Dale 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 ...

Vaksdal Municipality is a municipality in the county of Vestland, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordhordland. The administrative centre is the village of Dalekvam. Other villages in Vaksdal include Dalegarden, Flatkvål, Helle, Nesheim, ...

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 village of Dale. It is the church for the Dale

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

Hardanger og Voss prosti Hardanger is a traditional district in the western part of Norway, dominated by the Hardangerfjord and its inner branches of the Sørfjorden and the Eid Fjord. It consists of the municipalities of Ullensvang, Eidfjord, Ulvik and Kvam, and is l ...

(

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 white, concrete church was built in a

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 ...

design in 1956 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 ...

Arnstein Arneberg. The church seats about 600 people.

History

In 1895, plans were made to build a chapel in the village of Dale. Peter and Jens Jebsen wrote a letter to the municipal council that ''Dale Fabrikker'', a local industrial business, would pay for the upkeep of the new chapel. Johannes Haldorsen was hired to build the chapel. On 16 July 1896,

King Oscar II Oscar II (Oscar Fredrik; 21 January 1829 – 8 December 1907) was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death in 1907 and King of Norway from 1872 to 1905. Oscar was the son of King Oscar I and Queen Josephine. He inherited the Swedish and Norweg ...

visited Dale and saw the chapel as it was being built. The new chapel 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 November 1896 by the Bishop

Waldemar Hvoslef Waldemar Hvoslef (17 March 1825 – 5 May 1906) was a Norwegian Lutheran bishop. Fredrik Waldemar Hvoslef was born in Christiania (now Oslo) and grew up in Holmestrand in Jarlsberg og Laurvig county. He was the son of Jens Hvoslef (1783–1830 ...

. The chapel was built in a

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 and had 380 seats, including the second floor seating gallery. In 1916, electric lights were installed in the building. By the 1930s, it was noted that the chapel was too small for the village. Planning for a new, larger church began in the 1930s. Arnstein Arneberg won the architectural competition to design the new church. Work on this stopped for many years due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, but in 1947, Arneberg delivered his drawings for the new church. It wasn't until September 1953, that a building permit was granted. The old chapel was torn down and its materials were sold. The groundbreaking ceremony for the new church was held in 1954 and it was completed in 1956. The new church was

d on 16 December 1956.

Media gallery

2016-09-24 16.28.00-dalekirke.jpg 2016-09-24 16.28.55-dalekirke.jpg 2016-09-24 16.29.41-dalekirke.jpg

References

{{use dmy dates, date=May 2020 Vaksdal Churches in Vestland Long churches in Norway Concrete churches in Norway 20th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1956 1896 establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References