St. John's Church () is a church located near Triangeln in the Innerstaden district of

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. It was designed by

Axel Anderberg Axel Johan Anderberg (November 27, 1860 – March 27, 1937) was a Sweden, Swedish architect. He was active from the 1880s to the early 1930s. Biography Anderberg was born in Kristianstad in Skåne County, Sweden. Anderberg received his ed ...

in the Jugend style and built in 1903–1907.

History

In 1901 the drawings were approved for a new church, which would relieve St. Peter's and St. Paul's parishes, where the population growth was large. Construction started in 1903, with a planned completion date of 1906, which was when St. John's Parish was founded. (That year is engraved in the sandstone above the main entrance). However, construction was delayed and the parish had to hold their first services in St. Paul's Church. The church was finally inaugurated by Bishop Gottfrid Billing on Holy Trinity Day, 1 June 1907. Designed in the

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

style, the church distinguishes itself considerably from those built in the new Gothic style around the same time. Art Nouveau had just become fashionable in Sweden and followed the National Romantic currents of the time. Architecturally, the Art Nouveau style meant soft, rounded forms and St. John's Church certainly shows examples of this.

Architecture

The church was erected in red brick on a granite base and the roof has enamel tiling. In all, there are approximately 20 different kinds of natural stone in the church's ornaments. To mark the arrival of a new era, the architect did not place the tower and the armoury on the west, as was the tradition, but on the north side of the church, just beside the sanctuary.

The Pulpit

On the pulpit, there are five sections which are made of

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

, carved by the sculptor Carl Andersson. These carvings are a description of the life of Jesus, showing the stable with Mother Mary and the Child Jesus, Jesus at the age of twelve in the temple, Jesus' baptism, the bearing of the cross and Jesus leaving the open grave.

References

External links

* Art Nouveau architecture in Sweden Art Nouveau church buildings in Sweden 20th-century Church of Sweden church buildings Churches in the Diocese of Lund Churches in Malmö Churches completed in 1906 1906 establishments in Sweden Axel Anderberg buildings 1900s establishments in Malmöhus County {{Sweden-Lutheran-church-stub