Østre Fredrikstad Church Is located in the Old Town of Fredrikstad , where it was erected after the fire in 1764 and inaugurated on 22 September 1779. It is the parish church of the East Fredrikstad congregation, while until 1883 was the parish church of the whole city and known as the "Fredrikstad church". The church is 40.5 m long and 30.5 m wide, and accommodates 650 seats. The main entrance is from the west towards Kirkegaten, but it also has entrances to each of the side ships.
The church is the seventh that has stood in the same place since Fredrikstad was founded in 1567. The first church in Fredrikstad must have been listed already shortly after the city was founded in 1567. We know little about it, except that it burned in 1570 and again in 1572 after Swedish attack on the city. Probably, it has turned out about a wooden church. New church was ready in 1582 when Bishop Jens Nilssøn on 19. September this year held visitation at church. A royal letter from 1581 gave Fredrikstad's citizens the right to take the stone from the johannittermonastery at Værne in Rygge to the construction of new church buildings. The monastery church at Værne was listed in brick, but it is uncertain whether the stone from here was used only to foundations or also to walls. The church from 1582 burned again in 1653. The new church, again a wooden church, was finished in 1670, and became the victim of the great Fire of the 1672. The next church building was not clear until 1689, but was in return erected in masonry with the vaults of wood and was a cross church. Among other things, Christian V during his visit to the city in 1685 donated 1000 Rikshas to construction. Unfortunately, the church was again struck by the great Fire of 1690, and the roofs and fixtures were destroyed. The brickwork was largely preserved and could be used in the new Church, which stood ready in 1697. The building was listed after the Dutch style ideals, including with stair gable ends and sadeltak, and was painted in Ochre yellow and red. Vesttårn was built in 1740 and was completed in 1751. The church fell into disrepair throughout the 1700 's, and from 1760 until the fire in 1764 was the church services held in rådstuen.
The fire in 1764 destroyed the church, while the tower could greatly be used in the new. Since the Council also went into the fire, the Attic floor of Provianthuset (which lay until the violence at Prince George's bastion) was used as a temporary church until the new was completed in 1779. Probably also this church has been plastered and painted okergul. The spire was taken down in 1833 and replaced with a low tower hat (see picture below). New spire was re-erected in 1874, when the church otherwise underwent major interior changes.
SOURCES:
Dehli, Martin: Fredrikstad City History, vol. 1 and 2, Fredrikstad 1964
Nygård-Nissen, Arne: "The Church" in Fredrikstad. Old Town and Fortress, Oslo 1934
http://www.norgeskirker.no/wiki/Østre_Fredrikstad_kirke