Brevik 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 ...

Porsgrunn Municipality is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Porsgrunn. Some other notable settlements in Porsgrunn include the town of Brev ...

Telemark Telemark () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway. Telemark borders the counties of Vestfold, Buskerud, Vestland, Rogaland and Agder. In 2020, Telemark merged with the county of Vestfold to form the county o ...

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 village of Brevik. It is one of the churches for the Eidanger

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 Skien 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 Agder og Telemark The Diocese of Agder og Telemark () is a diocese of the Church of Norway, covering all of Agder county and Telemark county in Norway. The cathedral city is Kristiansand, Norway's fifth largest city. Kristiansand Cathedral serves as the seat of t ...

. The grey, concrete church was built in a

rectangular In Euclidean plane geometry, a rectangle is a rectilinear convex polygon or a quadrilateral with four right angles. It can also be defined as: an equiangular quadrilateral, since equiangular means that all of its angles are equal (360°/4 = 90 ...

design in 1963 using plans drawn up 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 ...

Gudolf Blakstad Gudolf Blakstad (19 May 1893 – 22 November 1985) was a Norwegian architect. He was noted for his work in the transition between neo-classicism and functionalism in Norwegian architecture. Biography Blakstad was born in Gjerpen, Norway. ...

. The church seats about 450 people.

History

The village of Brevik was growing rapidly during the late 1600s. On 23 January 1670, six men, representing the villagers, petitioned the King to have their own church (also around this time, Brevik was established as a ladested). On 5 February, the county governor,

Preben von Ahnen Preben von Ahnen (18 September 1606 – 15 November 1675) was a Norwegian civil servant and landowner. Biography Preben von Ahnen was born on the island of Rügen, off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea. He was a son of Pomeranian nobl ...

, endorsed their application. This was approved by the King and government on 30 May 1670. The church was built on the island of Sylterøya, near the current western cemetery gate, a short distance from the present site of the church. It was built near the highest point on the island. The church was 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 and a

log construction A log house, or log building, is a structure built with horizontal logs interlocked at the corners by notching. Logs may be round, squared or hewn to other shapes, either handcrafted or milled. The term "log cabin" generally refers to a smal ...

. It was called "Holy Trinity Church" (). The church was likely completed and put into use in 1673. The church was built of logs, but had exterior paneling. It also had a basement underneath the nave. In 1690 and again in 1698, the bell tower was repaired. In 1749, the interior was also paneled to cover up the log construction. In 1754-1755, the church was repaired and a new

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is us ...

was built on the east end of the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

. The builder Joen Jacobsen from

Skien Skien () is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the Norsjø area and Bø. The administrative ...

was paid about 600

Norwegian rigsdaler The rigsdaler specie was a unit of silver currency used in Norway from 1544, renamed as the speciedaler in 1816 and used until 1873. Norway used a common reichsthaler currency system shared with Denmark, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein until 1873 w ...

for the work. In 1780-1781, the bell tower was rebuilt and increased in height. This rebuilding including the installation of a clock on three sides of the tower. By 1866, the church was deemed to be in very poor condition, so the request was made to the government to demolish it and build a new church. This request, however, was not granted until 3 July 1875. The new church was designed by

Johan Christoff Friedrich Reuter Johan may refer to: * Johan (given name) * ''Johan'' (1921 film), a Swedish film directed by Mauritz Stiller * Johan (2005 film), a Dutch romantic comedy film * Johan (band), a Dutch pop-group ** ''Johan'' (album), a 1996 album by the group * Joh ...

in a distinct

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. The new church was built about to the southeast of the old church on a higher part of the island. This was done so that the old church could be used until the new one was ready. The new building was a wooden

long church Church building in Norway began when Christianity in Norway, Christianity was established there around the year 1000. The first buildings may have been post churches erected in the 10th or 11th century, but the evidence is inconclusive. For inst ...

with about 800 seats. Some of the furnishings were moved over from the old church to the new church including the altar silver,

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

, clock, paintings, and chandeliers. The new church was

consecrated 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 (a ...

by Bishop

Jørgen Moe Jørgen Engebretsen Moe (22 April 1813–27 March 1882) was a Norwegian folklorist, bishop, poet, and author. He is best known for the '' Norske Folkeeventyr'', a collection of Norwegian folk tales which he edited in collaboration with Pe ...

on 25 October 1878. The two churches stood side by side for a while before the old church was torn down and its materials were sold at auction. In 1953, the church was wired for electric light and heat. On 16 February 1960, the church burned down. The church caught fire relatively quickly and the building could not be saved, however, a few of the items in the church were able to be saved. Soon after the fire damaged building was torn down, plans were made for a new church.

and

Herman Munthe-Kaas Herman Munthe-Kaas (25 May 1890 – 5 May 1977) was a Norwegian architect. He was primarily known for his functionalist building designs. Biography Munthe-Kaas was born at Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. He was the son of Marius William M ...

were hired to design the new church. The foundation stone was laid on 9 September 1962. The new building is constructed out of

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...

which has certain features in common with traditional churches, but the building also contains a number of different rooms which are distributed over two floors. The

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

is on the main floor. On the west end of the nave is a

church porch A church porch is a room-like structure at a church's main entrance. A porch protects from the weather to some extent. Some porches have an outer door, others a simple gate, and in some cases the outer opening is not closed in any way. The porch ...

with an organ gallery and

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

above it. The

vestries A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spent nearly one-fi ...

and

are on the east end of the nave. The nave itself is wider than it is long, and it has 450 seats, of which 76 are in the organ gallery. The lower floor has other rooms, such as confirmation hall (seats 80), burial chapel (seats 110), coffin room, shelter, kitchen, bathrooms, and storage. The new church was

on 15 December 1963.

Media gallery

2009 Brevik kirke.JPG, Church #3 Brevik kyrkje.jpg, Church #3 Brevik kirke 1 og 2.jpg, View of church #1 and the newly built church #2 (higher up on the island)

References

External links

Photos of the 3 church buildings
{{use dmy dates, date=December 2022 Buildings and structures in Porsgrunn Churches in Telemark Rectangular churches in Norway Concrete churches in Norway 20th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1963 1673 establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References

External links