Kragerø Church ( no, Kragerø 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 ...

Kragerø Municipality Kragerø () is a town and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional regions of Grenland and the smaller Vestmar. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kragerø. The city of Kragerø ...

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 ...

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 town of Kragerø. It is the church for the Kragerø

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 Bamble 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 Agder og Telemark The Diocese of Agder og Telemark ( no, Agder og Telemark bispedømme) is a diocese of the Church of Norway, covering all of Agder county and most of Vestfold og Telemark county in Norway. The cathedral city is Kristiansand, Norway's fifth larges ...

. The yellow, 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 1870 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 ...

Georg Andreas Bull Georg Andreas Bull (26 March 1829 – 1 February 1917) was a Norwegian architect and chief building inspector in Christiania (now Oslo) for forty years. He was among the major architects in the country, and performed surveying studies and arche ...

. The church seats about 700 people.

History

Kragerø was originally part of the Sannidal Church parish, but the road there was not good. In 1651, the people of Kragerø requested to build their own church in the village (which at that time was a small place with about 300 inhabitants). The new church was built using private, collected funds that were donated by the local people. The new building 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 1 November 1652, and it was called "Christ Church" ( no, Christi kirke). It was a

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described ...

church that was somewhat similar to the nearby Sannidal Church. In 1666, Kragerø was granted

kjøpstad A (historically: ''kjøbstad'', ''kjöbstad'', or ''kaupstad'') is an old Scandinavian term for a "market town" that was used in the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway for several hundred years. The name comes from the on, kaupstaðr. Kjøpstads were ...

(town) status which led to a growth in population over the next century or so. In 1785, a new bell tower was built on the church. By the 1860s, the town of Kragerø had grown to a population was nearing 5,000 people, so the church was no longer large enough for the parish. The new church was built a little to the east of the old church yard after some other buildings were torn down. The new church was designed by

. On 23 September 1870, it was consecrated by Bishop

Jacob von der Lippe Jacob von der Lippe (27 September 1797–2 October 1878) was a Norwegian politician and priest who served as Bishop of the Diocese of Agder og Telemark, Diocese of Christianssand from 1841 to 1875. He was also a member of the Parliament of ...

. The new building is a

built out of yellow-colored brick. The church is located on an embankment and is clearly visible from the sea, particularly noticeable are the large bell tower and the two small towers by the

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

. The choir is surrounded by

vestries A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquially ...

. At the dedication, the church had room for approximately 800 people. This was too small, and it is said that the architect reluctantly agreed to design second floor seating galleries for the church, so that the capacity was increased by 300 to 1,100 seats in 1878. For the church's 125th anniversary in 1995, the galleries were removed, except the organ gallery in the back of the church. Throughout the church's history, there have been quite a few problems with the brick, which has not withstood the climate very well. It has been necessary to replace parts of the facade over the years.

Media gallery

130720086502 metodistk og kragerø kirke.jpg Krageroe church.jpg Kragerø kirke - an10071202160001.jpg Kragerø kirke - an10071202160002.jpg Kragerø - Kirken og Fjorden, 5. mai 1902, Anders Beer Wilse, NF.W 01018.jpg Kragerø stasjon 2.jpeg Kragerø kirkes kor.jpg No-nb digibok 2014091028002 0085 1.jpg, Painting of the old church (1652-1870)

References

{{use dmy dates, date=December 2022 Kragerø Churches in Telemark Long churches in Norway Brick churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1870 1652 establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References