St. Gertrud’s Church, Västervik, Sweden

St. Gertrud’s Church was built in the 1450s after King Eric of Pomerania had ordered to move the town of Västervik from Gamleby to the present location. The city and the Stegeholm castle were destroyed in a battle in 1517 and inhabitants moved back to the old city. After King Gustav Vasa ordered them to move back, the church was restored as a Lutheran church. It was once again destroyed in 1612 during the battle against Danish. The church was renovated and enlarged until 1739. The cuppa of baptismal font is the only original item in the church. The altarpiece was painted by Burchard Precht date from the late 1600s and the pulpit from 1743.

References:

Wikipedia

Address

Västra Kyrkogatan 11, Västervik, Sweden

See all sites in Västervik

Details

Founded: 1450s
Category: Religious sites in Sweden
Historical period: Kalmar Union (Sweden)

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby

Stegeholm Castle Ruins (0,6 km)

Långe Erik Lighthouse (51,6 km)
Gärdserum Church (52,2 km)
Hannäs Church (47,3 km)

User Reviews

Kerstin Gustafsson (4 months ago)
Very beautiful church

Christina Ohlsson (2 years ago)
A church well worth a visit. I was fortunate to have a lady guide. She was very knowledgeable.

Peter Menzel (2 years ago)
I grew up a stone's throw from the church and often played in the church park as a child. In other words, have visited the church many times over the years but I never tire of every detail in the church hall. The fact that it is also very beautiful both inside and outside makes it a unique experience. The oldest parts are from the 1450s and the church benches are from 1748. Thus a church with a fascinating history that is well worth a visit.

k. e. krambacher (2 years ago)
Rare cruciform church .. so 4! Naves. Wonderfully equipped sailors church, many spectacular woodwork, very worth seeing. Also quiet and shady.

F M (3 years ago)
Sehr beeindruckend! Wundervolle Holzarbeiten und ein 500 Jahre altes Taufbecken. Ein Juwel.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Giåm

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Glimmingehus

Glimmingehus is the best preserved medieval stronghold in Scandinavia. It was built 1499-1506, during an era when Scania formed a vital part of Denmark, and contains many defensive arrangements of the era, such as parapets, false doors and dead-end corridors, 'murder-holes' for pouring boiling pitch over the attackers, moats, drawbridges and various other forms of death traps to surprise trespassers and protect the nobles against peasant uprisings. The lower part of the castle's stone walls are 2.4 meters (94 inches) thick and the upper part 1.8 meters (71 inches).

Construction was started in 1499 by the Danish knight Jens Holgersen Ulfstand and stone-cutter-mason and architect Adam van Düren, a North German master who also worked on Lund Cathedral. Construction was completed in 1506.

Ulfstand was a councillor, nobleman and admiral serving under John I of Denmark and many objects have been uncovered during archeological excavations that demonstrate the extravagant lifestyle of the knight's family at Glimmingehus up until Ulfstand's death in 1523. Some of the most expensive objects for sale in Europe during this period, such as Venetian glass, painted glass from the Rhine district and Spanish ceramics have been found here. Evidence of the family's wealth can also be seen inside the stone fortress, where everyday comforts for the knight's family included hot air channels in the walls and bench seats in the window recesses. Although considered comfortable for its period, it has also been argued that Glimmingehus was an expression of "Knighthood nostalgia" and not considered opulent or progressive enough even to the knight's contemporaries and especially not to later generations of the Scanian nobility. Glimmingehus is thought to have served as a residential castle for only a few generations before being transformed into a storage facility for grain.

An order from Charles XI to the administrators of the Swedish dominion of Scania in 1676 to demolish the castle, in order to ensure that it would not fall into the hands of the Danish king during the Scanian War, could not be executed. A first attempt, in which 20 Scanian farmers were ordered to assist, proved unsuccessful. An additional force of 130 men were sent to Glimmingehus to execute the order in a second attempt. However, before they could carry out the order, a Danish-Dutch naval division arrived in Ystad, and the Swedes had to abandon the demolition attempts. Throughout the 18th century the castle was used as deposit for agricultural produce and in 1924 it was donated to the Swedish state. Today it is administered by the Swedish National Heritage Board.

On site there is a museum, medieval kitchen, shop and restaurant and coffee house. During summer time there are several guided tours daily. In local folklore, the castle is described as haunted by multiple ghosts and the tradition of storytelling inspired by the castle is continued in the summer events at the castle called "Strange stories and terrifying tales".

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St. Gertrud’s Church