The Calmeyer Street Mission House () was a building located at ''Calmeyers gate'' no. 1 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. The building served as a religious assembly house for Lutheran gatherings in the

neighborhood around ''Hausmanns gate'' (Hausmann Street).

History

Calmeyer Street Mission House was a

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 ...

structure designed by the architect

Henrik Nissen Johannes Henrik Nissen ( 21 April 1848 – 4 June 1915) was a Norwegian architect. Personal life He was born in Christiania as a son of school manager Hartvig Nissen (1815–1874) and Karen Magdalena Aas (1820–1900). He was a great-grandson ...

. Educator and businessman Otto Treider was largely responsible for the mission house being built in 1891. At the time, it contained Scandinavia's largest assembly hall, capable of accommodating over 5,000 people. Kristiania Home Mission Society () took over the building in 1898. This provided a venue for a series of large gatherings, including full-scale revivals in 1905 and 1906 that filled the building night after night. Prime Minister

Christian Michelsen Peter Christian Hersleb Kjerschow Michelsen (15 March 1857– 29 June 1925), better known as Christian Michelsen, was a Norwegian shipping magnate and statesman. He was the first prime minister of independent Norway from 1905 to 1907. Michelse ...

also delivered a speech there in 1905. The building was also the location of the Calmeyer Street Meeting (''Calmeyergatemøtet'') from February 15th to 18th, 1920 during debates between liberal and orthodox theologians within 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 ...

. During the

German occupation German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

(1940–45), the building was requisitioned by the German military. Until the 1950s, the building was frequently used for concerts and as a warehouse until it was razed in 1972. The lot was used as a parking lot, among other purposes, until the

Church City Mission Church City Mission ( Norwegian: ''Kirkens Bymisjon'') is a diaconal foundation in Norway doing social work within alcohol care, elderly care, child welfare, mental health care and among prostitutes - as well as religious activities with pastoral ...

(''Kirkens Bymisjon'') built an office building with rental housing there. After the new building was completed in 1987, the office space was leased to

Norwegian Board of Health Supervision The Norwegian Board of Health Supervision (, short name ''Helsetilsynet'') is a national government institution under the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services (''Helse- og omsorgsd ...

(''Statens helsetilsyn'').

History

See also

References

Related reading