# Strusshamn Church

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**Strusshamn Church** (Norwegian: *Strusshamn kirke*) is a [parish church](/source/Parish_church) of the [Church of Norway](/source/Church_of_Norway) in [Askøy Municipality](/source/Ask%C3%B8y_Municipality) in [Vestland](/source/Vestland) county, [Norway](/source/Norway). It is located in the village of [Strusshamn](/source/Strusshamn,_Hordaland). It is the church for the Strusshamn [parish](/source/Parish) which is part of the [Vesthordland prosti](/source/Vesthordland_prosti) ([deanery](/source/Deanery)) in the [Diocese of Bjørgvin](/source/Diocese_of_Bj%C3%B8rgvin). The large concrete and glass church was built in a [fan-shaped](/source/Churches_in_Norway#Floor_plan) design in 1969 using plans drawn up by the architects [Torgeir Alvsaker](/source/Torgeir_Alvsaker) and [Einar Vaardal-Lunde](/source/Einar_Vaardal-Lunde). The church seats about 500 people.[1][2]

## History

### First church

In 1741, the areas of [Askøy](/source/Ask%C3%B8y_Municipality) and [[[Laksevåg](/source/Laksev%C3%A5g_Municipality)]] were separated from the main [Bergen Cathedral](/source/Bergen_Cathedral) parish and they became a parish of their own. It was decided that the old [Ask Church](/source/Ask_Church) was too small, and not centrally located so the old church was torn down in 1741. Soon after, a new church was built in the village of [Strusshamn](/source/Strusshamn), near the foot of "Church Mountain" (Norwegian Nynorsk: *Kyrkjefjellet*), about 300 metres (980 ft) north of the present site of the church. This became the new Strusshamn Church which was the main church for Askøy and Laksevåg. The new church was a small [timber-framed](/source/Timber-framed) building with 238 seats and 63 standing places. The church measured 18.5 metres (61 ft) long, 9.1 metres (30 ft) wide, and 4.7 metres (15 ft) tall.[3][4][5]

In 1814, this church served as an [election church](/source/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](/source/Norwegian_Constituent_Assembly) which wrote the [Constitution of Norway](/source/Constitution_of_Norway). This was Norway's first national elections. Each [church parish](/source/Prestegjeld) 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](/source/Eidsvoll_Manor) later that year.[6][8]

During the night of 8 September 1861, a fire started in the flour mill next door to the church, and both buildings burned down.[3][4][5]

### Second church

Work immediately started to build a new church. It was decided to build the replacement church about 300 metres (980 ft) south of the old church site, on a small [headland](/source/Headland) in the harbour. The new church was built by architect [Georg Andreas Bull](/source/Georg_Andreas_Bull) (the brother of the more famous [Ole Bull](/source/Ole_Bull)) and the lead builder was Askild Aase. This was a wooden [cruciform church](/source/Cruciform) with a total of 727 seats. The new church had a [nave](/source/Nave) measuring 15.5x14 m and a [chancel](/source/Chancel) measuring 7 metres (23 ft) wide on the east end of the building along with a small [sacristy](/source/Sacristy). A [church porch](/source/Church_porch) with a tower was on the west end of the nave. Overall, the entire church was 29 metres (95 ft) long and 20 metres (66 ft) wide across the [transept](/source/Transept). The new church was finished in 1864 and it was [consecrated](/source/Consecrate) by Bishop [Peder Hersleb Graah Birkeland](/source/Peder_Hersleb_Graah_Birkeland) on 30 September 1864. After the fire at the old church, some items were recovered from the old church and moved to the new church. This included two brass chandeliers, two apostle figures, and a mass [vestment](/source/Vestment). The [altarpiece](/source/Altarpiece), painted by Johan Ludvig Losting, was also rescued from the old church. The church was significantly remodeled in 1920 when it was wired for electricity. The last renovation was done in 1964 to celebrate its centennial anniversary. Then on the night of 29-30 January 1966, there was a fire and this church burned to the ground also. Only a few things were saved including two candlesticks and a baptismal bowl.[3][4][5]

### Third church

The present church was built shortly after the 1966 fire by the [architects](/source/Architect) [Torgeir Alvsaker](/source/Torgeir_Alvsaker) and Einar Vaardal-Lunde. This church was built out of concrete and glass and it is able to seat about 500 people. This church was [consecrated](/source/Consecrated) by Bishop [Per Juvkam](/source/Per_Juvkam) on 11 May 1969. The church was greatly expanded in 2009 by adding a large interior atrium and two church halls. The expansion nearly doubled the area of the building.[1][5]

## See also

- [List of churches in Bjørgvin](/source/List_of_churches_in_Bj%C3%B8rgvin)

## References

1. ["Strusshamn kirke, Askøy"](https://kirkesok.no/kirke/124700501). Kirkesøk: Kirkebyggdatabasen. Retrieved 2020-03-15.

1. ["Oversikt over Nåværende Kirker"](http://www.kirkekonsulenten.no/kirker.htm) (in Norwegian). KirkeKonsulenten.no. Retrieved 2020-03-15.

1. ["Strusshamn kyrkje"](http://www.norgeskirker.no/wiki/Strusshamn_kyrkje) (in Norwegian). Norges Kirker. Retrieved 2014-11-18.

1. ["Strusshamn kirkested"](http://www.kulturminnesok.no/kulturminnesok/kulturminne/?LOK_ID=84982) (in Norwegian). [Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage](/source/Norwegian_Directorate_for_Cultural_Heritage). Retrieved 2020-03-15.

1. ["Strusshamn kirke"](https://www.norske-kirker.net/home/hordaland/strusshamn-kirke/) (in Norwegian). *Norges-Kirker.no*. 26 August 2018. Retrieved 2021-11-01.

1. ["Valgkirkene"](https://lokalhistoriewiki.no/wiki/Valgkirkene) (in Norwegian). *LokalHistorieWiki.no*. Retrieved 2021-11-01.

1. ["Valgkartet"](https://web.archive.org/web/20210624205923/http://1814.arkivverket.no) (in Norwegian). *Valgene i 1814*. Arkivverket. Archived from [the original](http://1814.arkivverket.no) on 2021-06-24. Retrieved 2021-11-01.

1. ["Om valgene"](https://web.archive.org/web/20210624205923/http://1814.arkivverket.no/#about-elections) (in Norwegian). *Valgene i 1814*. Arkivverket. Archived from [the original](http://1814.arkivverket.no/#about-elections) on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 2021-11-01.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Strusshamn Church](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strusshamn_Church) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strusshamn_Church?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.