Closely related to Holmenkollen Chapel was Fortidsminneforeningen. This association was established in 1844 with several painters as initiators. It was primarily the painter Johan Christian Dahl who spoke in favour of a stave church. The association was the birthplace of a young generation of Norwegian architects around the turn of the 20th century, reviving the tradition of Norwegian wooden architecture. They searched back to the early Middle Ages, when Norway had its Golden Age. They emphasized identity and their own history, nature and architecture. Holmenkollen Chapel was a direct result of the young generation of architects' emerging awareness of this heritage.
