Narvik Church is situated in a park area between the streets Kirkegata and Parkgata in the part of town called Frydenlund, on the western edge of the town centre. This area is primarily characterised by low-rising wooden buildings from the 1920s and 1930s. Frydenlund is one of the few areas, which was largely spared during the destruction of 1940. The church was designed by Professor Johan Olaf Nordhagen (1883-1925), who was also a cathedral architect in Trondheim. Narvik Church was one of his last works. It is a long church with three naves, has a narrow annexed choir in the east, and a large steeple annexed to the west side. The sacristy and a small chapel are situated in a wide, low-rising ring around the choir. One characteristic aspect of the church is the use of natural stonewalls on the façade and its form of expression, reflective of the Middle Age period. There are elements inspired by Romanesque stone architecture.

The elongated church has a rectangular structural shell, is terminated with a slate covered saddle roof, and has tall and narrow windows in the nave. Bevelled pediments mark the gables, a feature derived from Classical architecture. The rose windows in the choir and in the nave have small fields of glass, formed like a cinquefoil. The steeple has a tall and slender steeple crown which stands on a short pyramid. Copper covers the steeple crown.

Up until the consecration of the church, the assembly hall for the railway served as an interior church, from 1900 until 1925. Eventually the parish grew too large for the space of the assembly hall, and in 1913 work started with site proposals and drawings for a new church. In 1914 drawings were submitted by Professor Nordhagen for a two-storied church with a seating capacity of 1,000. However the outbreak of the World War I brought the town into economic crisis. Therefore the large and costly church project was abandoned. In 1922 Nordhagen was contacted again. This time he formulated new plans for a church that was smaller than the first design from 1913. Construction lasted until 1924, and the new church was completed in 1925.

1924 - 1925

Johan Olaf Nordhagen

Narvik Parish

Church

Brickwork

concrete

stone

church

brickwork

concrete

stone

tower

natural stone wall

rose window

steeple

Blomlie, Trond: Vandringer i Narvik: en tur blant det som var, og det som er, pp. 58-59, Narvik 2002.

Eldal, Jens Christian og Jiri Havran: Kirker i Norge, bind 3, Med historiske forbilder, pp. 226-229, Oslo 2002.

Haugen, Odd: Narvik og kirken, Narvik kirke 75 år, Narvik 2000.