History
Trondhjem Norwegian Lutheran Church
Sunday School Class, about 1912
Historic Trondhjem Church is located near Lonsdale, Minnesota in Rice County. The church was built in 1899 by the Norwegian immigrant farmers who settled in what was then called Trondhjem, Minnesota and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
No longer occupied by an active church congregation, the church is now under the care and restoration of the Trondhjem Community Preservation Society, Inc.
As a wood frame country church, with a simple, elegant design and painted white, it stands on a high hill along a gravel road, visible to the rural community for miles around. Its architecture and décor are clearly rooted in the Norwegian heritage of its founders. The ancient stave churches of Norway are reflected in its modified cruciform design, with a central short tower at its apex and a larger corner tower.
The first church on the same location was erected in 1878, and the chancel in this building dates to that original church. It has no basement and rests on a fieldstone foundation. The original bell still hangs in the bell tower. The circular attic window at the front of the building was originally painted with an eye, a traditional symbol of creation, and locally referred to as the “all seeing eye.”
Constitution
On May 15, 1876, a congregation meeting took place at which a name was chosen and a constitution adopted. The name selected was “Throndhjem’s Norwegian Lutheran Church.”
The following names signed the constitution: Peder O. Berg P. Danielson James Nyhus Ole Rygg E. Nilsen Bertinus Nilsen Guttorm Nilsen N. Solberg P. Olsen E. Stratte H. Olsen Ole Matsen Herman Lyng Amund Fossum Ingegrigt Skauge Johannes Fossum Oluf Stratte A. Guttormsen Ole Hansen Ole Johnson O. Anderson E. Skauge J. Danielson Eskel Quinnell Lars Berg O. Anderson H. Grotte Ole Skauge
Trondhjem Cemetery
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places and located across the road from the Historic Trondhjem Church, the cemetery was established before the church building. On September 2, 1876, the church minutes state that the congregation came to an agreement to locate the graveyard on Johannes Fossum’s land, on the boundary between Weathland sic. and Webster townships where they expected a road would be located at some future date. The road was indeed located there, and it now passes between the church and the cemetery.
Trondhjem Cemetery Listings
Here you will find listed all burials in the Trondhjem Cemetary since its beginning in 1876, compiled by John Dalby.
Pastoral Timeline at the Historic Trondhjem
The following pastors have served at our Historic Church. If you have biographical information or photos to share on any of them, please contact Ann Pocker. We’d like to include additional details in future newsletters, and on our website.
N. E. Wikre 1876-1881
Rasmus Anderson 1881-1883
C. I. Wold 1883-1888
E. L. Aas 1889-1904
E. M. Hanson 1905-1911
G. M. Oftedal 1912-1913
B. L. Sundal 1913-1940
A. E. Windahl 1940-1941
E. A. Evenson 1941-1948
Dr. M A Helland 1943-1949
Norman Nelson 1948-1949
Maruis Haakenstad 1949-1957
Morris Vaagenes, Jr 1957-1961
Paul Ronning 1961-1965
Carl Lorenz 1965-1968
James Almquist 1969-1972
Gerald Melby 1972-1976
Ronald Schornhorst 1976-1984
Brent Christianson 1984-1989
History of Trondhjem Norwegian Lutheran Church
Dakota Indians who lived in farming and hunting villages on the shores of Union Lake and Circle Lake originally inhabited the area surrounding Trondhjem. They were the first corn farmers in this area.
The first Europeans to arrive here were Yankees and French fur traders who engaged in trading with the Indians. Norwegians began to arrive in the 1860s and 1870s. They had traveled first by sailboat across the Atlantic in voyages that varied from several weeks to three months depending upon the weather at sea. The first arrivals traveled by river on the Mississippi and St. Croix and then by horse and wagon across the land. After the railroads were built, immigrants arrived at the railroad depot in Northfield and made their way to this community to join their fellow Norwegians.
This Trondhjem area was mostly covered by heavy hardwood timber with some open prairie spaces. They cut the trees and grubbed the massive stumps from the ground with hand tools to create farm fields for their crops of wheat and other grains. The village of Trondhjem grew up on what is now Highway # 19, just below the hill east of the new Trondhjem Lutheran Church. If you imagine that life in those days meant that one day’s travel was as far as you could walk or ride with a horse, then you can understand that the local community was very close-knit and the village was the gathering place for the farmer-settlers. The village had a creamery, blacksmith shop, and three general stores with one of them housing the post office. Every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon the mail was brought by horseback from Northfield to Pete Anderson’s house, which contained the store and post office. The farmers would then swarm into town to get their mail and visit with their neighbors.
The downfall of Trondhjem Village began in 1902 when the railroad bypassed it and the railroad company platted and established the city of Lonsdale. Newspaper ads from that time advise interested real estate buyers to pick up information about lots in the new town of Lonsdale at the Trondhjem post office.
The Norwegian settlers brought their Lutheran faith with them and met for worship in one another’s homes or the one-room Knowles schoolhouse. On May 15, 1876,about 90 people met at the home of Jens Nyhus to formally organize “Throndhjem’s Norwegian Lutheran Church.” After resolving to buy two books, one for the minutes and the other for the church register, a constitution was adopted, the name was chosen, trustees were elected and a committee was appointed to “investigate a convenient place for a graveyard.”
The cemetery spot chosen is the one still in use today. One reason noted in the early records for choosing this spot was its location on the township line between Wheatland and Webster Townships–people speculated that a road would be built here in the future. They were correct and the road was soon in place. In 1878 the first church was built where the present church stands, across the road from the cemetery. Twenty years later structural problems developed with the building and they needed more space. After months of controversy among the members over the question of whether to remodel or totally rebuild they finally resolved to build a new church, which was completed for Christmas in 1899. They preserved and incorporated the chancel from the first church and apparently reused many of the original materials in building the church we have today.
The design of this building is inspired by the medieval Norwegian stave church, with a cruciform floor plan and a central steeple at the apex of the roof. The builder was Marcus Holm, a Norwegian immigrant living in Minneapolis, who had friends and ties to this community. His brother, Julius Holm, produced the altar painting. We don’t have documentation, but speculation is that Julius Holm or members of the Holm family did all the interior painting.
