Lund Cathedral

About

Lund Cathedral (Swedish: Lunds domkyrka) is a cathedral of the Lutheran Church of Sweden in Lund, Scania, Sweden. It is the seat of the Bishop of Lund and the main church of the Diocese of Lund. It was built as the Catholic cathedral of the archiepiscopal see of all the Nordic countries, dedicated to Saint Lawrence. It is one of the oldest stone buildings still in use in Sweden. Lund Cathedral has been called "the most powerful representative of Romanesque architecture in the Nordic countries." At the time of its construction, Lund and the cathedral belonged to Denmark. The main altar was consecrated in 1145 and the cathedral was by that time largely finished; the western towers were built somewhat later. Its architecture shows clear influences from contemporary north Italian architecture, conveyed via the Rhine Valley. The earliest architect was named Donatus, though his precise role in the construction of the cathedral is difficult to determine. The new cathedral was richly decorated with stone sculpture, including two unusual statues in the crypt traditionally called "The giant Finn and his wife" about which a local legend has developed. The cathedral was severely damaged in a fire...

Christian missionaries from present-day Germany and England were active in the Christianisation of Denmark, and vied for influence over the kingdom. Denmark eventually became part of the Archdiocese of Hamburg-Bremen. Lund was at the time part of Denmark. With the consolidation of Danish monarchy during the second half of the 11th century, and with a political crisis in continental Europe, there arose an opportunity for the Danish monarchs to bypass the German influence over church policy in Denmark. An episcopal see was created in Lund in 1060. At the same time, another see was created in Dalby, close to Lund, where Dalby Church was built adjacent to what was possibly a royal palace. However, when the first bishop of Lund ( Henry of Lund ) died, the erstwhile bishop of Dalby, Egino, was installed in Lund and Dalby abandoned as the seat of a bishop. At the same time, in 1103, Lund was proclaimed an archiepiscopal see overseeing all Nordic countries.

The cathedral was not the first church to be built in Lund; the earliest churches (now vanished) were built in the city at the end of the 10th century. Some kind of rudimentary settlement probably existed at the site of Lund Cathedral at the end of the 10th and early 11th centuries, but no remains of buildings have been found there. Lund Cathedral is one of the oldest stone buildings still in use in Sweden. During the Middle Ages, the cathedral was surrounded by several buildings serving the diocese, of which only Liberiet, which at one point served as a library, survives.

The earliest written mention of a church in Lund dedicated to Saint Lawrence – the patron saint of Lund Cathedral during the Middle Ages – dates from 1085. Slightly later sources mention both a new and an old church dedicated to Saint Lawrence. During the 1940s, archaeological excavations in the cathedral uncovered the foundations of another church inside the present building. The exact age, shape and function of this predecessor to the cathedral has been a matter of some debate. Most scholars believe that construction of a church on the site of Lund Cathedral was begun sometime during the second half of the 11th century. Some time thereafter a new church was begun in almost the same place, but to a larger design in the form of the present cathedral. Parts of the earlier church may have been incorporated in the walls of the cathedral. The decision to abandon Dalby as a bishopric and make Lund the sole archbishopric in Scandinavia may have prompted the change of plans.

Apart from the obscurity which thus surrounds the very beginning of the history of the cathedral, the construction of Lund Cathedral is probably among the most well documented among any Romanesque churches. Two contemporary accounts of the building of the cathedral, in the form of the illuminated manuscripts Necrologium Lundense and Liber daticus vetustior, are still preserved in the library of Lund University. Both books contain notes, written in Latin, with dates of the progression of the construction. The oldest part of the cathedral is the large crypt. Its main altar was inaugurated on 30 June 1123, followed by the north (1126) and south (1131) side altars of the crypt. Only then did the cathedral begin to be used. One of the main functions of the crypt appears to have been as a place where baptisms were conducted. The main altar of the cathedral was dedicated to Saint Mary and Saint Lawrence on 1 September 1145, by the second archbishop of Lund, Eskil, in a ceremony attended by bishops from present-day Germany, Denmark and Sweden. By then, the construction of the cathedral to more or less its present dimensions was complete.

