Fredriksvern Church is located in the town of Stavern in the municipality of Larvik. In 1748, it was decided to build a shipyard and fleet base of the Royal Navy of Denmark-Norway in what is now the town of Stavern. The construction of the shipyard and naval base began in 1750. Soon after, plans were made to build a church for the local naval garrison. The church was designed by Michael Johan Herbst, who was commandant of the new Fredriksvern naval base, and the church was built in 1753-1756. The new church was consecrated on 31 March 1756, the birthday of King Frederik V, after whom the facility is named.
The building has a cruciform design and it is built of plastered brick and it has a hipped roof. A sacristy was built in 1760. The church is said to be a masterpiece of Rococo design in Norway. Despite this, it has a couple of quirks that were supposedly necessary to secure funding. As part of the naval base, it was supposed to be able to serve as a multipurpose building with grain storage in the attic (hence the visible air ducts in the roof). It was also supposed to function as a temporary leprosarium when needed, thus the pews had fold-down backs to become make-shift beds when needed. On the outside, it has a clockwork that was installed one year after its consecration. There were originally several clocks, but there were problems with the drive mechanism, so only the clock above the main entrance has been preserved.
The church is located just outside the naval base fortifications and it is surrounded by the cemetery, which is divided into several fields. Until 1799, the cemetery was reserved for the military and followed a strict order of rank, while civilians were buried at the nearby Tanum Church cemetery. In 1986, the Torsrød cemetery was built about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) to the west of the church, on the edge of town, to serve as the new cemetery for the church since the old cemetery was too small.
References:Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.