Wollert Krohn-Hansen

Who is Wollert Krohn-Hansen?

Wollert Krohn-Hansen was a Norwegian theologian and pastor. He was the Bishop of the Diocese of Hålogaland from 1940 until 1952, and was instrumental in dividing it into two smaller dioceses. After the division of the diocese, he was appointed as the first Bishop of the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland from 1952 until his retirement in 1959.

In 1914, he received his Cand.theol. degree from the MF Norwegian School of Theology in Oslo. In 1915 he began his career as a parish priest in Værøy and Røst. He worked there until 1922 when he moved to Ofoten. From 1929 until 1936 he was the priest of Narvik. From 1936 until 1940 he was the priest of Tromsø Cathedral. In 1940, fourteen days before the German invasion of Norway, he was named the Bishop of the Diocese of Hålogaland. In 1952, his diocese was divided into two new dioceses: Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland and Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland. Krohn-Hansen then moved from Tromsø to Bodø to lead the new Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland. The northern diocese used the Tromsø Cathedral as its headquarters, but the new diocese in the south didn't have its own cathedral. The new Bodø Cathedral was built and it was consecrated in 1956 by Krohn-Hansen. He retired in 1959 and served in some interim pastoral work during his retirement. Krohn-Hansen died in 1973.