Sweden's first centrally planned church, burned in 1723 and again in 1990, and rebuilt both times with the methods of its own age. Katarina Church's dome is one of the landmarks of the Stockholm skyline – and the lanes around it are some of Södermalm's loveliest.
In this story · 5 sections
High on the eastern heights of Södermalm, the yellow walls and grey-domed tower of Katarina Church rise above the rooftops, a landmark seen from across the city. It is one of the defining silhouettes of Stockholm, and one of its most dramatic stories: a church that has burned twice, been rebuilt twice and, according to an old legend, was always destined to see its tower fall two times. Around it lie the graveyard, the lanes of old Katarina parish and some of the best views on Södermalm.
Katarina Church
Church · Södermalm
© OpenStreetMap contributors · OpenFreeMap
- Address
- Högbergsgatan 13, Stockholm
- Address
- Högbergsgatan 13, Södermalm
- Built
- 1656–1695, Jean de la Vallée
- Fires
- 1 May 1723 and 17 May 1990
- Tower
- Octagonal, 72 metres, Göran Josuæ Adelcrantz
- Reconsecrated
- 1724 and 1995
- Organ
- Van den Heuvel, 62 stops, inaugurated 2000
Sweden's first centrally planned church, rebuilt after fires in 1723 and 1990.
01Sweden's first central church
A chapel completed in 1590, known as the Sture Chapel, once stood on the site; it was demolished in the 1650s and its materials were reused in the new church. The church and its parish were named after Katarina Karlsdotter Vasa, mother of the reigning king, Charles X Gustav. Building began in 1656 to designs by the architect Jean de la Vallée, who chose a Greek-cross plan with the tower at the centre. Katarina became the first centrally planned church in Sweden. A first service was held beneath a temporary roof in the very year the foundations were laid, but with several pauses for lack of money the church was not completed until 1695. In 1709 a copy of it was built in Jelenia Góra, in present-day Poland, which still preserves the shape of the tower as it was before 1723.
The parish has darker memories too. The church stands on Katarinaberget, where the victims of the Stockholm Bloodbath were burned – a history that gave rise to the belief that a curse lay on the place – and in the 1670s the parish was the scene of the notorious Katarina witch trials. Today it is one of 43 churches in the city of Stockholm protected by Sweden's heritage legislation.
02Fire and a taller tower
On 1 May 1723 the church was destroyed by fire, together with much of the surrounding district. The architect Göran Josuæ Adelcrantz rebuilt it with a larger, octagonal tower, rising to 72 metres above the ground, and the church was reconsecrated on 18 October 1724. The façades, until then painted red with white details, were coloured yellow with grey pilasters in 1784 – the scheme that defines the church today. In 1891–1892 the interior was given new open pews designed by Carl Möller and decorative painting on walls and vaults after proposals by Agi Lindegren; the painting was sanded away during a renovation in 1952–1954.
Insider tipCheck opening times – an active parish church.
03The fire of 1990
On the night of 17 May 1990 Katarina Church burned for the second time. The tower collapsed through the vaulted roof, and only the roofs of the transepts and the outer walls survived, although the church silver and valuable textiles were saved. An electrical fault was found to be the cause. A foundation, Rädda Katarina, raised money for the rebuilding, which was led by the palace architect Ove Hidemark using the same techniques and types of material as in the seventeenth century. The reconstruction used 52,000 hand-forged nails, 120,000 large-format bricks, five and a half tonnes of birch bark, 1,600 panes of mouth-blown green-tinted glass and 5,000 square metres of copper sheet. Bishop Henrik Svenungsson reconsecrated the church in 1995.
04Inside
The altarpiece, "Presence through Absence", is a Golgotha scene by the sculptor Liss Eriksson, made with other artists and craftsmen. The four bells were recast in 1991 and 1992 as reconstructions of those lost in the fire, partly using metal from the originals; the clapper of the great bell is the same one that hung in the bell of 1724. A French-symphonic organ of 62 stops by Jan L. van den Heuvel of Dordrecht was inaugurated in 2000, behind a reconstructed version of the façade of 1751, and the church is known for its organ music.
Outside the south entrance, the double staircase known as Charles XII's Stairs was built in 1712–1715, its ornate wrought-iron railing made by the smith Benjamin Roth; the king's monogram appears above the date.
05Around the church
Take time for the neighbourhood. From the church, the lanes of old Katarina lead along Högbergsgatan towards Fjällgatan and Mäster Mikaels gata, from where the church tower rises above the treetops. Read about the streets in VERA PI's guides to Högbergsgatan, Mäster Mikaels gata and Fjällgatan, follow our plan for a day on Södermalm, and point your phone at the church with Metro Mode Camera.
