Hareid Church (Norwegian: Hareid kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in the municipality of Hareid, Møre og Romsdal, Norway. It is located in the village of Hareid on the eastern side of the island of Hareidlandet. It is the church for the Hareid parish which is part of the Søre Sunnmøre prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Møre. The white, wooden church was built in a long church design in 1877 using plans drawn up by the architects Heinrich Ernst Schirmer and Wilhelm von Hanno. The church seats about 400 people.[1][2]

Hareid Church
Hareid kyrkje
View of the church
Map
62°22′02″N 6°01′48″E / 62.36731493204°N 6.0298807919°E / 62.36731493204; 6.0298807919
LocationHareid,
Møre og Romsdal
CountryNorway
DenominationChurch of Norway
ChurchmanshipEvangelical Lutheran
History
StatusParish church
Founded13th century
Consecrated13 December 1877
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Architect(s)Heinrich Ernst Schirmer
and Wilhelm von Hanno
Architectural typeLong church
Completed1877 (147 years ago) (1877)
Specifications
Capacity400
MaterialsWood
Administration
DioceseMøre bispedømme
DeanerySøre Sunnmøre prosti
ParishHareid
TypeChurch
StatusListed
ID84483

History edit

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to 1432, but it was not new that year. The first church in Hareid was a wooden stave church was likely built in the 13th century. The church was located about 80 metres (260 ft) to the northwest of the present site of the church. The original building had a nave that measured about 20 by 8.15 metres (65.6 ft × 26.7 ft), a choir that measured about 5.6 by 6.9 metres (18 ft × 23 ft), and a church porch that measured 5 by 5 metres (16 ft × 16 ft). Around the year 1640, a timber-framed transept was built off of the north side of the nave as a way of adding more seats in the church, but also to help support the old medieval structure. After the addition, the building reached a size of about 240 square metres (2,600 sq ft).[3][4][5]

On 25 February 1806, the church was struck by lightning and it burned to the ground. A replacement church was built about 80 metres (260 ft) to the east of the old stave church. It was a timber-framed, octagonal building that was designed by the local parish priest, Peder Thomas Buschmann and Elling Valbø from Ørskog was the lead builder. Work on the new church was carried out in 1807-1808 when the main building was built and enclosed with a roof. The altar, pulpit, sacristy, and windows were started, but then the work stopped for several years. The building was not completed fully until 1820.[3][4][5]

In 1814, this church served as an election church (Norwegian: valgkirke).[6][7] Together with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it was a polling station for elections to the 1814 Norwegian Constituent Assembly which wrote the Constitution of Norway. 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 later that year.[6][8]

The new church was fully completed in 1820 and it was consecrated on 25 June 1820. Soon after, it was realized that the ground under the new church site was not suitable for supporting the building. The timber structure began to sag and shift soon after its completion. After nearly 60 years of use, the church was torn down in 1876. In 1876–1877, a new church was built on the same site. The parish hired the architects Heinrich Ernst Schirmer and Wilhelm von Hanno and the lead builder was Knut Stokkeland. The new building was designed in a Romanesque Revival style and it was consecrated on 13 December 1877 by the local parish priest Christian Wisløff. On 3 January 1902, the church was struck by lightning and the ensuing fire caused significant damage, but the church was repaired soon after.[3][4][5]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Hareid kyrkje". Kirkesøk: Kirkebyggdatabasen. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  2. ^ "Oversikt over Nåværende Kirker" (in Norwegian). KirkeKonsulenten.no. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  3. ^ a b c "Hareid kyrkjestad" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  4. ^ a b c "Hareid kirke". Norges-Kirker.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  5. ^ a b c "Kyrkjebygningen" (in Norwegian). Hareid kyrkjelege fellesråd. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Valgkirkene". LokalHistorieWiki.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  7. ^ "Valgkartet". Valgene i 1814 (in Norwegian). Arkivverket. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  8. ^ "Om valgene". Valgene i 1814 (in Norwegian). Arkivverket. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2021.