Birkeland Church


Birkeland Church is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Bergen Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the Nesttun neighborhood of Fana in the city of Bergen. It is the church for the Birkeland parish which is part of the Fana prosti in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The white, stone church was built in a long church style in 1878 using designs by the architect Giovanni Jacob Harbitz Müller. The church seats about 300 people. The church has a unique tower with an octagonal copper-clad steeple.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1329, but it was built before that time, likely during the 1200s. It was probably a stave church that stood about southeast of 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 Arne Olsen Øvre Totland and Lars Olsen Øvre Birkeland in 1724. In 1839, the church was bought back by the parish. Due to maintenance issues and population growth, that church was torn down in 1877 and replaced in 1878 with a larger stone church located about away in Nesttun. The new church was consecrated on 21 November 1878.

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