Under the organ loft in the Church of Oscar

The logical picture to show today would be one of the organ in the church. But instead I will upload a HDR with a view from under the organ loft. Compared with other church organs the one in the Church of Oscar is not the most eye-catching. But the fact that the Church of Oscar is well-known for its music shows that without a doubt that the organ sounds great. It’s original built by Marcussen & Søn in Aabenraa, Denmark, in 1949 and have 78 organ stops. However IMO the most beautiful features of this church are the vault, arches and the stained glass windows. From the two HDR I upload today you’ll get a whole impression of this church.

 

The choir in the Church of Oscar

The choir in the Church of Oscar has changed its appearance through the years. From the original choir now only the altar ring remains.

Gustav Hermansson’s neo-gothic altar was replaced during the second renovation of the church in the mid 1950’s. The New altar is a high relief made out of gold-bronze made by the sculptor John Lundqvist and pictures life and death.

The stained glass window above the altar, made by the Norwegian artist Emanuel Vigeland, was added during the first renovation of the church in the early 1920’s. The colourful stained glass window pictures the return of the lost son. Vigeland got his inspiration for this work from medieval glass paintings in French cathedrals.

The fresco-secco paintings in the choir are also made during the first renovation. The paintings pictures flowers, plants and different religious symbols placed in landscapes and are made by the Swedish artist Filip Månsson.

To enjoy all this beautiful art the HDR should be viewed in full format.

 

The Church of Oscar from inside

Like I mentioned earlier I believe that the Church of Oscar looks better from the outside than from the inside. But still it’s a nice church inside. Maybe my opinion is a little influenced by the fact that I found these HDR-pictures very difficult to process. I can’t get them to look the way I want them to and I’m not very pleased with the colors in them. But I show some of them anyway, nobody is perfect and especially not me. Below the picture you can read a little about the changes to this church interior through the years.

Already when built the architectural style of the Church of Oscar was under massive critic and in 1918, only 15 years after the consecration, the parish decided to make a major change of the church interior. Lars Israel Wahlman, Professor at the Royal Institute of Technology and Sweden’s leading church architect at the time, was appointed to led this renovation. The most notable change was the 33 stained glass windows that replaced the old made out of plain glass. These stained glass windows were made by the Norwegian artist Emanuel Vigeland and pictures scenes from the Old and New Testaments. Viegeland got his inspiration for this work from the medieval glass paintings in French cathedrals and especially from the Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres. The pulpit was also replaced by a new one, made out of limestone from Gotland, sculptured by Tore Strindberg after design by Wahlman.

A second major renovation was made in the mid 1950’s and was led by the architect Otar Hökerberg. This time the original vault paintings were removed and the ceiling got its present look. The latest major renovation were made in 1997 by the architect Jerk Al¬ton. The most notable change this time was that the burial chapel, built 1903, was transformed into a chapel for religious services with smaller attendance.

Tomorrow we take a closer look at the choir.

Source: Oscarskykan by Suzanne Lindhagen 2005

 

The main entery to Oscar’s Church

This is another view of the Church of Oscar, the main entrance from Narvavägen. Below the HDR you can read a summary of the church’s history.

At the end of the 1800’s the population grew rapidly at Östermalm. The parish here, named Ladugardslandet, was the largest in Sweden and in urgent need of new churches. The parish bought a piece of land that previously belonged to the Fredrikshov Mansion. A competition for the design of the new church was announced and the winning entry was submitted by Gustav Hermansson. In 1897 the first stone of the church was laid by King Oscar II who also gave his name to the church. The construction was halted several times due to failed deliveries of building materials, strikes and problems with the construction of the foundation. But in September 1903 the church was consecrated.

The Church of Oscar is built in Neo-Gothic style. On request from the parish the tower was built slightly taller than originally planed and become 80 metres tall. The facade was built with natural stones and not as originally planed with a mixture of bricks and natural stones. In 1903 a small burial chapel was added near the church. Today this chapel is used for religious services with few attendants. The chapel is called Oscars Lillkyka, Oscar’s Small Church.

