Tønsberg Cathedral ( no, Tønsberg Domkirke) is a Lutheran church located in

Tønsberg Tønsberg , historically Tunsberg, is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, eastern Norway, located around south-southwest of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near its mouth onto the Skagerrak. The administrative c ...

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 the episcopal seat of the

Diocese of Tunsberg Tunsberg is a diocese of the Church of Norway. It includes parishes located within the counties of Vestfold and Buskerud, with the cathedral located in Tønsberg. The Diocese of Tunsberg consists of the cathedral deanery and 9 rural deaneries. Hi ...

within the Church of Norway. Originally a parish church, it was elevated to cathedral status in 1948 when the Diocese of Tunsberg was created, detached from the Diocese of Oslo. The cathedral has space for 550 seats.

History and description

The cathedral is built over the ruins of St. Laurentius' Church (''Laurentiuskirken''), which was built in the first half of the 12th century and demolished in 1814. It is a Brick Gothic church, originally designed 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 ...

Christian Heinrich 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. ...

and completed in 1858 on the site of the ancient church. The cathedral of Tønsberg was dedicated 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 ...

on 19 December 1858. The cathedral was remodeled in 1939 with a restoration led by architect Arnstein Arneberg. Gudstjenesten i Tønsberg domkirke (2012)

Gudstjenesten i Tønsberg domkirke (2012)

The cathedral is richly carved including figures representing the four Evangelists and their personal symbols. The Baroque altar was carved by Jens Jølsen in 1764. The altarpiece shows Jesus' struggle at

Gethsemane Gethsemane () is a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem where, according to the four Gospels of the New Testament, Jesus underwent the agony in the garden and was arrested before his crucifixion. It is a place of great resona ...

. It was painted in 1760 by Jacob Pederssøn Lindgaard (1719–1789). The pulpit, created by unknown local artisans, is from 1621. The cathedral also owns two 16th-century Holy Bibles, one from 1550 and one from 1589. The baptismal font is by sculptor Christopher Borch (1817–1896) and was donated by Svend Foyn. In the grounds of the cathedral, a bronze statue of Svend Foyn by the sculptor Anders Svor (1864–1929) was unveiled in 1915.

References

External links

Tønsberg Domkirke Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tonsberg Cathedral C Cathedrals in Norway Lutheran cathedrals in Norway 1858 establishments in Norway

History and description

See also

References

External links