Gothenburg Cathedral

About

Gothenburg Cathedral (Swedish: Gustavi domkyrka / Göteborgs domkyrka) is a cathedral in Gothenburg, the second largest city in Sweden. It is the seat of the bishop of the diocese of Gothenburg in the Church of Sweden.

Before the first cathedral was inaugurated in 1633, a temporary church known as the Gothenburg stave church ( Swedish : Brädekyrkan ) stood on the site for approximately 12 years. This was one of the city's first buildings and the first church in the current city of Gothenburg, which is the third city founded at the mouth of the Göta River and the second to have that name.

The rectory was completed in 1624, and the construction of a new church on the site of the stave church was announced in 1627. King Gustavus Adolphus created a tax to pay for the work. The initial demand was for a barrel (just over 125 litres) of wheat, oats, barley or rye from each church-owned property in Västergötland province for a three-year period. In a letter to Gothenburg's town council (13 December 1629) the tax was extended for three more years. From 1625 to 1634, construction costs increased to 8,387 Swedish riksdaler.

Construction was led by master mason Lars Nilsson. The foundation stone was laid by Gothenburg's justitiepresident (judge) Nils Börjesson Drakenberg on 19 June 1626, and in 1633 the new main building was complete. By 1633, the stave church had been torn down, although its tower remained in use as a guard tower. During the construction period and for some time thereafter, the church was called stora kyrkan (the great church), the name used in the accounting records. It remained standing for nine more years, until a new tower replaced it in January 1643.

On 10 and 11 August 1633 superintendent Andreas Prytz consecrated the church with two sermons: "On the right use of churches" and "On the consecration of churches". The inauguration is commemorated at the cathedral with an annual sermon on 10 August. The church was not designated as a cathedral ( domkyrke ) until the 1680s.

No contemporary documents relating to the installation of the church bells have been found. The bells are mentioned retrospectively by Eric Cederbourg (1739):

In the tower were hung three large and beautiful bells, whose strong and harmonious sound could be heard for [over 8 km]; on the north wall of the tower a large, well-founded bell of 6 skeppspund [1,020 kg] weight was erected to chime the hour.

The first tower clock mechanism, made by clockmaker Per Larsson in 1648, was replaced in 1670 by one made by Jacob Hertingk of Stralsund.

The church was built of granite, faced with Dutch bricks and adorned with 18 iron-trimmed Palladian windows placed between buttressing supports. It had an ornate arched entry door with iron fittings. The building was 48.1 metres long, 20.2 metres wide and 26.5 metres high at the pediment roof. It had no transept. The tower wall was 27.6 feet high, not counting its spire. The church roof was clad with oak shingles and topped with copper plates; on the eastern end of the roof was a weather vane in the form of a large copper-gilded sun, which in 1700 had been so weakened that it was replaced with a wooden cap. The cathedral spire was demolished and replaced in 1700.

The cathedral had seventeen octagonal weight-bearing columns : eight on each side of the nave and one in the choir. They had a square socle. Each side was two ells (1.2 metres) wide.

The original pulpit was of the German-Dutch type, and its intarsia and other carving work suggests that it had been crafted either in Lübeck or by some North Germans residing in Gothenburg. It was replaced in the late 1670s and transferred to the newly built Kungälvs Church in 1682. Sculptor Marcus Jaeger the Elder carved the new pulpit with historical images in alabaster and ebony in 1674. He also made the baptismal font and executed numerous carvings on the lecterns and pews.

The cathedral included a throne (a royal pew) placed over grave No. 19 to the south of the nave, between the first two pillars from the chancel. Jaeger completed it in the 1680s and was paid 960 silver riksdaler for it. In 1869 tailor Torsten Gunnarsson upholstered the throne in red velvet, probably in honour of Charles XI 's 10 September visit to Gothenburg. Four years later, for 400 silver riksdaler, John Hammer painted the king's throne in white alabaster and gold.

The first organ, probably a positive organ with only four to six stops, had been installed by 1648. In 1661 organ builder Hans Horn completed a new pipe organ, and further work on it was completed around 1700. Jaeger was hired in 1697 to produce four Corinthian pillars beneath the organ to elevate it, probably in the west part of the nave, near the tower wall. The organ was repaired several times: in 1696 by Christian Rüdiger, in 1699 by John George Ambthor and in 1707 by Elias Wittig. Both Rüdiger and Ambthor were German organ masters; Wittig was a journeyman.

The church was part of the established Church of Sweden and was initially named "Gustavi church" after Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. It was also known as the Swedish Church ( Swedish : Svenska kyrkan ), to distinguish it from Gothenburg's German Church ( Swedish : Tyska kyrkan ). With the change from superintendency to bishopric and the establishment of a cathedral chapter in 1665, it was elevated to cathedral status.

The city's oldest cemetery was located at the foot of Kvarnberget, west of Kronhuset – once an armoury and now a historical museum and concert site – on the corner of the present Torggatan, then called Kyrkogårdsgränden and Sillgatan (now Postgatan). By 1645 the marshy area around the cathedral had been filled with sand and could be used as a burial ground. The square, known by 1846 as Domkyrkoplatsen (Cathedral Square) and by 1883 as Domkyrkoplanen (Cathedral Close) 1883, had since 1644 been demarcated by a wall with arched gates to the north and south.

The cathedral had seventeen octagonal weight-bearing columns : eight on each side of the nave and one in the choir. They had a square socle. Each side was two ells (1.2 metres) wide.

The original pulpit was of the German-Dutch type, and its intarsia and other carving work suggests that it had been crafted either in Lübeck or by some North Germans residing in Gothenburg. It was replaced in the late 1670s and transferred to the newly built Kungälvs Church in 1682. Sculptor Marcus Jaeger the Elder carved the new pulpit with historical images in alabaster and ebony in 1674. He also made the baptismal font and executed numerous carvings on the lecterns and pews.

The cathedral included a throne (a royal pew) placed over grave No. 19 to the south of the nave, between the first two pillars from the chancel. Jaeger completed it in the 1680s and was paid 960 silver riksdaler for it. In 1869 tailor Torsten Gunnarsson upholstered the throne in red velvet, probably in honour of Charles XI 's 10 September visit to Gothenburg. Four years later, for 400 silver riksdaler, John Hammer painted the king's throne in white alabaster and gold.

The first organ, probably a positive organ with only four to six stops, had been installed by 1648. In 1661 organ builder Hans Horn completed a new pipe organ, and further work on it was completed around 1700. Jaeger was hired in 1697 to produce four Corinthian pillars beneath the organ to elevate it, probably in the west part of the nave, near the tower wall. The organ was repaired several times: in 1696 by Christian Rüdiger, in 1699 by John George Ambthor and in 1707 by Elias Wittig. Both Rüdiger and Ambthor were German organ masters; Wittig was a journeyman.

The church was part of the established Church of Sweden and was initially named "Gustavi church" after Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. It was also known as the Swedish Church ( Swedish : Svenska kyrkan ), to distinguish it from Gothenburg's German Church ( Swedish : Tyska kyrkan ). With the change from superintendency to bishopric and the establishment of a cathedral chapter in 1665, it was elevated to cathedral status.