Vålerenga church

Vålerenga church is a church located in the Norwegian capital Oslo. The church belongs to the parish of Vålerenga and Gamlebyen, in the Church of Norway, the lutheran state church.

The church was built in late 19th century, and was consecrated in 1902. The architects were Heinrich Jürgensen and Holger Sinding-Larsen. The church is built in Neo-Gothic style, like most of the Norwegian churches built during this period of time. Vålerenga church is special architectonically because of its asymmetrically placed church tower, one of Norway's first of its kind. A fire in 1979 burned the church to the ground. The church was almost totally destroyed. Only the outer walls, made of stone, were left standing. Frescoes and stained glass windows made by Emanuel Vigeland were lost. The church was rebuilt, and reconsecrated in 1984. New pieces of art were made by the artists Emanuel Vigeland and Håkon Bleken.

The fire is the topic of a song named "Vålerenga Kjerke", composed by Trond Ingebrigtsen and recorded by his band "Bjølsen Valsemølle". This song is sung by the supporters of the sports club Vålerenga IF at matches.

The priest of the belonging to the church is Einar Gelius. Gelius, affliated with the Norwegian Labour Party, is seen as liberal.

References

*cite web | title=Yahoo! Travel | url=http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2787425-valerenga_kirke_oslo-i | accessmonthday=July 5 | accessyear=2005
* [http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vålerenga_kirke Vålerenga kirke] from the Norwegian(bokmål)-language Wikipedia. Retrieved July 5, 2005.