Birkeland Church

Birkeland Church
Birkeland kirke / Nesttun kirke
View of the church
Birkeland Church Location in Hordaland county
60°18′56″N 5°21′23″E / 60.3156°N 5.3564°ECoordinates: 60°18′56″N 5°21′23″E / 60.3156°N 5.3564°E
Location	Bergen, Hordaland
Country	Norway
Denomination	Church of Norway
Churchmanship	Evangelical Lutheran
History
Consecrated	21 Nov 1878
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Architect(s)	Giovanni Müller
Completed	1878
Specifications
Capacity	300
Materials	Stone
Administration
Parish	Birkeland
Deanery	Fana prosti
Diocese	Diocese of Bjørgvin

Birkeland Church (Norwegian: Birkeland kirke or Nesttun kirke) is a parish church in Bergen municipality in Hordaland county, Norway. It is located in the Nesttun neighborhood of Fana in the city of Bergen. The church is part of the Birkeland parish in the Fana deanery in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The white, stone church was built in 1878 by the architect Giovanni Jacob Harbitz Müller. The church seats about 300 people. The church has a unique octagonal tower for the copper-clad steeple.^[1][2]

History

The first church here was built before the year 1329. It was probably a stave church that stood very close to the present church. There is a plaque where the previous church once stood. The church was demolished in the early 1600s and replaced by a wooden church. The wooden church was sold to private owners for a while in the 1700s and 1800s, before being bought back by the parish in 1839. Due to maintenance issues and population growth, that church was torn down in 1877 and replaced with a larger stone church in 1878. The new (present) church was consecrated on 21 November 1878.

See also

• List of churches in Hordaland

References

1. "Birkeland kirke, Nesttun". Kirkesøk: Kirkebyggdatabasen. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
2. "Oversikt over Nåværende Kirker" (in Norwegian). KirkeKonsulenten.no. Retrieved 2014-08-23.