Unusually for that time, the architect of the cathedral is known by his name, Donatus. The name appears in both the Necrologium Lundense (as "Donatus architectus") and the Liber daticus vetustior. Donatus may have been responsible for the layout of the crypt and the cathedral above ground as far west as the current north and south portals of the cathedral, although it is difficult to draw any definitive conclusions about his precise role. The same is true for his successor, possibly a builder named Ragnar. The building erected during the time of Donatus and his successor show clear influences from Romanesque architecture in Lombardy, conveyed via the Rhine Valley. Donatus himself appears to have been from, or at least educated in, Lombardy. Speyer Cathedral in western Germany is stylistically closely related to Lund Cathedral (especially the crypt), and it has been proposed that Donatus came to Lund from Speyer, where construction more or less ceased in 1106 following the death of Emperor Henry IV. Similarities have also frequently been pointed out between Lund Cathedral and Mainz Cathedral, and the design of the apse is similar to that of the Basilica of Saint Servatius in Maastricht. On a more general level, the origins of the style of Lund Cathedral can be found in Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio ( Milan ), Modena Cathedral and several churches in Pavia, all in northern Italy. Similar stylistic influences can be seen in other cathedrals in Denmark from the same time, for example in Ribe Cathedral.

The building of Lund Cathedral must have involved a large number of people and was a collective undertaking. Comparable but somewhat later workshops at Cologne Cathedral and Uppsala Cathedral employed a workforce of about 100 and 60 people, respectively. The project was instrumental in establishing a workshop where local craftsmen could be educated, and thus disseminating artistic influences from continental Europe to Scandinavia. The stone sculptors Carl stenmästare [ sv ], Mårten stenmästare [ sv ] and Majestatis were probably all Scandinavians who were educated at the construction site. Many early Romanesque stone churches in the countryside, particularly in Scania but also in the rest of present-day Denmark and Sweden, show direct influences from Lund Cathedral, notably Vä Church (Scania). Other examples are e.g. Valby Church [ da ] ( Zealand ), Lannaskede Old Church [ sv ] ( Småland ), Hogstad Church [ sv ] ( Östergötland ) and Havdhem Church ( Gotland ).

The plan and layout of the building consecrated in 1145 was similar to the one seen today. A noticeable difference was that the entire choir was separated from the nave by a wall and reserved for the clergy. The towers were also not built until a few decades later. The intention was probably to provide the cathedral with vaults, but instead a flat wooden ceiling was installed. The cathedral was adorned with wall paintings and almost certainly by stained glass windows, but none of these remain. In 1234, the cathedral was heavily damaged by a large fire. Large donations were made to the church in the following years, to allow for repairs. Even so, the need for repairs was continuous for the entire 13th century. Following the fire, the burnt-out ceiling was replaced by brick vaults. Changes were also made to the layout of the westernmost part of the building. A conflict erupted between King Christopher I of Denmark and Archbishop Jakob Erlandsen in 1257 partially because the choir had been enlarged and the seats of the royal family moved, itself a testimony of the growing power of the Church. Two chapels were added to the cathedral during the 14th and 15th centuries; one located adjacent to the two westernmost bays of the south aisle of the nave, and the other as a western extension of the south transept. Buttresses were also added piecemeal to the building during the 13th and 14th centuries, to stabilise the building which was under strain from the new, heavier vaults, the added chapels and the constant ringing of the 8.5 tonne church bell.

The German sculptor and builder Adam van Düren apparently worked intermittently at restoring and altering the cathedral between c. 1506 or 1507 and 1524. Despite, and to some extent because of, the work that had been done during the preceding centuries since the great fire of 1234, the cathedral was in need of a thorough restoration. Adam van Düren and his workshop made several changes and contributions. A new drainage system was installed in the crypt, and as part of that work a well, which probably replaced an earlier well in the same location, was decorated with satirical allegories. The workshop of van Düren also created two new windows in the choir, built a large buttress to support the southern transept (before 1513), and rebuilt the gable of the northern transept (1524) as well as its vaults. New and considerably larger windows with pointed arches were installed in both the northern wall of the north transept and in the southern wall of the south transept. The towers and western facade were also repaired in 1512–18 and again in 1527. It has been argued that the cathedral may have collapsed, were it not for the work done by van Düren.

