Tromøy Church (Norwegian: Tromøy kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Arendal Municipality, Agder county, Norway. It is located in the village of Brekka on the east coast of the island of Tromøy. The church is one of the churches for the Tromøy parish, which is part of the Arendal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark.
Architecture and Construction
The church is a white, stone structure built around the year 1150, with plans drawn up by an unknown architect. It was originally constructed in a long church design. In 1748, the church was rebuilt and converted into a cruciform design under the direction of architect Ole Nielsen Weierholt. The walls are approximately 1.5 meters (4.9 ft) thick. The church seats about 290 people.
Location and Maritime Significance
The church stands between Hove and Brekka on the outer shore of the island of Tromøy. Before afforestation in the late 1900s, the church was clearly visible from the sea and served as a navigational landmark for sailors in the Skagerrak. It is marked on all nautical charts, and until 1940, the National Office for Lighthouses and Coastal Safety was responsible for painting the church's south walls white to maintain its visibility.
History
The earliest existing historical records of the church date to 1320, when a court document mentions Sira Ifvar, a priest at the church in Tromøy (then spelled Þrumu). Experts believe the church was likely built around the year 1300, though some sources suggest c. 1150. Archaeological excavations would be required for more precise dating. In Old Norwegian, the church was called Thrumu kirkja (Thrumu Church).
The medieval long church was divided in half during the 1748 rebuilding and used as the transept for a new cruciform church with a nave and choir built of wood. All walls were increased in height, and the ceiling was barrel-vaulted. The church was richly decorated with Rococo ornamentation painted by Jørgen Schultz in the 1750s. This ornamentation was painted over in the 1880s but was uncovered again during a major restoration between 1926 and 1939.
Election Church of 1814
In 1814, Tromøy Church served as an election church (Norwegian: valgkirke). Along with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it functioned as a polling station for elections to the 1814 Norwegian Constituent Assembly, which wrote the Constitution of Norway. Each church parish was a constituency that elected "electors," who later met in each county to select representatives for the assembly at Eidsvoll Manor.
Interior Elements
The church contains a medieval baptismal font carved from soapstone. The altar and pulpit date from 1725 and were created by Mogens Christian Trane. The wooden chancel screen displays the monogram of King Frederick V, flanked by lions and angels, and was carved by Ole Nilsen Weierholt, who likely also produced many other carvings in the church, including the fronts of the galleries and the confessional.
A votive ship from 1751 hangs from the ceiling. It is a model of a frigate from Copenhagen, the East Indies ship Dronningen av Danmark (Queen of Denmark). The model was given to the church by Jens Boye, a priest who served onboard one of the ship's journeys to Guangzhou, China, and later became the parish priest in Tromøy. The church also preserved an organ from c. 1750, which is now kept at the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History in Oslo.
Grotesques
The church has a reworked Romanesque portal with a pair of grotesques on the wall, one on each side. The left figure is a face with a hand pulling the beard, and the right is a face sticking out its tongue. Similar motifs exist at Hedrum Church in Vestfold and at Lunner Church, though stylistically different. A local tale claims the grotesques represent two severed heads bricked into the wall, belonging to thieves who stole the church's silver and were subsequently captured and executed.
Status
As a medieval building, Tromøy Church automatically has protected cultural heritage status under Norwegian law. It was the main church for Tromøy Municipality from 1878 until the municipality's dissolution in 1992.
