Øksnes Church () is a
parish church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...
of the
Church of Norway in
Øksnes Municipality
Øksnes is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located on the northwestern part of the large island of Langøya, which is a part of the Districts of Norway, traditional region of ...
in
Nordland
Nordland (; , , , ) is one of the three northernmost Counties of Norway, counties in Norway in the Northern Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Trøndelag in the south, Norrbotten County in Sweden to the east, Västerbotten County to t ...
county,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
. It is located on the southeastern tip of the island of
Skogsøya. It is one of the churches for the Øksnes
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
which is part of the
Vesterålen prosti (
deanery
A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...
) in the
Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland. The white, wooden church was built in a
cruciform
A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design.
Cruciform architectural plan
Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...
style in 1703 using plans drawn up by an unknown
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 ...
. The church seats about 450 people.
History
The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to 1381, but it was not new that year. Not much is known about the
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
church or the buildings on the site over the centuries. The present church was possibly built in 1703. In 1716, it underwent some repair work and then again in 1754-1755 there was another renovation. By 1788, the church was in "fragile" condition so a massive renovation was planned. In 1794-1795, the church was totally renovated. The building was virtually rebuilt from the foundation up, reusing all of the materials that were still in good condition.
In 1814, this church served as an
election church ().
Together with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it was a polling station for elections to the 1814
Norwegian Constituent Assembly which wrote the
Constitution of Norway
The 'Constitution of Norway'' (complete name: The Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway; Danish language, Danish: ; Norwegian language, Norwegian Bokmål: ; Nynorsk, Norwegian Nynorsk: ) was adopted on 16 May and signed on 17 May 1814 by the N ...
. This was Norway's first national elections. Each
church parish was a constituency that elected people called "electors" who later met together in each county to elect the representatives for the assembly that was to meet at
Eidsvoll Manor later that year.
In 1864, the roof of the church was taken off and rebuilt. It is quite possible that parts of the present-day church still include materials that were present in the church several hundred years ago.
Inventory
The
altarpiece is a replica of a painting made by Gottfried Ezekiel (ca. 1719-1798) in 1759. The original is in the
Bergen Museum. A native of
Königsberg
Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...
, Gottfried Ezekiel received a commission as a painter in
Bergen
Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo.
By May 20 ...
during 1744. In 1751, he arrived in northern Norway, where he painted a number of church altarpieces.
Media gallery
Oksnes kirke med omgivelser.jpg
Oksnes kirke alterparti.JPG
See also
*
List of churches in Sør-Hålogaland
References
External links
Øksnes menighet website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oksnes Church
Øksnes
Churches in Nordland
Cruciform churches in Norway
Wooden churches in Norway
18th-century Church of Norway church buildings
Churches completed in 1703
13th-century establishments in Norway
Norwegian election churches