The gray, brick church was built in a Neo-Gothic cruciform design in 1885 using plans drawn up by the architect Henrik Thrap-Meyer.

[3] Kristiansand Cathedral is a Neo-Gothic church built of brick and cement in a cruciform plan with 1,750 seats.

When Kristiansand was appointed the seat of the diocese in 1682, construction began on the town's first cathedral, called Vor Frelsers Kirke (Our Saviour's Church).

The second cathedral, Vor Frues Kirke (Our Lady's Church), consecrated in 1738, was destroyed by a fire that affected the whole city, on 18 December 1880.

When the 1940 Nazi attack on Kristiansand took place early in the morning of 9 April 1940, the 70-metre (230 ft)-tall cathedral tower was hit by an artillery shell, which damaged the upper part.