Following the Reformation in the 16th century, the diocese lost much of its revenues. The building was still subjected to much stress, not least by the use of the large church bell, and suffered during the recurrent wars between Denmark and Sweden ; in 1658 Lund permanently became part of Sweden. Despite van Düren's repairs, the church was described as being "very dilapidated" in 1682. During the 18th century, the chapels of the church were used for funerals, but also as an improvised morgue where corpses were occasionally left for several years. Attempts at repairs were made; among them the entire apse was dismantled and then re-erected. Many of the repairs were however either temporary or outright detrimental to the condition of the building. King Gustav III of Sweden visited the cathedral crypt in 1785 and expressed his displeasure at its state. In 1812, the aforementioned chapels from the 14th and 15th centuries were demolished.

Changes by Carl Georg Brunius and Helgo Zettervall

When the congregation wanted to build a new church organ in the early 19th century, architect Axel Nyström [ sv ] was invited to examine the structure in 1832. Nyström recommended a complete renovation of the cathedral. The chairman of the council in charge of administering the cathedral buildings, Carl Georg Brunius, was called to execute the plans of Nyström, and he did so while at the same time making changes according to his own convictions. He also wrote the first systematic art history of the cathedral. Brunius had the organ moved, the crypt repaired, installed a set of steps connecting the choir with the nave and improved the drainage system. He also removed modern furnishings, re-built some of the buttresses and changed the stone of a large part of the facade. Brunius retired due to old age in 1859, but as there was still a substantial need for repairs, the young architect Helgo Zettervall was appointed to carry out the rest of the work in 1860. A conflict between Brunius and Zettervall developed almost immediately, but Zettervall would keep working on restoring the cathedral until 1893 and ultimately managed to implement most of his ideas for the cathedral. A compromise in 1862 proposed that the Danish architect Ferdinand Meldahl would assume the main responsibility, and Zettervall would merely assist Meldahl. However, it soon became apparent that Zettervall would not accept a subordinate role and Meldahl himself showed little interest in the project. In 1862, Zettervall traveled extensively through Germany and Italy to study stylistically related architecture, and also to visit the latest examples of building restoration so that he could draw upon that experience in his work at Lund. In 1863, he presented a first proposal for a complete restoration of the cathedral. Zettervall himself considered it a "reasonable middle ground between reparation and reconstruction". The proposal would mean the removal of all buttresses, a new roof, completely rebuilt towers, and the removal of the large Gothic windows in the transepts. Zettervall also proposed to add an octagonal dome over the crossing. Far-reaching changes would also affect the interior. In the proposal Zettervall strove to reduce and refine the building volumes of the cathedral and create a unified composition of block-like elements.

The proposal by Zettervall was criticised, not least by Meldahl. Zettervall re-worked the proposal and put forward a revised, less far-reaching proposal in 1864, notably without the central dome. This proposal was also rejected and the plan for a complete overhaul abandoned; however it was at the same time decided that Zettervall would continue working on repairing the cathedral and every year make what changes that were deemed necessary. In this way, Zettervall could piecemeal over the next decades to rebuild the cathedral largely in line with his design from 1864.

Between 1832 and 1893, the cathedral was radically transformed by the work of Brunius and Zettervall. All windows were replaced, several vaults and pillars were repaired or rebuilt, and both architects effected extensive changes to the transept. Just as he had suggested, Zettervall had all the buttresses removed and demolished the entire western part of the church, including the towers, and rebuilt them according to his own Neo-Romanesque designs.

In the 20th century, archaeological excavations were carried out in and around the cathedral. The building also underwent a major restoration in 1954–1963, led by architect Eiler Græbe [ sv ]. During this time the decorative painting from the 19th century was removed. The large mosaic decorating the apse was installed in 1927, and designed by Joakim Skovgaard. In 1990, the layout of the choir was changed and the altar placed in the crossing. Pope Francis visited the cathedral on 31 October 2016 to observe the 499th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation.

The earliest written mention of a church in Lund dedicated to Saint Lawrence – the patron saint of Lund Cathedral during the Middle Ages – dates from 1085. Slightly later sources mention both a new and an old church dedicated to Saint Lawrence. During the 1940s, archaeological excavations in the cathedral uncovered the foundations of another church inside the present building. The exact age, shape and function of this predecessor to the cathedral has been a matter of some debate. Most scholars believe that construction of a church on the site of Lund Cathedral was begun sometime during the second half of the 11th century. Some time thereafter a new church was begun in almost the same place, but to a larger design in the form of the present cathedral. Parts of the earlier church may have been incorporated in the walls of the cathedral. The decision to abandon Dalby as a bishopric and make Lund the sole archbishopric in Scandinavia may have prompted the change of plans.

Apart from the obscurity which thus surrounds the very beginning of the history of the cathedral, the construction of Lund Cathedral is probably among the most well documented among any Romanesque churches. Two contemporary accounts of the building of the cathedral, in the form of the illuminated manuscripts Necrologium Lundense and Liber daticus vetustior, are still preserved in the library of Lund University. Both books contain notes, written in Latin, with dates of the progression of the construction. The oldest part of the cathedral is the large crypt. Its main altar was inaugurated on 30 June 1123, followed by the north (1126) and south (1131) side altars of the crypt. Only then did the cathedral begin to be used. One of the main functions of the crypt appears to have been as a place where baptisms were conducted. The main altar of the cathedral was dedicated to Saint Mary and Saint Lawrence on 1 September 1145, by the second archbishop of Lund, Eskil, in a ceremony attended by bishops from present-day Germany, Denmark and Sweden. By then, the construction of the cathedral to more or less its present dimensions was complete.

Unusually for that time, the architect of the cathedral is known by his name, Donatus. The name appears in both the Necrologium Lundense (as "Donatus architectus") and the Liber daticus vetustior. Donatus may have been responsible for the layout of the crypt and the cathedral above ground as far west as the current north and south portals of the cathedral, although it is difficult to draw any definitive conclusions about his precise role. The same is true for his successor, possibly a builder named Ragnar. The building erected during the time of Donatus and his successor show clear influences from Romanesque architecture in Lombardy, conveyed via the Rhine Valley. Donatus himself appears to have been from, or at least educated in, Lombardy. Speyer Cathedral in western Germany is stylistically closely related to Lund Cathedral (especially the crypt), and it has been proposed that Donatus came to Lund from Speyer, where construction more or less ceased in 1106 following the death of Emperor Henry IV. Similarities have also frequently been pointed out between Lund Cathedral and Mainz Cathedral, and the design of the apse is similar to that of the Basilica of Saint Servatius in Maastricht. On a more general level, the origins of the style of Lund Cathedral can be found in Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio ( Milan ), Modena Cathedral and several churches in Pavia, all in northern Italy. Similar stylistic influences can be seen in other cathedrals in Denmark from the same time, for example in Ribe Cathedral.

The building of Lund Cathedral must have involved a large number of people and was a collective undertaking. Comparable but somewhat later workshops at Cologne Cathedral and Uppsala Cathedral employed a workforce of about 100 and 60 people, respectively. The project was instrumental in establishing a workshop where local craftsmen could be educated, and thus disseminating artistic influences from continental Europe to Scandinavia. The stone sculptors Carl stenmästare [ sv ], Mårten stenmästare [ sv ] and Majestatis were probably all Scandinavians who were educated at the construction site. Many early Romanesque stone churches in the countryside, particularly in Scania but also in the rest of present-day Denmark and Sweden, show direct influences from Lund Cathedral, notably Vä Church (Scania). Other examples are e.g. Valby Church [ da ] ( Zealand ), Lannaskede Old Church [ sv ] ( Småland ), Hogstad Church [ sv ] ( Östergötland ) and Havdhem Church ( Gotland ).

The plan and layout of the building consecrated in 1145 was similar to the one seen today. A noticeable difference was that the entire choir was separated from the nave by a wall and reserved for the clergy. The towers were also not built until a few decades later. The intention was probably to provide the cathedral with vaults, but instead a flat wooden ceiling was installed. The cathedral was adorned with wall paintings and almost certainly by stained glass windows, but none of these remain. In 1234, the cathedral was heavily damaged by a large fire. Large donations were made to the church in the following years, to allow for repairs. Even so, the need for repairs was continuous for the entire 13th century. Following the fire, the burnt-out ceiling was replaced by brick vaults. Changes were also made to the layout of the westernmost part of the building. A conflict erupted between King Christopher I of Denmark and Archbishop Jakob Erlandsen in 1257 partially because the choir had been enlarged and the seats of the royal family moved, itself a testimony of the growing power of the Church. Two chapels were added to the cathedral during the 14th and 15th centuries; one located adjacent to the two westernmost bays of the south aisle of the nave, and the other as a western extension of the south transept. Buttresses were also added piecemeal to the building during the 13th and 14th centuries, to stabilise the building which was under strain from the new, heavier vaults, the added chapels and the constant ringing of the 8.5 tonne church bell.