sv, Gamla kyrkan , native_name_lang = , image = Helsinki Old Church from Hotel Torni 2011-06-28 1.jpg , coordinates = , location =

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

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Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

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Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

, previous denomination = , churchmanship = , membership = , attendance = , website = , former name = , bull date = , founded date = , founder = , dedication = , dedicated date = , consecrated date = , cult = , relics = , events = , past bishop = , chaplain = vacant , status = , functional status = , heritage designation = , designated date = , architect =

Carl Ludvig Engel Carl Ludvig Engel, or Johann Carl Ludwig Engel (3 July 1778 – 14 May 1840), was a German architect whose most noted work can be found in Helsinki, which he helped rebuild. His works include most of the buildings around the capital's monumental ...

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The Old Church of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin vanha kirkko, sv, Gamla kyrkan i Helsingfors), designed by

and completed in 1826, is an

Evangelical Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

church in

. The oldest existing church in central Helsinki, the church was originally planned as a temporary building as the Ulrika Eleonora Church constructed in 1727 had become too small for the congregation and the new church,

Helsinki Cathedral Helsinki Cathedral ( fi, Helsingin tuomiokirkko, ; sv, Helsingfors domkyrka, ) is the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, Finnish Evangelical Lutheran cathedral of the Diocese of Helsinki, located in the neighborhood of Kruununhaka in the c ...

, would not be completed until 1852. However, the city's rapid population growth from the early 19th century onwards ensured that the church would remain needed, and also necessitated the construction of many other churches.

History

The neoclassical wooden church was built under Engel's supervision between 1824 and 1826 and consecrated on 17 December 1826 by dean Johan Borgström. When the Ulrika Eleonora Church was demolished, the recovered building materials and part of the movables were auctioned but some of the furnishings including the pulpit, benches and chandeliers as well as the organ were relocated to the newly built church. These furnishings were however replaced over the years with the exception of the pulpit. A new 36 stop organ built by Per Larsson Åkermann was installed in 1869. The altarpiece painted by

Robert Wilhelm Ekman Robert Wilhelm Ekman (August 13, 1808 – February 19, 1873), R. W. Ekman, was a significant teacher and painter of the Finnish romantic portraits and early national romanticism. Childhood and Arts Education Robert Ekman was born in Uusikaupun ...

was initially commissioned for Helsinki Cathedral, but was instead placed in the Old Church in 1854.

Park

The church is located in a recreational park maintained by the city and called Old Church Park ( fi, Vanha kirkkopuisto). The park is sometimes colloquially called Plague Park ( fi, Ruttopuisto) as over a thousand victims of the 1710 plague are buried next to the park. The park itself was a cemetery from the 1780s until shortly after the church's construction. Its use as a graveyard was discontinued when the

Hietaniemi Cemetery The Hietaniemi cemetery ( fi, Hietaniemen hautausmaa, sv, Sandudds begravningsplats) is located mainly in the Lapinlahti quarter and partly in the Etu-Töölö district of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. It is the location for Finnish state ...

was consecrated in 1829, although some victims of the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War; . Other designations: Brethren War, Citizen War, Class War, Freedom War, Red Rebellion and Revolution, . According to 1,005 interviews done by the newspaper ''Aamulehti'', the most popular names were as follows: Civil W ...

and fallen Finnish volunteers of the

Estonian War of Independence The Estonian War of Independence ( et, Vabadussõda, literally "Freedom War"), also known as the Estonian Liberation War, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Bolshevik westwa ...

were buried there in 1918 and 1919, respectively. Some 40 gravestones and memorials, as well as the Sederholm tomb remain of the cemetery.

References

External links

Official parish website
Carl Ludvig Engel buildings Lutheran churches in Helsinki Wooden churches in Finland Churches completed in 1826 Church buildings with domes Kamppi 1826 establishments in the Russian Empire 19th century in Helsinki Neoclassical church buildings in Finland {{Portal, Finland

History

Park

See also

References

External links