Gustaf Church, Copenhagen

Gustaf Church

The church seen from the street
55°41′32″N 12°35′24″E / 55.69222°N 12.59000°ECoordinates: 55°41′32″N 12°35′24″E / 55.69222°N 12.59000°E
Location 4 Folke Bernadottes Allé
Østerbro, Copenhagen
Country Denmark
Denomination Protestant
Architecture
Status Church
Architect(s) Theodor Wåhlin
Architectural type Church
Style Jugendstil
Groundbreaking 1908
Completed 1911
Specifications
Materials Brick
Administration
Province Church of Sweden Abroad

Gustaf Church (Swedish: Svenska Gustafskyrkan), part of the Church of Sweden Abroad, is the church of the Swedish congregation in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was built from 1807 to 1911 to the design of Theodor Wåhlin and is named after King Gustaf V of Sweden.

History

The Swedish Church's activities in Copenhagen began in 1901, when Pastor Nils Widner was sent there to work among Swedish sailors. The work, however, soon embraced the many thousands of other Swedes in and around Copenhagen.[1] Religious services were initially held in the Garrison Church on Sankt Annæ Plads, and in rented premises in Rysenstensgade there were daily gatherings in the various compounds that eventually formed.[2]

The need for a church grew, and in 1903 the Swedish Church Society was formed which saw it as its task to realize the construction of a Swedish church in Copenhagen. Swedes who then lived in Copenhagen decided to donate 10 øre per week to finance the church building and the Swedish architect Theodor Wåhlin, resident architect at Lund Cathedral, was charged with its design.

As had been the case with St. Alban's English Church two decades earlier, a site was provided by the Danish state on the bank of the moat surrounding Kastellet, although on the opposite, north-western, corner, on the site of the former Grønlands Bastion.

The foundation stone was laid in 1908 at a ceremony attended by both the Swedish and Danish royal couples, and the new church was consecrated in 1911. The Danish architect Gotfred Tvede supervised the construction assisted by Alf Jørgensen.

The rear side of the complex seen from Kastellet across the moat

Architecture

The church is designed in the Jugendstil style and is built in a hard-burnt brownish brick. The complex includes church halls, community center, offices, rectory, staff houses, archives and storage rooms.[2]

Furnishings

The current organ has 31 steps and was installed in 1947. The pulpit was created by the sculptor Niels Hansen in Copenhagen. The altar is of black granite and has the christogram IHS, usually nterpreted as Iesus, Hominum Salvator - "Jesus, Savior of man".

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gustafskirken.

References

  1. ↑ "Turen går til udenlandske kirker - i København". Folkekirkens Infocenter i Københavns Stift. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Historik". Gustavkirken. Retrieved 2011-01-11.

External links