Vang Church (Hamar)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Vang 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
Hamar Municipality Hamar Municipality (; ) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Hedemarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is th ...
in
Innlandet Innlandet is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (Jevnaker Municipality and Lunner Municipality were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken ( ...
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 Ridabu. It is one of the churches for the Vang
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 Hamar domprosti (
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 Hamar The Diocese of Hamar () is a diocese within the Church of Norway. The Diocese of Hamar includes all of the churches in Innlandet county plus the churches in Lunner Municipality in Akershus county. Administratively, the diocese is divided into 1 ...
. The white, stone church was built in a
octagonal In geometry, an octagon () is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, which alternates two types of edges. A truncated octagon, t is a hex ...
design in 1810 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 ...
Abraham Pihl. The church seats about 1,000 people.


History

The first church in Vang was a Romanesque stone church that was built in the early 12th century. It was dedicated to St. Clement. Historically, the
Hamar Cathedral Hamar Cathedral () is the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Hamar within the Church of Norway. The cathedral is located in the town of Hamar which is in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is one of the churches for the Hamar parish ...
was the main church for the area and Vang Church was an annex to that church. In 1567, the cathedral was destroyed and Vang Church became the main church for the parish. The original
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 was enlarged in 1675 when a wing was added on the north side of 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 ...
. In 1693, another wing was built on the south side of the nave. Also that year, the old wooden
church porch A church porch is a room-like structure at a church's main entrance. A porch protects from the weather to some extent. Some porches have an outer door, others a simple gate, and in some cases the outer opening is not closed in any way. The porch ...
was torn down and replaced with a larger stone porch. Stone for the expansion of the church was partly taken from the Hamar Cathedral ruins. A few hours after the worship service on 8 July 1804, lightning struck in one of the small decorative spires at the top of the tower, and the fire spread rapidly to the tarred main spire and roof. The church burned down in a few hours, but the altar silver and pictures as well as some ornaments were saved. Parish priest Abraham Pihl was given the task of designing and building a new church. He received help in the work by the builder Svend Aspaas. The new church had an
octagonal In geometry, an octagon () is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, which alternates two types of edges. A truncated octagon, t is a hex ...
design and a large tower on the west end (the tower structure may have been reused from the previous building). Construction work began in August 1805. It was the parish priest of the place, Abraham Pihl, who designed the church, and who was partly responsible for the construction management. The builder Svend Aspaas (then 70 years old) from
Røros Røros may refer to: Places * Røros Municipality, a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway * Røros (town), a town within Røros Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway * Røros Church, a church in Røros Municipality in Trøndelag county, No ...
took over the construction management in 1806 when Pihl was busy managing his task as an astronomical observer. Construction work was delayed by the war with Sweden in 1808, and then Pihl and Aspaas collaborated on the completion after the war. The new church was completed and put into use starting on 22 April 1810, although it was not formally
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 ...
until 30 November 1810. 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 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 at
Eidsvoll Manor Eidsvollsbygningen (Literally: ''The Eidsvoll building'') is a historic manor house located at Eidsvoll in Akershus county, Norway. The building is where the Constitution of Norway was signed on 17 May 1814. The estate is now owned by The State o ...
later that year. In 1877, the church was rebuilt under the direction of
Paul Due Paul Due may refer to: * Paul Due (architect) (1835–1919), Norwegian architect ** Paul Armin Due (1870–1926), Norwegian architect and son of the above * Paul Due (footballer) (1889–1972), Norwegian international footballer {{DEFAULTSOR ...
. On that occasion, the east wall was knocked out and a new
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 ...
was added as an extension. The
chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...
opening was given a Gothic pointed arch, but it was later changed to a round arch. At the same time, a new tower and
sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is us ...
was built. In 1879, Eilif Peterssen painted a new
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, ...
for the church, and it is still used in today's altarpiece.


Media gallery

Vang-kirke2.jpg Vang-kirke1.jpg Vang kirke ved Hamar på Hedemarken i Hedmark - Norway.JPG Vang kirke ved Hamar på Hedemarken i Hedmark - Norway 3.JPG Vang kirke aust.JPG Vang valgkirke.JPG No-nb digibok 2014091028002 0115 1 (cropped).jpg, View of the church (c. 1830) Vang church interior.JPG Vang Church chancel.JPG Vang Church pulpit.JPG


See also

*
List of churches in Hamar The list of churches in Hamar is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Hamar in Norway. It includes all of the parishes in Innlandet county plus the parishes in Lunner Municipality in Akershus county. The diocese is based at ...


References

{{use dmy dates, date=January 2022 Buildings and structures in Hamar Churches in Innlandet Octagonal churches in Norway Stone churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1810 12th-century establishments in Norway Norwegian election churches