Valberg Church

The first church at Valberg was built around 1660 on a site near the present church site (but not the same site). It shared a priest with Buksnes Church until 1740 when it was transferred to the Borge prestegjeld (parish). In 1749, the church was destroyed during a powerful storm. In 1752, a new Valberg Church was completed, but not on the same site as before (it was built on the present church site). The church was a long church with no tower or sacristy. The walls were painted red with a tarred roof. Later, a tower was added to the roof.[1][2][3]

In 1814, this church served as an election church (Norwegian: valgkirke).[4] 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.[4][5]

This church building was destroyed in a storm in 1818. A third church building was completed the next year in 1819. That church was used until 1888 when a new church (the present church) was built right next to the previous church. The church was constructed for about 16,700 kr and it was consecrated on 12 September 1889. The old church was torn down in 1890. There were extensive renovations done on the building in the early 1950s.[2][3]

Priests

The following priests have served the church:[3]

1665–1670: Carl Olufsen Brock 1670–1718: Hans Hansen Jentoft 1718–1738: Christopher Normann 1738–1750: Melchior Meldal 1750–1751: Leonard Sidenius 1752–1756: Jakob Krefting 1756–1770: Jonas Sidenius 1771–1778: Knud Juel 1778–1780: Jørgen Grach 1789–1792: Elias Schønning Dreyer 1792–1834: Henning Johannes Irgins 1834–1844: Hans Nicolai Wraamann 1845–1857: Arent Uchermann 1857–1870: Christian August Heyerdal 1870–1877: Søren Koch 1877–1882: Olaf H. Skattebøl 1882–1883: H. Warholm 1883–1888: M.V. Echhoff 1888–1895: Søren H.H. Swensen 1895–1907: Hans D.W. Smith 1907–1908: Lars R. Landmark 1908–1912: S.S. Gramstad 1913–1920: H.J. Knardahl 1920–1926: J.O. Bang 1926–1947: Hans Søvik 1948–1958: Ole Robert Kirkerød 1959–1969: Sigurd J. Sivertsen 1969–1976: Asbjørn Bjarne Reknes 1976–1977: Ivar Ruud 1977–1982: Knut Are Anton Eikrem 1982–1983: Trygve Knutsen 1983–2003: Harold Holtermannn 2003–2009: Uffe Kronborg 2010-2011: Jan Sahl 2012-2015: Aud Sigurdsen Since 2015: Trond Gran

^ "Valberg kirkested / Valberg kirke 1" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage. Retrieved 28 March 2021. ^ a b "Valberg kirkested" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage. Retrieved 28 March 2021. ^ a b c "Valberg Kirke" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 7 July 2012. ^ a b "Valgkirkene". LokalHistorieWiki.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 28 March 2021. ^ "Om valgene". Valgene i 1814 (in Norwegian). Arkivverket. Retrieved 28 March 2021.