Røros Church or Bergstadens Ziir ( no, Røros 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 ...

Røros Røros ( sma, Plaassja, ) is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Røros. Some of the villages in Røros include Brekken, Glåmos, Feragen, Galåa, and Hitterdalen. The min ...

municipality in

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denma ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, 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 ...

. Located in the town of Røros, it is the main church for the Røros

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 ...

which is part of the

Gauldal prosti This list of churches in Nidaros is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Nidaros which covers all of Trøndelag county in Norway. The list is divided into several sections, one for each deanery in the diocese. Administrati ...

(

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 reside ...

) in the

Diocese of Nidaros Nidaros is a diocese in the Lutheran Church of Norway. It covers Trøndelag county in Central Norway and its cathedral city is Trondheim, which houses the well-known Nidaros Cathedral. Since 10 September 2017, the Bishop of Nidaros is Herborg ...

. The

octagonal In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t ...

, whitewashed stone church was built in 1784 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 ...

Peter Leonard Neumann from

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 ...

. The church seats about 1,600 people, making it the 5th largest church within the

. It is also ranked by

Riksantikvaren The Directorate for Cultural Heritage ( no, Riksantikvaren or ''Direktoratet for kulturminneforvaltning'') is a government agency responsible for the management of cultural heritage in Norway. Subordinate to the Norwegian Ministry of the Enviro ...

as one of the ten most high-profile churches in Norway. Since 1999, Røros Church is known as one of the concert venues of the Norwegian Advent Concert Series.

History

The first church in Røros was built in 1651, not too long after the town was founded in 1644. The mining town is entirely based around the Røros Copper Works. Prior to the founding of the town, the area was part of the

Ålen Church Ålen Church ( no, Ålen kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Holtålen municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the village of Renbygda. It is the church for the Ålen parish which is part of the Gauldal prost ...

parish. The first church was a wooden long church. By the 18th century, the church was in poor condition and planning began for a new, larger church for the growing town. In 1779, the old church was torn down and groundwork began for the new church. The plot of land was laid out by Peter Leonard Neumann from

, who also made the drawings for the building. The new church was located just beside where the old church was located. The stone construction material was slate from Gammelvollia or Sundlia in

Troms Troms (; se, Romsa; fkv, Tromssa; fi, Tromssa) is a former county in northern Norway. On 1 January 2020 it was merged with the neighboring Finnmark county to create the new Troms og Finnmark county. This merger is expected to be reversed by t ...

. The church was consecrated on 15 August 1784 by

Marcus Fredrik Bang Marcus Fredrik Bang (November 1711 – 15 June 1789) was a Danish-Norwegian priest. He was the bishop of the Diocese of Trondhjem from 1773 until 1787. He was born in Næstved, Denmark in 1711 and died in 1789 in Trondheim, Norway. He had his ...

, Bishop of the

. Røros Copper Works paid for the building of the new stone church, and the emblem of the copperworks company was put on all sides of the tower wall. The total cost of the new church was 23,000

Riksdaler The svenska riksdaler () was the name of a Swedish coin first minted in 1604. Between 1777 and 1873, it was the currency of Sweden. The daler, like the dollar,''National Geographic''. June 2002. p. 1. ''Ask Us''. was named after the German Thaler. ...

(if you added up the annual salaries for 425 local miners at that time, that would be equivalent to the cost of the church). The pulpit and

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

were designed by Peder Ellingsen (1725-1803), the lead builder at Røros Copper Works. He was responsible for the furnishing woodwork in the new church. The altarpiece features a painting from 1792 entitled by artist Johan Jørgen Lyng (1756-1793). In 1814, this church served as an

election church An election church ( no, valgkirke) is a term used for approximately 300 churches in Norway that were used as polling stations during the elections to the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll in 1814. This was Norway's first national election ...

( 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 t ...

which wrote the Constitution of Norway. This was Norway's first national elections. Each

church 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 ...

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 Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet. General information ...

later that year. The church underwent a major restoration from 1908–1917 at which time electricity was added. The baptismal font that is currently in the church is from 1913. In 1959, the original colors were restored in the building. There was another restoration from 2008–2010.

Name

The church is named which means "Røros Church", but the church is often locally referred to as which literally means "the mining town's beauty". This is because there is a sign over the entrance to the church that says ''""'' which means "to God's Glory and Bergstaden's beauty." Bergstaden refers to "the mining town" of Røros.

Media gallery

Røros Church (2).jpg, Exterior front Røros preview (8292591687).jpg, Tower view looking over the town Røros kirke (8674294253).jpg, Side and back of the church Røros kirke - Intérieur 03.JPG, Royal box of Røros church Røros kirke side entrance2.jpg, Exterior side entrance Røros kirke tower detail2.jpg, Exterior tower detail Røros kirke chandelier.jpg, Interior chandelier Røros kirke - Intérieur 05.JPG, Altar and pulpit (1784) Røros kirke altar painting.jpg, Altarpiece (1792) Røros kirke baptismal font.jpg, Baptismal font (1913) Røros kyrkje interiør.jpg, Interior view Røros kirke - Intérieur 02.JPG, Ryde & Bergs Opus 99 Organ

References

External links

Røros kirke website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roros Church Røros Churches in Trøndelag Octagonal churches in Norway Stone churches in Norway 18th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1784 1651 establishments in Norway Norwegian election church

History

Name

Media gallery

See also

References

External links