Katarina Church Stockholm

About

Katarina kyrka (Church of Catherine) is a church in central Stockholm, Sweden. The original building was constructed 1656–1695. It has been rebuilt twice after being destroyed by fires, the second time in the 1990s.

The Katarina-Sofia borough is named after Katarina Parish and the neighbouring parish of Sofia. Construction of the church started during the reign of Charles X Gustav of Sweden, and the church is named after Princess Catherine, mother of the king, wife of John Casimir, Palsgrave of Pfalz-Zweibrücken and half-sister of Gustavus Adolphus. The original architect was Jean de la Vallée.

In 1723 the church was completely destroyed in a major fire. It was rebuilt with a larger, octagonal tower. On 17 May 1990, the church burned down again, leaving almost nothing remaining but the external walls.

A rebuilt church reopened in 1995 with a new organ built by J. L. van den Heuvel Orgelbouw.

Notable people buried in the cemetery surrounding the church include the assassinated Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, the Dutch-Swedish singer Cornelis Vreeswijk, football player Sven Bergqvist, rapper Einár, and Sten Sture the Elder.