Norwegian Lutheran Church (Grytviken, South Georgia)

Norwegian Lutheran Church
The Norwegian Lutheran Church in Grytviken, in 2004
Location	Grytviken, South Georgia South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Built	1913

Church in c.1915

Norwegian Lutheran Church, also known as the Whalers Church and as Grytviken Church, in Grytviken, South Georgia, was built in 1913 and was part of the Church of Norway.

The church had a cameo appearance in the 2006 animated film Happy Feet.

History and architecture

The Neo-Gothic church was pre-built in Norway and erected in Grytviken by whalers led by Carl Anton Larsen around 1912-1913 and consecrated on Christmas Day 1913.

The church consists of a single nave leading to a small altar. A small library is attached to the side near the altar.^[1] Inside, worshippers (and now visitors) are seated on long wood benches. The floor's dark wood planks contrast with the white walls and celling. A second floor is accessible from a staircase at the front entrance. From the second floor, visitors can view the nave or look outside.

This typical Norwegian church, one of the most southern churches on earth, was consecrated on Christmas Day in 1913. In 1922, a funeral service for Sir Ernest Shackleton was conducted in this church before his burial amongst 64 others in the church cemetery.^[2] The cemetery, located approximately 700 metres (2,300 ft) to the south on the other end of Grytviken Harbour, also holds empty graves for lost whalers at sea.^[3][4]

The church was heated by a stove at the front, though this was decommissioned during the last major refurbishment of the building on safety grounds.

There are two church bells that can be rung.

Pastor

The church was led by Kristen Løken, from 1913 to 1914. Løken was born in 1885 in Lillehammer and was made Pastor of South Georgia and arrived in 1912 to take his post. He was responsible for supervising the building of the church building as well. Løken left his church in 1914 and was the only pastor for this church. Løken died in 1975.

Grytviken Cemetery

The Grytviken Cemetery, associated with the church, is located about 700 metres (2,300 ft) away to the south. As a burial site, it predates the church, having whalers' graves before 1902. It holds 64 graves, including for nine from 1912 when a typhoid epidemic hit the whaling station, for Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922), for the 2011-interred ashes of fellow polar explorer Frank Wild (1873-1939), for Félix Artuso, an Argentinian submarine officer who was killed in the 1982 British recapture of South Georgia from Argentina.^{[5] [6] [7] [8] [9]}

Restoration and maintenance

Interior, in 2011

In April, 1982, during the invasion of South Georgia by Argentinian military forces, members of a British Antarctic Survey team were invited by British marines to take shelter in the church.^[10]

After years of abandonment and weathering the harsh elements of the region (roof damaged in 1994), the church has been renovated by the keepers of South Georgia Museum and volunteers in 1996 - 1998 and now serves for occasional church services and marriage ceremonies.^[11]

See also

• Trinity Church (Antarctica) located south of Grytviken in Antarctica
• South Georgia Museum - one of a few active structures in town
• Løken Pond - named for the church's only pastor

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Grytviken kirke.

• Grytviken Cemetery

Coordinates: 54°16′48″S 36°30′37″W / 54.28000°S 36.51028°W / -54.28000; -36.51028