St. John's 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 The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

in Bergen Municipality in

Vestland Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and political leadership is based. The County governor (Norway), County Governor is based in ...

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 in the Sydnes area of the city of

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 ...

. It is one of the five churches for the Bergen Cathedral

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 Bergen domprosti (arch-

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 Bjørgvin The Diocese of Bjørgvin () is one of the 11 dioceses that make up the Church of Norway. It includes all of the churches located in the county of Vestland in Western Norway, and those outside of Norway in the Seamen's Church. The cathedral cit ...

. The red brick 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 ...

design between 1891 and 1894 in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style. 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 ...

was Herman Backer. The church seats 690 people, making it the largest church in Bergen. It was

consecrate Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

d on 15 March 1894.

History

On 1 January 1885, the new parish of St. John was created out of the large Bergen Cathedral parish. In 1888, an architectural contest was conducted for the design of a new church. It was built from drawings by the architect Herman Major Backer (1856–1932). On 27 November 1891, the

cornerstone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...

was laid. The building process was first led by architect Adolf Fischer and from 1891 by Hans Heinrich Jess. The church was consecrated on 15 March 1894. The frescoes in the Church's ceiling date from 1924 and were completed by

Hugo Lous Mohr Hugo Lous Mohr (27 September 1889 – 20 February 1970) was a Norwegian painter. Biography He was born in Mandal in Vest-Agder, Norway. He was the son of Olaf Eugen Mohr (1856–1933) and Jeanette Lous (1860–1942). His father was a vicar a ...

(1889–1970). The organ was built by Schlag & Söhne of

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It was modernized by Josef Hilmar Jørgensen of Oslo in 1967. The

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter 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 or sculpture, ...

depicts Christ in prayer and was designed in 1894 by Marcus Grønvold. The church tower is the highest in the city at . The main tower has four stair towers and a

carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a musical keyboard, keyboard and consists of at least 23 bells. The bells are Bellfounding, cast in Bell metal, bronze, hung in fixed suspension, and Musical tuning, tu ...

. It was designed by Verein Bochum in

Bochum Bochum (, ; ; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 372,348 (April 2023), it is the sixth-largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous German federa ...

Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...

. The church was a

for the St. John's parish in central

from 1894 until 2002. In 2002, several urban parishes in central Bergen were merged to form the Bergen Cathedral parish (), which includes five main churches.

Media gallery

00 1483 Johanneskirken, Bergen.jpg, Front view from a distance Vista de Johanneskirken desde la montaña Fløyen, Bergen, Noruega, 2019-09-08, DD 45.jpg, Aerial view Johannes Kyrken.jpg, View of the church at night in December, 2016 Johanneskirken Bergen Norway 1.JPG, Rear entrance Johanneskirken Bergen Norway 2.JPG, View of roof with tower Johanneskirken Bergen Norway 3.JPG, View of roof Johanneskirken, Bergen, Noruega, 2019-09-08, DD 78-80 HDR.jpg, Interior Johanneskirken, Bergen, Noruega, 2019-09-08, DD 75-77 HDR.jpg, Altarpiece Johanneskyrkja preikestol.jpg, Pulpit Johanneskirken, Bergen, Noruega, 2019-09-08, DD 72-74 HDR.jpg, Organ

References

External links

Photos
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint John's Church, Bergen Churches in Bergen Brick churches in Norway Cruciform churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1894 1885 establishments in Norway Event venues established in 1894