Until 1904, Tampere belonged to the parish of
Messukylä. The main church of the parish was the old greystone church of Messukylä. As early as the 1820s, the people of Tampere had demanded the establishment of their own city church and their release from the maintenance of the Messukylä Church, but in the end the
Finnish Senate rejected the proposal. The Turku Judicial Chapter also rejected similar proposals in 1847 and 1853. In 1869, the Senate finally approved the proposal, but imposed two conditions. According to the second condition, the
pastor of Messukylä had to be “resigned”, i.e. the vacancy to be filled. However, Josef Grönberg, who started as the pastor of Messukylä in 1861, lived to be almost 90 years old and did not die until 1903. Another of the conditions set by the Senate was the construction of a new church building. The church was consecrated on
Advent in 1881, when it became the main church of the Tampere City Parish. The
fire almost completely destroyed the church in 1937, when its first renovation was nearing completion. However, the work was completed and the repair was completed in December 1938. ==References==