Tysnes 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 ...
in
Tysnes Municipality in
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
Våge on the northern shore of the island of
Tysnesøya. It is the church for the Tysnes
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
Sunnhordland 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 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, 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 1867 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 ...
s
Georg Andreas Bull
Georg Andreas Bull (26 March 1829 – 1 February 1917) was a Norwegian architect and chief building inspector in Oslo, Christiania (now Oslo) for forty years. He was among the major architects in the country, and performed surveying studies and ...
and
Hartvig Sverdrup Eckhoff. The church seats about 370 people.
History
The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1329, but it was not new at that time. The first church here was a wooden
stave church
A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building once common in north-western Europe. The name derives from the building's structure of post and lintel construction, a type of timber framing where the load-bearing ore-pine posts ...
located at Tysnes, about north of the present church site. It was likely built during the 13th century. From 1685 to 1688, the old church was torn down and a new
timber-framed
Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...
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 ...
was built on the same site. It was built by Erik Fyllingsnes from
Lindaas and Oluf Bysemb from
Osterøy
Osterøy is an List of islands of Norway, island Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Nordhordland. The municipality encompasses ...
.
In 1814, this church served as an
election church ().
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 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.
During the 1860s, the parish determined that the old church needed to be replaced. A new church site was chosen about to the southwest of the old church site. In 1865,
Georg Bull was hired to design the new building and
Askild Aase was hired as the lead builder. The
foundation stone
A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...
was laid in 1867 and the new building was
consecrated
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 (a ...
on 4 September 1868. The old church was torn down after the new building was completed. In 1906, the church was disassembled and moved about to the southwest, across the bay to Gjerstad where it was rebuilt. It was moved here because it was closer to the main village. Since the old architectural designs of the church were lost, 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 ...
Hartvig Sverdrup Eckhoff was hired to design the newly rebuilt church. The building 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 27 September 1906. In 1977, the church was extensively remodeled, and then re-consecrated on 4 October 1977.
See also
*
List of churches in Bjørgvin
The list of churches in Bjørgvin is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Bjørgvin in Norway. It includes all of the parishes in Vestland county. The Diocese is based at the Bergen Cathedral in the city of Bergen (city), Berg ...
References
{{use dmy dates, date=May 2020
Tysnes
Churches in Vestland
Long churches in Norway
Wooden churches in Norway
19th-century Church of Norway church buildings
Churches completed in 1867
13th-century establishments in Norway
Norwegian election churches