Skien Church

The Evangelical Lutheran Skien kirke is a neo-Gothic church in the Norwegian city of Skien from 1894. It is the main church of the Provost Skien.

History

Skiens former Christian Kirke on today's market place has been destroyed by a great fire in 1886. Up to a new construction of a wooden church was built in Marenso district, which was later used as a school house. On 31 March 2011 the school building was demolished.

With the prospect that skiing would be appointed to the bishopric, the skiing has been designed as kirke Cathedral. During the Second World War structured Quisling occupation government, the church organs and the new Skien was kirke until the war ended cathedral called. Then the old geographical church order was reintroduced and Skien was not a bishopric.

Building

The architect Hagbarth Schytte Martin -Berg, a student at the German architect Johannes Vollmer and John Otzen, designed the church. It has 1200 seats, a length of 47 m, a tower height of 68 m and an interior height of 17 m. On August 31, 1894 was inaugurated by Kristiansands bishop Johan Christian hypocrites.

The organ in the Skien kirke with 5000 pipes one of the largest in Norway. The original organ was built in 1894 by Olsen & Jørgensen orgelfabrikk in Oslo. This was in 1954 replaced by a new one from JH Jørgensen orgelfabrikk, which was later rebuilt and modernized.

Architecture

The Skien kirke is a combination of neo-Gothic pointed arches and borrowed from the Romanesque arches. In the gallery, and the aisles are arched, the upper part of the transept and the choir arches, however, are elaborated in pointed arches. The decor of the church is mainly characterized by the ornaments on the ceiling and walls and glass painting in the choir, the baptistry, the main and the transept.