Trinity Church (in

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

, Trefoldighetskirken), is a church in the Hammersborg neighborhood in central

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 ...

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 ...

. Trinity Church is neighbor of the government buildings in

Regjeringskvartalet Regjeringskvartalet (the Government Quarter) is a collection of buildings located in the centre of Norway's capital city Oslo, housing several offices for the Norwegian Government. The complex is situated approximately 300m northeast of the Pa ...

. It is the parish church of the parish of Trinity, belonging to the Diocese of Oslo of the Church of Norway. It is one of the largest churches in Oslo (1000 seats). The church itself is in the raw red brick, while the

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosure ...

s, arches and small columns have gray scale color. The

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

is octagonal with a Greek cross superimposed, with 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 sp ...

in the

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

, shallow

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...

and

rectangular In Euclidean plane geometry, a rectangle is a quadrilateral with four right angles. It can also be defined as: an equiangular quadrilateral, since equiangular means that all of its angles are equal (360°/4 = 90°); or a parallelogram containin ...

entrance flanked by two slender, octagonal bell towers. A central dome rises above the church. Trinity Church is the largest church in Oslo and one of the largest of the many

octagonal churches in Norway An octagonal church has an octagonal (eight-sided polygon) architectural plan. The exterior and the interior (the nave) may be shaped as eight-sided polygon with approximately equal sides or only the nave is eight-sided supplemented by choir and ...

, but one of few octagonal churches constructed in red brick. Trefoldighetskirken in Oslo

History

Trinity Church was consecrated in 1858 by Bishop

Jens Lauritz Arup Jens Lauritz Arup (20 April 1793 – 9 April 1874) was a Norwegian bishop and politician. He was born at Kristiansand in Vest-Agder, Norway. His father was a sexton and a school teacher. In 1811 Arup was sent to Copenhagen to study, but ...

. The church has a

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

central plan, with ''two towers'' and eight-sided dome, and was designed by architect Alexis de Chateauneuf (

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

), but some time after the work was entrusted to his pupil

Wilhelm von Hanno Andreas Friedrich Wilhelm von Hanno (15 December 1826 – 12 December 1882) was a German-born Norwegian architect, sculptor and painter. He was among the leading architects in Norway during the middle of the 1800s. Biography Wilhelm von Hanno ...

, who made some modifications to the original plans and put his personal stamp on the details of interior decoration. The main body (1872) is the work of

Claus Jensen Claus William Jensen (born 29 April 1977) is a Danish professional football manager, and former player who is the manager of Danish 1st Division club Nykøbing FC. During his active playing career, he played as an attacking midfielder. Jensen ...

, the altarpiece (1866) is a painting by

Adolph Tidemand Adolph Tidemand (14 August 18148 August 1876) was a noted Norwegian romantic nationalism painter. Among his best known paintings are ''Haugianerne'' (''The Haugeans''; 1852) and '' Brudeferd i Hardanger'' (''The Bridal Procession in Hardanger'' ...

(the

Baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

of Jesus), chandeliers were designed by

Emanuel Vigeland Emanuel Vigeland (2 December 1875 – 22 December 1948) was a multitalented Norwegian artist. He is known for a variety of decorations of Scandinavian churches and for ''Tomba Emmanuelle'', his mausoleum at Slemdal in Oslo. His elder brother ...

in 1923, and

Frøydis Haavardsholm Frøydis Haavardsholm (1 April 1896 – 3 October 1984) was a Norway, Norwegian visual artist and book illustrator. Biography She was born at Tromsø in Troms, Norway. Her parents were Amund Haavardsholm (1860–1948) and Josefine Nielsen (1872� ...

was the designer of the stained glass windows.Jens Christian Eldal and Kiri Havran: Kirker i Norge, volume 3: Med historiske forbilder. 1800-tallet (ARFO, 2002), page 120-123 In Norwegian

Gallery: Interior

File:Trefoldighetskirken - 06.jpg, Interior File:Trefoldighetskirken Alterbilde.JPG, The altarpiece by

File:Trefoldighetskirken Døpefont engel1.JPG, Baptismal font File:Trefoldighetskirken Engel og lysekrone.JPG, The chandelier in Trinity Church. Created by

File:Trefoldighetskirken Kapitèl galeri.JPG, Detail of a

capital (architecture) In architecture the capital (from the Latin ''caput'', or "head") or chapiter forms the topmost member of a column (or a pilaster). It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column's suppor ...

Gallery: Stained glass

File:Trefoldighetskirken Glassmaleri Israel.JPG, "The history of Israel" File:Trefoldighetskirken Glassmaleri Lidelseshistorien.JPG, "Jesus suffering" File:Trefoldighetskirken Glassmaleri skapelsen.JPG, "The creation" File:Trefoldighetskirken Glassmaleri såkorn.JPG, "''The wheat grain''" File:Trefoldighetskirken Glassmaleri perlen.JPG, "''The pearl''" File:Trefoldighetskirken Glassmaleri Livets vann.JPG, "''The water of life''" File:Trefoldighetskirken Glassmaleri Livets tre.JPG, "''The tree of life''"

External links

Official website in Norwegian

References

{{Churches in Oslo arch-deanery Lutheran churches in Oslo Churches completed in 1858 1858 establishments in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Trinity Churches in Norway Octagonal churches in Norway Cruciform churches in Norway Church buildings with domes

History

See also

Gallery: Interior

Gallery: Stained glass

External links

References