms og Finnmark Troms og Finnmark (; sme, Romsa ja Finnmárku ; fkv, Tromssa ja Finmarkku; fi, Tromssa ja Finnmark, lit. Troms and Finnmark in English), is a county in northern Norway that was established on 1 January 2020 as the result of a regional reform. ...

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 the ...

. It is located near the village of

Grense Jakobselv ( Skolt Sami: Vue'rjemjokk sme, Vuorjánjohka fi, Vuoremijoki and russian: Гренсе Якобсэльв) is a small village in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is located on the shore of the Barents Sea at ...

, about from the

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

with

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. It is one of the churches for the Sør-Varanger

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 o ...

which is part of the Varanger prosti ( deanery) in the

Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland Nord-Hålogaland ( no, Nord-Hålogaland bispedømme) is a diocese in the Church of Norway. It covers the Church of Norway churches in Troms og Finnmark county as well as in the territory of Svalbard. The diocese is seated in the city of Trom ...

. The stone church was built in a long church style in 1869 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 ...

Jacob Wilhelm Nordan Jacob Wilhelm Nordan (23 February 1824 – 11 April 1892) was a Danish-born, Norwegian architect. During his career, he was one of the most prolific church architects in Norway. Biography Nordan was born in Copenhagen, Denmark and came to Norw ...

(1824–1892). The church seats about 72 people.

History

In 1851, the Norwegian settlement in the

area had a strong desire to have its own chapel. However, it was politics that would accelerate the work of construction. In 1826, the demarcation of the

Norway–Russia border The border between Norway and Russia ( no, Russergrensen / Russergrensa, russian: Российско-норвежская граница, ''Rossiysko-Norvezhskaya Granitsa'') consists of a land border between Sør-Varanger, Norway, and Pech ...

was completed. However, there were still disagreements between the Norwegian authorities and Russian fishermen on the national border (the Jakobselva river) after that time. After reporting several harsh confrontations between Norwegian and Russian fishermen, the County Governor of Finnmark wanted to let a naval ship from the

Royal Norwegian Navy The Royal Norwegian Navy ( no, Sjøforsvaret, , Sea defence) is the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for naval operations of Norway. , the Royal Norwegian Navy consists of approximately 3,700 personnel (9,450 in mobilized state, ...

to undertake fisheries surveillance during the months with the heaviest fishing. The Interior Ministry wanted an independent investigation of the circumstances and sent Lieutenant Commander Georg Heyerdahl (1798–1853) north to familiarize themselves with the case. Heyerdahl did not share the county Governor's views on which solution. He proposed instead to erect a chapel at Grense Jakobselv. A Lutheran chapel would be an indisputable boundary marking, such as the

Russian Orthodox Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most ...

chapel in

Boris Gleb Borisoglebsky or Boris Gleb (russian: Борисоглебский; fi, Kolttaköngäs; no, Skoltfossen) is a rural locality (a ''Posyolok'') in Pechengsky District of Murmansk Oblast, Russia. The village is located beyond the Arctic circle, a ...

that had been used for border demarcation in 1826. In 1865 it was decided to build a chapel and parsonage at the border. In the summer of 1869, the new chapel was built and on 26 September the same year, the chapel was consecrated by

Waldemar Hvoslef Waldemar Hvoslef (17 March 1825 – 5 May 1906) was a Norwegian Lutheran bishop. Fredrik Waldemar Hvoslef was born in Christiania (now Oslo) and grew up in Holmestrand in Vestfold. He was the son of Jens Hvoslef (1783–1830) who served as Magis ...

(1825–1906), Bishop of the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

Name

In 1873, King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway visited the chapel, and to commemorate this visit, he bestowed this chapel with a marble slab with the bilingual inscriptions: ' (

Norwegian language Norwegian ( no, norsk, links=no ) is a North Germanic language spoken mainly in Norway, where it is an official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regio ...

) and ' (

Northern Sami language Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

) which means ''"King Oscar II heard the words of God here on the 4th of July 1873"''. At the same time, he expressed a desire to name the chapel after himself, and so the members of the congregation made a name plate for him that still hangs over the door.

Media gallery

King Oscar II Chapel, Grense Jakobselv, Norway.jpg, Kong Oscar IIs kapell-2012-07-06-15-45-09.jpg, Kong Oscar II's kapell sett fra den lille kirkegården.JPG, Kong Oscar II's kapell.JPG, Hans Majestæt kong Oscar II.'s Reise i Nordland og Finmarken Aar 1873 - no-nb digibok 2012091708091-141.jpg, Oscar II kapell, Finnmark - Riksantikvaren-T456 01 0004.jpg, La chapelle du roi Oscar II à Grense Jakobselv en Norvège.jpg,

References

External links

{{use dmy dates, date=February 2021 Sør-Varanger Churches in Finnmark Stone churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1869 1869 establishments in Norway Long churches in Norway

History

Name

Media gallery

See also

References

External links