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Construction
Construction of Storkyrkan
Lutheran cathedral in Stockholm
- 13th century – 13th century
- Europe
Construction
Lutheran cathedral in Stockholm
Fetching the article from Wikipedia…
Storkyrkan (Swedish: [ˈstûːrˌɕʏrkan], lit. 'The Great Church'), also called Stockholms domkyrka (Stockholm Cathedral) and Sankt Nikolai kyrka (Church of Saint Nicholas), is the oldest church in Stockholm. Storkyrkan lies in the centre of Stockholm in Gamla stan, between Stockholm Palace and Stortorget, the old main square of Stockholm. It was dedicated to Saint Nicholas in 1306 but construction of the church probably started in the 13th century. Inside, Storkyrkan still maintains much of its late medieval appearance in the form of a hall church with a vaulted ceiling supported by brick pillars. The exterior of the church is however uniformly Baroque in appearance, the result of extensive changes made in the 18th century. The church played an important role during the Reformation in Sweden as the place where Mass was celebrated in Swedish for the first time. It currently serves as the seat of the Bishop of Stockholm within the Church of Sweden since the creation of the Diocese of Stockholm in 1942.
Storkyrkan was for a long time the only parish church of Stockholm, and from an early date it was connected with the Swedish royal family. It has been the scene of historical events on numerous occasions, and was used as a coronation church for centuries. More recently, the wedding between Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling took place in the church in 2010. Military victories as well as national tragedies have been commemorated in Storkyrkan, and it is still used for funerals of public figures such as the writers Astrid Lindgren and Sara Danius.
The church contains several important works of art as well as elaborate furnishings, among these a late medieval sculpture of Saint George and the Dragon and Vädersolstavlan, a painting which shows one of the earliest images of Stockholm.
Storkyrkan is the oldest church in Stockholm and was originally the parish church of the entire city, and as such was built at the very centre of the medieval city. It lies at the highest point of Gamla stan, wedged between the Stock Exchange Building and Stockholm Palace. The church, together with the palace, Stortorget and the first town hall of Stockholm (located on the site of the present stock exchange building), formed the heart of the earliest urban development. While the interior of the church still retains much of its medieval appearance, the exterior of the church is largely the result of changes made in the 18th century. Together with the Royal Palace, the Axel Oxenstierna palace, Slottsbacken and its obelisk, and the Tessin Palace, it is part of a coherent ensemble of Baroque architecture. It has been described as an "irreplaceable" part of the cityscape of Stockholm.
Storkyrkan is surrounded on three sides by streets (Trångsund to the west, Storkyrkobrinken and Högvaktsterrassen to the north and Slottsbacken to the east). A courtyard is located immediately south of the church. On the opposite side the courtyard faces the back of the stock exchange buildings, and two small pavilions, designed by Erik Palmstedt as wings of the stock exchange, were actually built as the burial chapel and coach-house of the church. They were built in 1767. To the west and east the courtyard is limited by walls, with openings through wrought iron gates. The posts of both gates were originally decorated with allegorical statues, although only the couple on the west gate are still in place. These two statues probably depict Reason (on the south post) and Divine Love (on the north post), and were made by Peter Schultz in 1675. The statues formerly on the posts of the east gate depict females symbolising Caution and Hope. The pair was made in 1702 by Daniel Kortz.
Another statue, depicting the Swedish reformer Olaus Petri, stands adjacent to the east facade of the church. It faces Slottsbacken and forms part of the church ensemble even though it is not formally connected to Storkyrkan. It was inaugurated in 1898 and made by Theodor Lundberg. In the pavement next to the east facade there are also lines which mark the former extent of a church choir, demolished during the reign of King Gustav Vasa.
The presence of a church in Stockholm was indicated for the first time in 1279. The consecration of the city church is furthermore mentioned in 1306, making Storkyrkan the oldest church in Stockholm. The earliest history of the church is thus somewhat unclear: Stockholm was founded in the middle of the 13th century and it has been considered unlikely that the city would not have a functioning church until 1306. Tradition also holds that Birger Jarl founded the church. It is therefore possible that the church inaugurated in 1306 was preceded by another church, or that it was under construction for a long time, or perhaps re-dedicated in 1306. Regardless, the oldest parts of the current building probably belong to the church which was inaugurated in 1306. During the entire Middle Ages, the main patron saint of the church was Saint Nicholas. Several churches in the Baltic region from the 13th century are dedicated to Saint Nicholas, especially in cities where the Hanseatic League had a presence, as was the case in Stockholm. The church was also dedicated to Saint Mary and Saint Eric. The church remained the only parish church of Stockholm, serving the entire city, until the 1590s. In general, the medieval history of the church building is complex and difficult to determine in detail. There are few written sources, and a lack of ornaments has made it difficult to draw any conclusions about the age of the different parts on stylistic grounds.
Originally, the church appears to have consisted of a nave with two aisles. It had a wooden ceiling supported by six pillars. The building material was brick. The main entrance was probably located to the west, though side entrances may have existed in the north and south walls. Stylistically, the church was part of a group of brick churches built in the area around Lake Mälaren at the time, including Strängnäs Cathedral, St. Mary's Church, Sigtuna and Skokloster Church. The church was successively rebuilt and enlarged during the 14th and 15th centuries. Embellishing the church was a way for both the monarchs of Sweden and the citizens of Stockholm to demonstrate their power and influence.
