The Church of Trondenes near Harstad

 

Harstad is a small town southwest of Tromsø [1]. The Church of Trondenes is located about 3 km north of the city center. Its name in Norsk bokmål is Trondenes Kirke and in Norsk nynorsk Trondenes Kyrkje. It has been an Evangelical Lutheran church for centuries [2], but it was built before the Reformation. The construction period is uncertain, probably 200 years, although, as with Cologne Cathedral, long periods of dormant construction may be assumed.

The church is the northernmost medieval stone church in the world. The massive nave has an attached narrower choir in the east. The west gable is 23 m high, the second highest church gable in Norway. Before this church there was a wooden stave church and probably another one in stone. As a Roman Catholic church, it was called St. Nicholas Church [3]. Outside you can still see walls with loopholes from that time, as it was built as a fortified church and Karelian pirates used to ravage the coast there. And outside you should also take a look at the cemetery.

When I entered the church, I initially thought it was an Orthodox church, as the choir has a wooden partition and behind it are the three wooden altars, so that it reminded me of an iconostasis. But of course it has nothing of an Orthodox church as soon as you look closer. A pulpit is integrated into the wooden room partition. The three altars are a cultural treasure. From a distance they reminded me of an altar that I was able to visit in my neighborhood [4]. Interestingly, the carvings on the altars and the images of saints survived the Reformation iconoclasm unscathed. The winged altars come from a workshop in Lübeck and one of them is probably from the late Gothic sculptor Bernt Notke. There is also a Romanesque baptismal font in the church. Remains of old chalk drawings have been discovered on various walls. In the old door you can see rune-like name symbols.

This church is well worth a visit, not only for Christians but also for people interested in cultural heritage.

Links and Annotations:
[1] „Most of the municipality is located on the large island of Hinnøya.“ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harstad_Municipality  
[2] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirche_von_Trondenes and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trondenes_Church and https://nn.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trondenes_kyrkje. To my utter surprise there is an article in Armenian among the 11 languages with articles on the Church of Trondenes: „Թրոնդենեսի եկեղեցի (նորվ.՝ Trondenes kirke), միջնադարյան ամենահյուսիսային եկեղեցին աշխարհում։ ...“
https://hy.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D4%B9%D6%80%D5%B8%D5%B6%D5%A4%D5%A5%D5%B6%D5%A5%D5%BD%D5%AB_%D5%A5%D5%AF%D5%A5%D5%B2%D5%A5%D6%81%D5%AB     [3] Message from the very dedicated tour guide Laurenz.
[4] It is a triptych that was created around 1500 in the Rhineland and is located in Roggendorf (Eifel), about 15 km from my house.
https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2022/09/die-kapelle-st-johannes-baptist-von.html

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