Swedish St. Michael's Church

Tallinn, Estonia

This small church on Rüütli street has been the spiritual home for generations of Estonian Swedes, an ethnic group that's been present in Tallinn since the Middle Ages. The location had originally been an almshouse for the city's poor, but in 1733 the tsarist government gave it to the Swedish congregation, which been left without its own church since the Great Northern War.

During Soviet times the building was converted into a sports hall and fell into disrepair, but was renovated and reconsecrated in 2002. It now has a congregation of around 200, and continues to hold services in Swedish. In addition to its Baroque altar by Joachim Armbrust and a Baroque pulpit, the church has a unique baptistery created by famed sculptor Christian Ackermann in 1680.

References:

Comments

Your name



Address

Rüütli 9, Tallinn, Estonia
See all sites in Tallinn

Details

Founded: 1733
Category: Religious sites in Estonia
Historical period: Part of the Russian Empire (Estonia)

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Matthias Bolliger (4 years ago)
Calmly beautiful, light and quiet church.
Robert Hellrand (5 years ago)
Quaint and lovely in particular around christmas
Stellan Ahvander (5 years ago)
Very nice church and priest.
Per Salmelin (5 years ago)
An interesting historical church and a meetingplace for many interesting people
showjumper2308 (5 years ago)
Beautiful church, cool artwork. You would never expect such a nice place from the outside. Guard is super nice and loves to tell you about the church's history. Definitely recommend!
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

Linderhof Palace

Linderhof is the smallest of the three palaces built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria and the only one which he lived to see completed.

Ludwig II, who was crowned king in 1864, began his building activities in 1867-1868 by redesigning his rooms in the Munich Residenz and laying the foundation stone of Neuschwanstein Castle. In 1868 he was already making his first plans for Linderhof. However, neither the palace modelled on Versailles that was to be sited on the floor of the valley nor the large Byzantine palace envisaged by Ludwig II were ever built.

Instead, the new building developed around the forester's house belonging to his father Maximilian II, which was located in the open space in front of the present palace and was used by the king when crown prince on hunting expeditions with his father.