Mandal 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 ...

Lindesnes Municipality Lindesnes () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Manda ...

Agder Agder is a counties of Norway, county () and districts of Norway, traditional region in the southern part of Norway and is coextensive with the Southern Norway region. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Au ...

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 town of

Mandal A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administrative c ...

. It is one of the two churches for the Mandal

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 Lister og Mandal 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 white, wooden 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 1821 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 ...

Jørgen Gerhard Løser. It was designed in an

empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

/ neoclassical style. The church seats about 1,000 people, making it the largest wooden

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

in Norway. The

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

is a large hall supported by colossal columns. A small, cylindrical

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 ...

is placed above 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, ...

, a rather unusual location compared to most churches in Norway. The church is notable for its distinctive rectangular shape with a simple tower on the roof above the main entrance.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1358, but the church was not new at that time. The stone church was called Halse Church at that time, but beyond that not much is known about. The church was almost certainly a ''fylkeskirke'' or a county church, since in medieval times the council council for Agder met at Halse (now Mandal). A map from 1766 has a depiction of the church, and from this it may appear that it was a rectangular building. 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 ...

had probably been expanded or rebuilt in the late Middle Ages so that the building had a rectangular floor plan where 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 ...

and choir where the same width and roof line. In 1785 the church was described as dilapidated with a number of dangerous cracks in the masonry, and a few years later a large part of the "east wall" was demolished and rebuilt. In 1810, the town of Mandal had a massive fire, and most of the town, including the church, burned down. After the fire, the town and its roads were redesigned, and it was decided to move the church about to the northeast of the former location. The new church was built in a nice flat area with lots of space for a cemetery to surround the church. Construction of rebuilding the whole town began soon after the fire, but it was slow going. Work on the church began in 1812 and was mostly finished by 1819. The church was officially opened and

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 in 1821. The

for the new church was

Jørgen Gerhard Løser Jørgen is a Danish, Norwegian, and Faroese masculine given name cognate to George People with the given name Jørgen * Jørgen Aall (1771–1833), Norwegian ship-owner and politician * Jørgen Andersen (1886–1973), Norwegian gymnast * Jørgen ...

who used copper engravings of the old church from 1728 by James Gibbs as inspiration for his designs. It was the first monumental building built in Norway after the Norway's independence from Denmark in 1814. The painting () is in the church and it was painted by

Adolph Tidemand Adolph Tidemand (14 August 18148 August 1876) was a noted Norwegian romantic nationalism painter. Among his best known paintings are ''Haugianerne'' (''The Haugeans''; 1852) and '' Brudeferd i Hardanger'' (''The Bridal Procession in Hardanger' ...

who grew up in Mandal. The church has not undergone major changes since it was opened, but in 2014 a major restoration project on the building was begun to remove extensive dry rot and make many structural repairs. The repairs cost about .

Election church

In 1814, this church served as an

election church An election church () is a term used for approximately 300 churches in Norway that were used as polling stations during the elections to the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll in 1814. This was Norway's first national elections and this ass ...

(). Together with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it was a polling station for elections to the 1814

Norwegian Constituent Assembly The Norwegian Constituent Assembly ( or ) is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised the dissolution of the union with Denmark. The meetings took place at the Eidsvoll Manor in th ...

which wrote the

Constitution of Norway The 'Constitution of Norway'' (complete name: The Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway; Danish language, Danish: ; Norwegian language, Norwegian Bokmål: ; Nynorsk, Norwegian Nynorsk: ) was adopted on 16 May and signed on 17 May 1814 by the N ...

. This was Norway's first national elections. Each

church parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

was a constituency that elected people called "electors" who later met together in each county to elect the representatives for the assembly that was to meet in

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike Districts of Norway, traditional region. The administrative centre of the munic ...

later that year.

Media gallery

Mandal kirke.jpg Mandal kirke 2.jpg Mandal Kirche von 1821 mi 1800 Sitzplätzen größte Holzkirche in Norwegen Foto Wolfgang Pehlemann IMG 9319.jpg Mandal kirke 3.jpg Mandal Norwegen Kirche.jpg Mandal kirke - an10071202022001.jpg Mandal - no-nb digifoto 20150105 00056 NB MIT FNR 20469.jpg Mandal, Vest-Agder - Riksantikvaren-T205 01 0228.jpg

References

{{use dmy dates, date=December 2020 Lindesnes Churches in Agder Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1821 13th-century establishments in Norway Norwegian election churches

History

Election church

Media gallery

See also

References