Bergen Part III: Av Kirker og Kristoferer (Of Churches and Kristofers)

This is the third in a four part series on my trip to Bergen, on Norway's west coast. If you'd like to start over at the beginning, you can find the first post here:
http://kristofergoestonorway.blogspot.no/2012/07/bergen-part-1-go-west-young-man.html

The Altar, Pulpit and Organ in Nykirke (The New Church)

Saturday, after a short walking tour of the city, we had from 11 in the morning until 7 in the evening free, and so I decided to indulge myself a little and visit the churches in the old section of Bergen, down by the water. There are five large, Lutheran churches in the parish of Bergen, within fifteen minutes walking of each other. One of them, Mariakirke (Mary's Church), is closed for renovation until 2015, so that gave me four churches to visit that afternoon. My first stop was Nykirke (the New Church), on the south side of the harbor, two blocks from the water. After I had gone inside and looked around for a little bit, I asked the lady who was showing another couple around the church whether I could take pictures. She said yes, and asked where I was from, and when I said I go to school in Minnesota, she got excited and introduced me to her husband. Her husband was a retired pastor, who grew up in Long Beach, graduated from PLU and Luther Seminary, St. Paul, and served several parishes in southwest Wisconsin (it's a small world isn't it?). I had a pleasant chat with him (although he did make fun of me a little for being from "cream of the crop" St. Olaf), and also with the pastor when he showed up.

Johanneskirke (St. John's Church) towering over the Bergen skyline.

My next stop was Johanneskirke (St. John's Church), a little to the south, referred to in the city as the big, red church. Johanneskirke is the tallest building in Bergen and was probably the most impressive of all the church's I visited, richly decorated and featuring quite a bit of woodwork (the other churches are mainly stone). In addition to the rich beauty, Johanneskirke stands at the top of a steep hill and so getting to the church requires a climb up stairs like a penitent going up to St. Peter's in Rome (or at least that's how I felt going up. Never having been to Rome, I can't say whether it's really actually the same).

The Altar i Johanneskirken

Halfway done with my pilgrimage, I headed northwest towards Korskirke (the Church of the Cross). Korskirke was unusual among the four churches I saw in a couple different ways. First off, it was the only church with any people buried outside of it, a fact made even more unusual by its location in the middle of downtown. Graves aside, Korskirke was the only of the four churches that was more impressive on the outside than the inside. Its richly carved stone exterior is a stark contrast to its drab, pale interior. 

The front door of Korskirke

After bidding Korskirke adieu, I headed up the hill towards my final stop, Den bergenske domkirken (the Bergen Cathedral). Now, Kristofer was and is a relatively common name in Norway (however, now it's generally spelled Kristoffer), and so it seems a rather safe guess that many other Kristofers had set foot in the Bergen Cathedral before I did that grey afternoon. While I'm sure that many of those other Kristofers were swell fellows, only one of them was the reason my visit to the cathedral was especially meaningful for me.

The doors to the sanctuary

As many of you know, I am a quarter Norwegian. Half of my Norwegian lineage, the Sethres, comes from Eidsvoll, north of Oslo (where the constitution was signed), but the other half, the Tvedts, is pure Bergen stock, and the last of them to leave Norway was the Kristofer our story is concerned with. Kristofer Olai Nilsen Tvedt, the son of shopkeeper Nils Kristofersen Tvedt, was born in Bergen the 8th of June, 1884, and (more importantly for this narrative) was baptized in the Bergen Cathedral a month later, on the 6th of July. And after a round about journey, 128 years later, his namesake (me!) walked back through those same doors. I though it was pretty nifty, and it's probably been the highlight of my time here in Norway so far.

The high altar in the cathedral, the back piece carved of stone.