Åsen Church ( no, Åsen 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 in

Levanger Levanger is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the district of Innherred. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Levanger. Some of the notable villages in the municipality include Alstadhaug, Ekne ...

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 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

Åsen Åsen is a village in Levanger municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located between the lakes Hammervatnet Hammervatnet is a lake in the municipality of Levanger in Trøndelag county, Norway. The lake lies on the north s ...

. It is the church for the Åsen

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 Stiklestad prosti ( deanery) 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 Herbor ...

. The white, wooden church was built in a long church plan and in a Swiss chalet style in 1904 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 Røising. The church seats about 400 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1432, but the church was not new at that time. The first church in Åsen was a

stave church A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building once common in north-western Europe. The name derives from the building's structure of post and lintel construction, a type of timber framing where the load-bearing ore-pine posts ar ...

that was located at Vang, about northeast of the present church site. This church was likely built during the 13th century. During the first half of the 17th century, the old stave church was torn down and replaced with a new

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large woode ...

church on the same site. The new church had a rectangular

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 ...

with a narrower, rectangular

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

with a lower roof line. There was a tower on the west end of the roof of the nave. A small sacristy was built on the south side of the choir in 1646. The Åsen area had two church sites in the Middle Ages: Vang and Lo. There were gradually discussions about combining the two church sites in a more central place in the village. It was agreed to close down the Lo Church and move the Vang church to the village of Åsen where it would be renamed ''Aasen kirke''. A building application was submitted in 1855. The drawings were not accepted, but the ministry provided drawings prepared by

Christian H. Grosch Christian Heinrich Grosch (21 January 1801 – 4 May 1865) was a Norwegian architect. He was a dominant figure in Norwegian architecture in the first half of the 1800s. Biography Christian Heinrich Grosch was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. H ...

. In 1856 a royal decree granted permission to build a new church on the present church site. The new church was consecrated on 5 December 1858, but the church was not completely finished until 1860. The church was a log long church. The church had a tower on the west end, a

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 ...

on the east end, with a

in the middle. Inside, there was a sacristy on the north and south sides of the choir. On the altar stood a painted cross. Around the year 1900, there were discussions of renovating the church. The plans were to take down the second floor seating galleries on the sides, rearranging the choir, and painting the whole interior. They started the renovation on 1 December 1902. On Christmas night, just a few weeks later, lightning struck the church tower and the church burned down, leaving nothing behind. A new church was quickly designed by builder Ole Andreas Røising, and the lead builder was Gunerius Rabben from

Ørland Ørland is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Fosen region. Ørland is located at the southwestern tip of the Fosen peninsula at the northern shore of the mouth of Trondheimsfjord where the Stjørnfjorden arm begin ...

. The church was consecrated on 31 August 1904. It is a wooden long church with about 400 seats. The church has a west tower flanked by a staircase. A sacristy was built on the north side of the choir.

Media gallery

Åsen kirke-2016.jpg, Side view (2016) Åsen kyrkje 2.JPG, Front view (2016) Åsen kirke - (1920-åra?) (24849846501).jpg, Front view (c. 1920s) Åsen kirke, interiør (24254285713).jpg, Interior view Sokneprest Bakkes avskjedsgudstjeneste i Åsen (13351376835).jpg, Interior, altar, and pulpit Åsen kirke og Heradshuset.jpg, Church and surrounding area

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aasen Church Levanger Churches in Trøndelag Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 20th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1904 13th-century establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References