The building
The wooden cathedral of Tromsø
Who built Tromsø Cathedral, what it is made of, what stood on the site before it, and what to look at inside before the concert begins.
Reserve a place in the yellow church ↗Quick answer
Tromsø Cathedral is a timber church designed by Christian Heinrich Grosch in the Gothic Revival style and completed in 1861. Wikipedia describes it as the only Norwegian Protestant cathedral built of wood. It stands in a park in the city centre, on a site where churches have stood since the Middle Ages, and the Midnight Concert is held inside it.
A diocese and its cathedral
The Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland was established in 1844, and its cathedral in Tromsø was completed in 1861, after the commission went to the architect in 1859. The church is the headquarters of the Tromsø deanery and of the diocese, which is what makes it a cathedral in the formal sense. It is also a listed Norwegian cultural heritage site, and it remains an active church, with services and concerts held in the same room.
Built of timber, clad in boards
Store norske leksikon describes the construction as laftet tømmer, log timber, with board cladding. The architect was Christian Heinrich Grosch, who drew nearly 80 churches and designed this as one of his last. The style is Gothic Revival, a long church with rosettes and trefoil shapes that are more Gothic in character than his usual timber churches. The tower and main entrance are at the west end. Visit Tromsø bills it as Northern Europe's largest wooden cathedral.
What stood here before
Tromsø has probably had a church on this site since the thirteenth century. Wikipedia records a first church built by King Haakon IV as a royal chapel, with medieval records calling it St Mary's near the Heathens. A church built in 1711 was replaced in 1803, and that church was moved out of the city in 1860 to make way for the present cathedral. It was moved again in the early 1970s, to the site of what is now Elverhøy Church.
The altar and the glass
The altar is dominated by a copy of Adolph Tidemand's painting of the Resurrection. The original hangs in Bragernes Church in Drammen, and the Tromsø copy was made in 1884. Beneath it is a quotation from the Gospel of John in Norwegian, meaning I am the resurrection and the life. The glass paintings in the choir are twentieth-century work. The pulpit is as old as the building, with later painted ornaments, so it is worth looking at while the audience settles.
Two organs
The church has two organs. The original was built by Claus Jensen, ordered in 1860 and installed by Easter 1863, and it was restored in 2013 and 2014 by a Norwegian organ-building firm. A second organ, built by the German firm Mühleisen, was installed in 2017 and is fully electric. The Midnight Concert is built around voices and a few instruments, so the organs may not feature, but they are part of the room you are sitting in.
Why it feels different from a stone church
A wooden church is a different kind of room from the stone cathedrals most visitors know. The walls are timber and the ceiling is painted boards. Photographs show pale ceilings, wooden beams and chandeliers, with galleries running down both sides. It is a warm, light room, closer in feeling to a large hall than to a medieval cathedral. That suits a short concert in which a few musicians can fill the space, and it explains why the yellow church is worth seeing for its own sake.
Read next: Tromsø Cathedral concert guide
Who this isn't for
If you want a guided visit of the church, with its history explained, this concert ticket does not provide one. It admits you to the building for the concert, and the music is the point. If you want to look at the architecture in detail, arrive with some reading done, and use this guide and its sources. The concert does not include a tour, and daytime opening is for the parish to announce.
Frequently asked questions
When was Tromsø Cathedral built?
It was completed in 1861 to designs by Christian Heinrich Grosch, in the Gothic Revival style.
Is Tromsø Cathedral made of wood?
Yes. It is built of timber with board cladding and painted yellow. Wikipedia describes it as the only Norwegian Protestant cathedral made of wood.
What is the painting above the altar?
A copy, made in 1884, of Adolph Tidemand's painting of the Resurrection. The original is in Bragernes Church in Drammen.
Does the cathedral have an organ?
It has two: an original one from the 1860s, restored in 2013 and 2014, and a Mühleisen organ installed in 2017.
Is it still an active church?
Yes. It is the cathedral of the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland and holds services as well as concerts.
Sources