Solheim Church ( no, Solheim kyrkje) 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 Masfjorden Municipality in

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, where t ...

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 in the village of Solheim, along the shore of the

Masfjorden Masfjorden is a municipality in the central part of Vestland county in Norway. The municipality is located in the Nordhordland district of the county. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Masfjordnes. Other villages ...

. It is the church for the Masfjorden

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

Nordhordland prosti Nordhordland is a traditional district in the western part of Norway. The district consists of the northern portion of the old Hordaland county (now in Vestland county), north of the city of Bergen. It includes the municipalities Alver, Austr ...

( deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The white, wooden church was built in a long church design in 1882 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 ...

Ole Syslak. The church seats about 200 people and it serves the eastern part of the municipality.

History

The people of eastern Masfjorden had long desired a church of their own due to the long journey to their parish church, Sandnes Church. The new church was designed by Ole Syslak who also led the construction. The parish also credits

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 ...

as helping with the design. Nordan was an architect and the church ministry's consultant in construction matters. Presumably Nordan corrected parts of Syslak's drawings. The church was consecrated on 24 March 1882 by the Bishop

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 ...

. In 1957, electric lights were installed in the church and then in 1960, electric heating was installed. In 1965, Erlend Tryti designed an addition that was built to the east. The small extensions on each side of the

church porch A church porch is a room-like structure at a church's main entrance. A porch protects from the weather to some extent. Some porches have an outer door, others a simple gate, and in some cases the outer opening is not closed in any way. The porch ...

and tower were designed by Ole Halvorsen and built around 1970. The church was refurbished for the 125th anniversary in 2007.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=October 2021 Masfjorden Churches in Vestland Wooden churches in Norway Long churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1882 1882 establishments in Norway

History

See also

References