Holm Church

About

The Church of Holm is located in the Parish of Holm, between Lårstaviken and Gorran in Mälaren, 17 km north of Bålsta, in the Municipality of Enköping in Uppland, Sweden. Holm is probably the smallest parish in Sweden today, with a population of 26 residents enlisted in the year 2000. The church was constructed in 1678 above the ruins of an earlier medieval church.

From the start, the new church was closely connected with the nearby Sjöö Castle (modern spelling: Sjö), which was built during the decade between 1669 and 1769 by a patron (Latin: patrōnus) of the church, the Marshal of the Realm of Sweden Johan Gabriel Stenbock (1640-1705). The first head of congregation working in the newly built church was the Rector (Swedish: "kyrkoherde") Andreas Hackzelius (1630-1681), who also headed the congregation of Kulla close by. The 17th-century patronage of the Church of Holm consisted of high-ranking statesmen and royal and other high noble friends and family members of Johan Gabriel Stenbock who owned Sjöö Castle and was one of the most powerful people within the Realm of Sweden.

In one 17th-century letter remaining to date, the Queen of Sweden Christina (1626-1689) compliments and thanks...