A donation to the church in 1346 by King Magnus IV and his wife Blanche of Namur probably indicates that the first of a number of chapels had been added to the church. This chapel was originally dedicated to Saint Mary and was located at the south side of the east end of the church. The four bays that belonged to the chapel are still discernible in the interior of Storkyrkan. Similar chapels were built at approximately the same time at Visby Cathedral and St. Mary's Church, Lübeck. The chapel was decorated with Early Gothic murals in a style unusual for Swedish churches (later heavily restored). A second chapel was added to the church sometime before 1361, and further chapels were built during the early 15th century. By the end of the Middle Ages, Storkyrkan contained more than 30 chapels or specifically dedicated altarpieces, an amount only comparable with the cathedrals of medieval Sweden. The church thus grew piecemeal by the addition of chapels. Another set of murals, painted by Albertus Pictor and decorating the south west vaults (the paintings are currently not visible from the floor of the church) was also added during the 15th century. Between 1474 and 1496, a major reconstruction of the church was carried out which then incorporated these chapels into a single, unified space and installed new vaults, creating a uniformly high ceiling. The church was at approximately the same time also substantially expanded toward the east, while a choir was also added. This was partially because the church had become too small for the growing population of the city. The choir was demolished during the 16th century. The tower was also built in the early 15th century and was originally intended mainly as a defensive tower. By the end of the 15th century Storkyrkan had acquired the basic shape and size that it still has.
During the 16th century, the Reformation in Sweden led to important changes for the church. Catholicism was abandoned and Lutheranism was adopted. The state confiscated much of the property of the church, including large amounts of silver from the chapels and altars of Storkyrkan. Although Lutheran Sweden as a whole did not suffer from any extensive outbreaks of iconoclasm during the Reformation as occurred in other parts of Europe, some of the formerly Catholic sculptures of the church were vandalised. When Christian II of Denmark resided in Stockholm in 1520, the church was fortified, a reflection of the political tensions which, among other things, led to the Stockholm Bloodbath in 1521. Adam van Düren was responsible for these works, and he also made an allegorical sculpture adorning the base of one of the pillars of the church. It depicts a male and a female lion and an eel, together with a satirical inscription of dubious meaning. Some further changes to the pillars, vaults and walls of the church were made during the reign of King John III in order to further harmonise the interior space.
During the 18th century, the facade of Storkyrkan underwent far-reaching changes. The medieval exterior was completely transformed into a Baroque exterior. Nicodemus Tessin the Younger had put forward a proposal to remake the facade in a more contemporary style. In 1736, Johan Eberhard Carlberg was employed to oversee repairs of the church tower. Relatively soon, the commission expanded to a complete overhaul of the exterior and a new tower spire. Both Carlberg and Carl Hårleman, who had succeeded Nicodemus Tessin the Younger as architect of the Royal Palace, instantly produced numerous proposals for a new tower spire, further indicating that the idea of modernising the exterior had been entertained for some time. Particularly Hårleman seems to have viewed the issue from the standpoint that the church should be stylistically incorporated in the palace surroundings. The two architects accused each other's designs for the church spire to have technical problems. In the end, Carlberg's fourth proposal for a new spire, which was a compromise between his own and Hårleman's ideas, was adopted and Carlberg also designed the other changes to the facade. This transformation of the exterior of the church from a Gothic to a Baroque building was carried out between 1736 and 1745. The exterior seen today is still largely the result of Carlberg's work.
Further changes were made later in the same century, when architect Erik Palmstedt in 1777 redesigned the south side of the church courtyard in connection with the building of the stock exchange building on Stortorget. At the same time, he also designed the stairwell attached to the south side of the tower, at the west end of the church; the stairwell was finished in 1778. These and some other additions, later demolished, further underlined the Classical appearance of the church and its surroundings, in contrast to its medieval roots. King Gustav III of Sweden wanted to go even further, demolish the entire church and replace it with a new church inspired by the Pantheon in Rome.
The windows were equipped with new, wrought-iron tracery in Neo-Gothic style in the 1860s. Some further changes, not least in order to increase the fire safety of the church, were carried out during the late 19th century. A more thorough renovation was done in 1903–1909 under the guidance of architect Ernst Stenhammar. Among other things, the whitewash which had covered the brick pillars and walls was removed, and the interior has been characterised by the exposed brick since then. It was done as an attempt to recreate a more "medieval" interior, but in fact the interior had probably always been whitewashed. Another comprehensive renovation was carried out 1952–54. The church was raised to the status of cathedral for the newly formed Diocese of Stockholm in 1942.
Storkyrkan has been the venue of important events in the history of Sweden. The growing wealth and influence of Stockholm during the Middle Ages, and the church's vicinity to the Royal Palace, attracted the attention of both the Archbishop of Uppsala and the monarchs of Sweden. The archbishop occasionally appointed a special representative to the church, and frequently intervened in local church matters. On at least one occasion, in 1338, a bishop (Hemming of Turku) was ordained in Storkyrkan.
The Reformation in Sweden was at least partly born in Storkyrkan: it was here that Lutheranism was publicly preached for the first time in Sweden and Storkyrkan was at the same time the first church in Sweden where Mass was celebrated in Swedish (instead of Latin), in 1525. One of the main advocates of the Reformation in Sweden, Olaus Petri, then served as a priest in Storkyrkan. As Storkyrkan from then on was used exclusively by the Swedish-speaking congregation of Stockholm, the sizeable German and Finnish-speaking congregations also moved out to the German Church and a chapel in the town hall, respectively.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Storkyrkan”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.