Sofienberg Church is located at Sofienberg in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

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 ...

and is designed by the Danish-born architect Jacob Wilhelm Nordan. It was first known as ''Paulus Kirke'' (St Paul's) but its name was changed to ''Petrus Kirke'' (St Peter's) in 1892 and finally to ''Sofienberg Kirke'' in 1962. The church is surrounded by Sofienberg Park, where it was previously a cemetery. The church was consecrated in 1877 and seats approximately 500. The

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...

, which shows

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...

on the Cross was painted by Otto Sinding in 1879. The church has

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

windows at the main entrance, made by

Maria Vigeland Maria Vigeland (13 March 1903 – 8 August 1983) was a Norwegian painter and sculptor. Biography She was born in Copenhagen. She was the daughter of Emanuel Vigeland and niece of Gustav Vigeland. She attended the Norwegian National Academy of C ...

(1951) and on the south wall, made by

Enevold Thømt Martin Enevold Thømt (June 8, 1878 – June 21, 1958) was a Norwegian decorative painter. Life and work Thømt was born in Askim,Waterloo Normannsen, Sølvi. 2010. Klart for nye blikk på gamle skatter. ''UA'' (September 6). the son of Karl P. ...

(1920). The church organ is from 2013. It has 42 voices. The new organ was supplied by the German organ builder firm Eule. The church is known to have good

acoustics Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician ...

and is an attractive concert venue in Oslo's Eastend. The church is protected by law by the

Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage 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 Environm ...

.Norwegian Directorate for Cultuaral Heritage: Sofienberg kirke

Gallery

Sofienberg kirke1.JPG, Sofienberg Church, seen from south Sofienbergparken2.JPG, Sofienberg Church in the background, as seen from Sofienberg Park (west) Sofienberg kirke2.jpg, Sofienberg Church, seen from north

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sofienberg Church Lutheran churches in Oslo Grünerløkka Churches completed in 1877 1877 establishments in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings