Sofienberg Church is located at Sofienberg 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 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 ...

and is designed by the Danish-born architect

Jacob Wilhelm Nordan Jacob Wilhelm Nordan (23 February 1824 – 11 April 1892) was a Danish-born, Norwegian architect. During his career, he was one of the most prolific church architects in Norway. Biography Nordan was born in Copenhagen, Denmark and came to Nor ...

. It was first known as ''Paulus Kirke'' (St Paul's) but its name was changed to ''Petrus Kirke'' (St Peter's) in 1892 and finally to ''Sofienberg Kirke'' in 1962. The church is surrounded by Sofienberg Park, where it was previously a cemetery. The church was consecrated in 1877 and seats approximately 500. 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, ...

, which shows

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

on the Cross was painted by

Otto Sinding Otto Ludvig Sinding (20 December 1842 – 22 November 1909) was a Norwegian painter, illustrator, poet and dramatist. Sinding drew on motives from Norwegian nature, folk life and history. Personal life Otto Sinding was born in Kongsberg as a son ...

in 1879. The church has

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows at the main entrance, made by Maria Vigeland (1951) and on the south wall, made by Enevold Thømt (1920). The

church organ Carol Williams performing at the West_Point_Cadet_Chapel.html" ;"title="United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel">United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel. In music, the organ is a keyboard instrument of one or mo ...

is from 2013. It has 42 voices. The new organ was supplied by the German organ builder firm Eule. The church is known to have good

acoustics Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician ...

and is an attractive concert venue in Oslo's Eastend. The church is protected by law by the

Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage The Directorate for Cultural Heritage ( or ''Direktoratet for kulturminneforvaltning'') is a etat, government agency responsible for the management of cultural heritage in Norway. Subordinate to the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment, it mana ...

.Norwegian Directorate for Cultuaral Heritage: Sofienberg kirke

Gallery

Sofienberg kirke1.JPG, Sofienberg Church, seen from south Sofienbergparken2.JPG, Sofienberg Church in the background, as seen from Sofienberg Park (west) Sofienberg kirke2.jpg, Sofienberg Church, seen from north

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sofienberg Church Lutheran churches in Oslo Grünerløkka Churches completed in 1877 1877 establishments in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings