Ålesund Church
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The first church in Ålesund was built in 1854 and was situated in the same place at the church is today. It remained there for exactly 50 years, until it burned in the large city fire in 1904, as, even if it was made of stone, fire blew in from above, and the church burned from the inside. To decide how the new church should, an architectural competition was announced. A total of 63 suggestions were entered. After long discussion, the drawings of Sverre Knudsen were decided upon. He was told to modernise the drawings somewhat, to make the church look a bit more Protestant, rather than maintain the Catholic look it had in the drawings. In July 1906, King Haakon VII himself came to Ålesund to lay the foundation stone, so that the work could start in earnest. After three years, on September 15th, 1909, the church was ready to be consecrated. Among the guests were representatives from the Norwegian King, as well as from the German Kaiser, Wilhelm II. The interior has been modernised since then, but the exterior is still the same, more than 100 years later.