Engene Church ( no, Engene kirke) is a parish church of the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...

in Arendal Municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the village of

Nedenes Nedenes is a village in Arendal Arendal () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county in southeastern Norway. Arendal belongs to the Districts of Norway, region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The ...

. It is one of the churches for the Øyestad parish which is part of the

Arendal prosti This list of churches in Agder og Telemark is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark in Agder and Vestfold og Telemark counties in southern Norway. The diocese is based at the Kristiansand Cathedral in the cit ...

(

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman 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 residenc ...

) in the

Diocese of Agder og Telemark The Diocese of Agder og Telemark ( no, Agder og Telemark bispedømme) is a diocese of the Church of Norway, covering all of Agder county and most of Vestfold og Telemark county in Norway. The cathedral city is Kristiansand, Norway's fifth la ...

. The white, wooden church was built in a

long church Church building in Norway began when 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 instance under Urnes Stave C ...

design in 1882 using plans originally drawn up by the architect

Wilhelm Hanstein Wilhelm Hanstein (3 August 1811 in Berlin – 14 October 1850 in Magdeburg) was a German chess player and writer. Hanstein was one of the Berlin Pleiades. He helped found ''Berliner Schachzeitung'', later to become ''Deutsche Schachzeitung''. H ...

. The church seats about 480 people.

History

The church was first built in the town of Grimstad in 1849 using designs by the architect

where it was called

Grimstad Church Grimstad Church ( no, Grimstad kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Grimstad Municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the town of Grimstad. It is the church for the Grimstad parish which is part of the Vest-Nedenes p ...

. It was likely the first church built in Southern Norway in the

Swiss chalet style Swiss chalet style (german: Schweizerstil, no, Sveitserstil) is an architectural style of Late Historicism, originally inspired by rural chalets in Switzerland and the Alpine (mountainous) regions of Central Europe. The style refers to traditi ...

. The church has a large distinctive tower above the main entrance. In 1881, the town had grown and the church was too small, so it was disassembled and moved to the nearby village of

and rebuilt there in 1882 as the new "Nedenesengene Church", but it was later shortened to simply "Engene Church". In 1990, the interior was repainted a gray-violet color following the recommendations from the National Heritage Board since it is believed those were the original colors of the church's interior.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=January 2021 Buildings and structures in Arendal Churches in Agder Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1849 1881 establishments in Norway

History

See also

References