Bø Church (Nordland)

Bø Church (Norwegian: Bø kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Bø Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Bø i Vesterålen. It is one of the churches for the Bø og Malnes parish which is part of the Vesterålen prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland. The red, wooden church was built in a cruciform style in 1824, using plans drawn up by an unknown architect. The church seats about 370 people.[1][2]

Bø Church
Bø kirke i Vesterålen
View of the church
68.61711116°N 14.5493209°E / 68.61711116; 14.5493209
LocationBø, Nordland
CountryNorway
DenominationChurch of Norway
ChurchmanshipEvangelical Lutheran
History
StatusParish church
Founded14th century
Consecrated8 Aug 1824
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Architectural typeCruciform
Completed1824 (1824)
Specifications
Capacity370
MaterialsWood
Administration
DioceseSør-Hålogaland
DeaneryVesterålen prosti
ParishBø og Malnes
TypeChurch
StatusListed
ID83991

History

Over the centuries, there have been several different church buildings. The first church at Bø was probably built around 1340. It is referenced in 1381, from the letters Diplomatarium Norvegicum. A new church was built around 1440, and the third approximately 1540. The fourth church was built in 1639. The fifth church building was completed in 1734, a little east of where the present church is located.[3][4]

In 1814, this church served as an election church (Norwegian: valgkirke).[5] Together with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it was a polling station for elections to the 1814 Norwegian Constituent Assembly which wrote the Constitution of Norway. This was Norway's first national elections. Each church parish 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 in Eidsvoll later that year.[5][6]

In 1824, the sixth and present church was built.[4] It was consecrated on 8 August 1824 by the Bishop Mathias Bonsach Krogh, Bishop of the Diocese of Hålogaland. The church was originally red painted, but in 1917 it was painted white. After the last restoration in 1970-1971, the church was again painted red.[7][8]

Inventory

The church's fixtures are historic and include valuable objects. The pulpit is from 1762. The altar plate is characterized by the Renaissance era. German born artist Gottfried Ezekiel (ca. 1719-1798) gave the colors blue and green to the altarpiece. The artwork around the altarpiece is in gold leaf. Ezekiel first received a commission as a painter in Bergen during 1744. Dating from 1751 he arrived in northern Norway, where he painted a number of church altarpieces.[9][10][11]

  • Bø kirke Altar
    Bø kirke Altar
  • Bø kirke Pulpit
    Bø kirke Pulpit
  • Bø kirke Sanctuary
    Bø kirke Sanctuary

See also

References
  1. "Bø kirke, Vesterålen". Kirkesøk: Kirkebyggdatabasen. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  2. "Oversikt over Nåværende Kirker" (in Norwegian). KirkeKonsulenten.no. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  3. "Bø kirke" (in Norwegian). Bø kommune. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  4. "Bø kirkested" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  5. "Valgkirkene". LokalHistorieWiki.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  6. "Om valgene". Valgene i 1814 (in Norwegian). Arkivverket. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  7. "Kirker og kirkegårder i Bø". Vesteraalen Info. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  8. "Bø kyrkjestad / Bø kyrkje 2" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  9. Sigrid Christie. "Gottfried Ezekiel". Norsk kunstnerleksikon. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  10. Klaudia Rajmann. "Workshop of the painter Gottfried Ezekiel". CeROArt, EGG 5, 2016 : EGG 2014-2015. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  11. Bestul, Terje A. (7 March 1971). "Oversikt over Bø kirkes inventor". Bø bygdebok (in Norwegian).

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