Rein Church ( no, Rein 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 The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...

Indre Fosen Indre Fosen is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Fosen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Årnset. Other villages in Indre Fosen include Askjem, Dalbygda, Ha ...

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 Denmar ...

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 t ...

. It is located in the village of Reinsgrenda, which is situated just south of the village of

Årnset Årnset (also known as Rissa) is the administrative centre of the municipality of Indre Fosen in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located on the north shore of the lake Botn about south of the village of Hasselvika and about north of the villa ...

. It is one of the churches for the Rissa

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 or m ...

which is part of the

Fosen prosti This list of churches in Nidaros is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Nidaros which covers all of Trøndelag county in Norway. The list is divided into several sections, one for each deanery in the diocese. Administra ...

(

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman 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 residenc ...

) 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 Herborg ...

. The red, wooden church was built in a

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described ...

style in 1932 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 ...

Helge Thiis Helge Thiis (16 August 1897 – 1 August 1972) was a Norwegian architect. He is most noted for service as head architect at the restoration of Nidaros Cathedral. Background Helge Thiis was born in Trondheim, Norway. He was the son of curator and ...

. The church seats about 400 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1433, but the church was likely built during the 13th century. The first church 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 a ...

. By the mid-1600s, the church was described as "dilapidated". In 1649, the old church was torn down and replaced with a new building on the same site. The new church was a

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 wooden ...

building with a

design that was built by Palle Joenssønn. Already on 24 January 1650, records show that the new church already had several shortcomings that needed to be finished including the lack of a

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...

baptismal font A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism. Aspersion and affusion fonts The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). ...

, and entry porch. Another inspection in 1656 shows that the pulpit and second floor seating gallery had not yet been finished. During the night of 12 December 1689, the tower blew down in a storm, causing some roof damage as well. In 1814, this church served as an

election church An election church ( no, valgkirke) is a term used for approximately 300 churches in Norway that were used as polling stations during the elections to the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll in 1814. This was Norway's first national election ...

( no, valgkirke). Together with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it was a polling station for elections to the 1814

Norwegian Constituent Assembly The Norwegian Constituent Assembly (in Norwegian ''Grunnlovsforsamlingen'', also known as ''Riksforsamlingen'') is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly at Eidsvoll in Norway, that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised th ...

which wrote the

Constitution of Norway nb, Kongeriket Norges Grunnlov nn, Kongeriket Noregs Grunnlov , jurisdiction =Kingdom of Norway , date_created =10 April - 16 May 1814 , date_ratified =16 May 1814 , system =Constitutional monarchy , b ...

. This was Norway's first national elections. Each

church 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 or m ...

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 in

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet. General information E ...

later that year. By the late 1800s, the church was in fairly poor condition. On 28 August 1886, permission was granted to demolish the church and build a new church at

, about to the northeast. The new

Rissa Church Rissa Church ( no, Rissa kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Indre Fosen municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the village of Leira, just northeast of the village of Årnset. It is one of the churches for th ...

was consecrated in 1888, and later that same year, the old Rein church was demolished. The people who lived near the old Rein Church were not happy about losing their local church, however. Within 30 years, this led to a local push to build a new Rein Church. The author Johan Bojer lead the initiative for a new church to be built and in 1932 the church was completed. It was a copy of the old church that had been torn down in 1888. The new church was

consecrate Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

d on 24 August 1932. Bojer also established a fund for its continued maintenance called .

Media gallery

Rein kirke 2013.jpg, Rein kirke UBT-TO-000898 01 1.jpg, Rein kirke UBT-TO-082837 01 1.jpg, Rissa UBT-TO-082835 01 1.jpg, Rein kirke RR-I-00259 01 1.jpg, Rein kirke RR-I-00165 01 1.jpg,

References

{{use dmy dates, date=May 2021 Indre Fosen Churches in Trøndelag Wooden churches in Norway Cruciform churches in Norway 20th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1932 13th-century establishments in Norway Norwegian election church

History

Media gallery

See also

References