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Restoration history 1869 - 2001
Since 1869 the Restoration Workshop of Nidaros Cathedral has carried out the reconstruction and maintenance of the Cathedral. Heinrich Ernst Schirmer was the architect who started the restoration He attached special importance to establishing the construction workshop, employing stonemasons and other craftsmen.
After many years of work dedicated to getting the restoration started, Schirmer only managed to carry out the work on the Chapter House before he was replaced by the architect Chr. Christie in 1872. The work that took place during his period was primarily concentrated on the eastern sections of the Cathedral, including the tower and transept. It was also decided to rebuild the nave and the arcades. Christie was succeeded by another architect, Olaf Nordhagen, in 1908. Six years later the building workshop moved out of the church and into the workshop buildings north of the Cathedral. Fifty stonemasons worked here, and at its peak there were almost 90 workers in the staff. |
The design of the West Front was very challenging, as very little remained of the old masonry. There were delays and Nordhagen died in 1925. A competition for the design of the West Front was announced, and thanks to the Olav Anniversary in 1930, the work was continued. Helge Thiis won a competition used to choose a successor and was hired as the architect in 1928.
The Nave was finished in 1930, and the West Front with the towers was completed in 1965. When Thiis died in 1972, the Cathedral had been rebuilt, even though the last West Front statue, the Apostle John, was not put in place until 1983 and the final arch inside the north-west front tower will not be erected until 2001. |
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