In 1906 Ladugårdsland’s parish was divided into three new parishes, Hedvig Eleonora, Engelbrekt, and Oscar and the new Church of Oscar become the main church in the new parish with the same name. Three major renovation has been made to the church since it was built. Neither of those have changed the exterior look but the interior have been radically changed. The interior will be tomorrow’s story!

Parallel with the construction of the Church of Oscar, Gustav Hermansson also built big church at Södermalm in Stockholm. This church was consecrated 1906 and was named after Oscar II’s wife Sophia. So with only three years apart Hermansson completed churches named after both the King and Queen of Sweden.

Source: Oscarskykan by Suzanne Lindhagen 2005

 

The Church of Oscar

The next church after Hedvig Eleonora and Engelbrekt is by surprise Oscar. Oscar is the most eastern of the three parishes at Östermalm and is named after Oscar II, King of Sweden 1872 – 1907. The main church in this parish is also named after Oscar II and was built round the turn of the century 1800/1900 in Neo-Gothic style. IMO the most beautiful church in Stockholm when we’re talking about the exterior look.

 

The pulpit in the Church of Engelbrekt

Another beautiful furniture in the Engelbrekt church is the pulpit made out of oak. The pulpit’s roof is painted in dark blue and decorated with gilded evangelist portraits. In this HDR you can also get an impression of the 32 metres tall vault, the highest in Scandinavia.

 

The Baptismal chapel in the Engelbrekt church

This small baptismal chapel in the Church of Engelbrekt is also designed by Lars Israel Wahlman. The fresco is painted by Olle Hjortzberg. Over the baptismal font, made from granite, there’s a cap is designed like a classical Italian Baptistery.

 

The Coir in the Church of Engelbrekt

Today’s picture shows the choir in the Engelbrekt church. Here you can see 7 arched niches with tapestries made by Handarbetets Vänner on instructions from Lars Israel Wahlman, the church’s architect. The tapestries are decorated with texts from the bible and different religious symbols. The stucco reliefs above the tapestries, with scenes from the life of Jesus, are made by Tore Strindberg. Otherwise the choir is dominated by the fresco made by Olle Hjortzberg that pictures the crucifixion of Jesus.

 

The pipe organ in the Engelbrekt church

On today’s picture from the Church of Engelbrekt you can see the church’s pipe organ. The organ, which is built by Grönlunds Orgelbyggeri in 1964, is one of largest of its kind in Sweden with 86 organ stops. But its predecessor, built by Åkerman & Lunds Orgelbyggeri, was even bigger. It was consecrated in 1929 and had 95 organ stops but was later gradually extended to 101 stops. This made the organ in the Engelbrekt church, together with the organ in Lund’s Cathedral, the largest pipe organ in Sweden. But the extensions also brought a lot of errors to the organ which prevented the organist to use his instrument to its full capacity. Therefore it was decided to replace the organ and the contract went to Grönlunds Orgelbyggeri. The present organ is the third in the church’s history. The first one was built by Setterquist & Son and had 40 organ stops.

Another impressive record that the Church of Engelbrekt still have is the hight of its vault. With a hight of 32 meters it’s the highest in Scandinavia.

 

The Church of Engelbrekt

In a part of Östermalm called “Lärkstan”, “The Lark City”, there is a hill where there was once a mill. Hence this hill is called “The Mill Hill”, “Kvarnberget”. But there are no longer any mill here but a church, Egelbrektskyrkan. In the beginning of the 1900’s this place was chosen as location for the new main church of the newly founded parish called Engelbrekt. The parish and the church is named after the Swedish hero and freedom fighter Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson who led a rebellion against Eric of Pomerania in the early 1400′s. Eric of Pomerania was the first King of the Nordic Kalmar Union.

The Church of Engelbrekt was built between 1910 to 1914 after design by Lars Israel Whalman who was a professor at the Royal Institute of Technology. The church is built in National Romantic style and Art Nouveau. On the 25th of January 1914 the church was consecrated. Because of its location on the hill the church have a dominating and majestic impression on the city.

This view of the church was captured from Karlavägen.