Welcome to the Nordic American Churches Database

This website and database is part of Preserving Nordic American Churches, a project of Partners for Sacred Places. The project seeks to lift the profile of Nordic American churches — those with cultural roots in immigration from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and  Sweden. Our database focuses on buildings located in North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (a geographic area determined by our funder).

Partners for Sacred Places, founded in 1989, is the only national, non-sectarian, nonprofit organization dedicated to sound stewardship and active community use of older sacred places across America. Through this searchable online inventory, Partners seeks to build awareness and encourage study, support, and preservation of Nordic American churches.

From Left: window surround, Hallson Icelandic Church, Cavalier, ND; rosemaling, Our Savior’s Lutheran-Campia, Rice Lake, WI; metal gate “Come to God’s House” (in Norwegian), Waterloo Ridge Lutheran, Dorchester,  IA; window by Abraham Schuler Art Glass (Chicago) representing the work of local masons, Bethany Lutheran, Covington, MI; midsommar pole and festival, Dalesburg Lutheran, Vermillion, SD; aebleskivers, Our Savior’s Lutheran, Viborg, SD; altar surround carved by Jens Rasmussen, Immanuel Lutheran, Kimballton, IA; Sankta Lucia celebration with Whitney Lindgren as Lucia, Augustana Lutheran, Sioux City, IA.