Church silver from Honningsvåg found in Marseille

Honningsvåg from 1947. The church stood again as the only building after the war.Honningsvåg (Magerøya) from 1947. The church stood again as the only building after the war.. Photo: Aktuell / Scanpix

Under 2. World War II German soldiers burned down Honningsvåg and emptied the Church of all silver.

Now some of it  is on its way back after it appeared at an antiqueshop in Marseille.

An art dealer in Alesund got wind that the antique dealer had two silver goblets that could be interesting.
– I want to give the silver to Honningsvåg church as a gift,  art dealer Nils Arild Nygård says to NRK news.
The church silver which appeared in the French port city have the inscription “Honningsvåg Church – 1939”.

I have a good contact in Marseille. He tipped me off that he had two cups of Norwegian silver. He sent me pictures of them. I was very surprised when I saw that they had the inscription “Honningsvåg church,”  Nygård says.
And there is great joy in the town in Nordkapp municipality in Finnmark.
– This is a big surprise for us. We never considered the possibility that any of the objects stolen from us could ever return. Now we are very happy,  churchwarden Jürgen Novack in the Nordkapp congregation says.
Everything indicates that Honningsvåg Church had far more church silver than the two goblets for the Lord’s Supper that has been found. Both candlesticks, silver and more accessories may be among the objects taken away during World War II. Everything probably disappeared in  the same way and may still be present somewhere in Europe.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today