Sagene Church is located in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

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 ...

. The church is one of the most rugged and prominent in Oslo. The church was built in

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 and it was consecrated in 1891. It was designed by

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 Fürst in

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an 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 of the 19th century ...

style. There are 600 seats. SageneKirke-4

Fountain and landscaping around the church were conducted from 1891 to 1895, and upgraded from 1923. 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, ...

was executed by the painter

Christen Brun To christen is to perform the religious act of baptism. Christen may also refer to: People Surname * Adolf Christen (1811–1883), court actor, theater director and theater manager * Andreas Christen (born 1989), footballer from Liechtenstein * ...

(1828-1905) and shows the removal of Jesus from the cross. At the choir stairs a large

baptismal Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

with a

dove Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. ...

, the symbol of the

Holy Ghost Most Christian denominations believe the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, to be the third divine Person of the Trinity, a triune god manifested as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, each being God. Nontrinitarian Christians, who ...

, created by Carsten Lien in 1919, restored in 1959. The

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, accesse ...

octagonal In geometry, an octagon () is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, which alternates two types of edges. A truncated octagon, t is a hex ...

, made of

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

and is from 1890. The church has a number of

stained-glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows. a large rose window above the main entrance, four windows in the middle of the

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

with Old and

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

motifs. Closest to the church ship are six stained-glass windows, each displaying two

apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...

s with stylized ornaments in between. The stained glass windows are made by the

glass master In optical disc manufacturing, replication is the process of producing discs via methods that do not involve "burning" blank CD, DVD or other discs; the latter is known as duplication. The replication of optical discs involves: # the creation of ...

G. A. Larsen, designed by Sigurd Nilsen.Sagene kirke

Oslo byleksikon ''Oslo byleksikon'' () is an encyclopaedia on Oslo, Norway's capital city. It has been published in five editions since 1938. The third, fourth and the fifth editions were published in cooperation between the heritage association Selskabet for O ...

(in Norwegian) The church is known for its

church organ Carol Williams performing at the West_Point_Cadet_Chapel.html" ;"title="United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel">United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel. In music, the organ is a keyboard instrument of one or mo ...

s. The main church organ with 35 voices is from 1891 and is the only remaining of Hollenbach organs in Norway. Another church organ was placed at the choir in 2015. The church has three

church bell A church bell is a bell in a church building designed to be heard outside the building. It can be a single bell, or part of a set of bells. Their main function is to call worshippers to the church for a service of worship, but are also rung o ...

s, cast by the German firm of C. Albert Bierling,

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

in 1891. Sagene Church is listed by the

Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage The Directorate for Cultural Heritage ( or ''Direktoratet for kulturminneforvaltning'') is a etat, government agency responsible for the management of cultural heritage in Norway. Subordinate to the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment, it mana ...

.Sagene kirke / kirkested
Kulturminnesøk -Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage (in Norwegian)

In popular culture

The first half of the "O helga natt" scene from episode 9 of the 3rd season of the critically acclaimed Norwegian TV show Skam takes place in the church interior. The character of Isak (portrayed by Tarjei Sandvik Moe) famously storms out of a Christmas concert performed (among others) by Nils Bech to go meet his boyfriend Even (portrayed by

Henrik Holm Henrik Holm may refer to: *Henrik Holm (tennis) (born 1968), Swedish tennis player *Henrik Holm (actor) Henrik Holm (born 12 September 1995) is a Norwegian actor and model. He is best known for his portrayal of Even Bech Næsheim in the third an ...

References

External links

Official parish website

Virtual Interior Sagene Church, 360° Panorama
Lutheran churches in Oslo Churches completed in 1891 1891 establishments in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Gothic Revival church buildings in Norway {{Oslo-Lutheran-church-stub