Maria Magdalena Church
Encyclopedia
Maria Magdalena Church is a church on Södermalm
in central Stockholm
, Sweden
.
The church plan has a nave
but no aisles. In its eastern end is a three-sided choir and the transept
taking up three bays
. In the corners of the crossing
are enlargement from various periods, all serving liturgical purposes, including the sacristy
. The painting of the high altar is the Adoration of the Shepherds
by Louis Masreliez
from around 1800. The pulpit
, the Baroque
design of Carl Johan Cronstedt
, was inaugurated in 1763 and carries a medallion with the portrait of Mary Magdalene. The front of the organ was designed by Carl Fredrik Adelcrantz
in 1774 while the present 50-stop organ is from 1927. A second organ was added in 1986 and in the choir is a third smaller organ.
The baptismal font
dates back to 1638 and among the sacramental vessels which survived the fire in 1759, is the oldest effects of the church - a sacramental pan in copper with capital inscriptions. Among the epitaph
s in the church are one dedicate to Christopher Polhem
and another to Carl Michael Bellman
. Under the church are older sepulchral chambers, the burial chapel of which today serves parishes of the Estonian-Finnish Orthodox Church
and the Russian Orthodox Church
.
Prominent people buried at the church include: Lasse Lucidor, Erik Johan Stagnelius
, Werner Aspenström
, Karl August Nicander
, and Evert Taube
.
with the permission of Pope Clement VI
had a funeral chapel built on the location and dedicated it to Mary Magdalene
. What then happened to the building is poorly documented. A copperplate depicts it as a small building with a single nave adorned with a large tower with a pointy spire.
When Gustav Vasa
liberated Stockholm in the early 1520s, his troops led by Peder Fredag (see Peder Fredags Gränd
) encamped in the chapel and suffered severe losses when the troops of Christian II of Denmark
attacked from the city. This might have been one of the reasons Vasa had all churches, monasteries, and chapels on the ridges surrounding the city destroyed after the introduction of Protestantism
in 1527, including the chapel of Mary Magdalene. However, his son King John III
started the construction of a new church on the location in 1588. His death in 1592 caused construction work to halt, and the church remained uncompleted until 1634.
Both Nicodemus Tessin the Elder
and the Younger
gave the church its Baroque
appearance. The spire of the former, however, inaugurated in 1676 and according to himself the most beautiful spire in Stockholm, was destroyed in a fire in 1759 together with some 300 buildings in the neighbourhood. Superintendent Carl Johan Cronstedt
was commissioned to rebuild the church and had his task completed in 1763. He humbly respected both his older colleagues and preserved much of their design, and the church is still largely intact since. An interior restoration was made in 1927 and the exterior yellow colour was ameliorated in 1986.
Södermalm
Södermalm, often shortened to "Söder", is a district in central Stockholm. It covers the large island formerly called "Åsön". With a population of 99,685, it is one of the most densely populated districts of Scandinavia...
in central Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
.
The church plan has a nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
but no aisles. In its eastern end is a three-sided choir and the transept
Transept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
taking up three bays
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
. In the corners of the crossing
Crossing (architecture)
A crossing, in ecclesiastical architecture, is the junction of the four arms of a cruciform church.In a typically oriented church , the crossing gives access to the nave on the west, the transept arms on the north and south, and the choir on the east.The crossing is sometimes surmounted by a tower...
are enlargement from various periods, all serving liturgical purposes, including the sacristy
Sacristy
A sacristy is a room for keeping vestments and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records.The sacristy is usually located inside the church, but in some cases it is an annex or separate building...
. The painting of the high altar is the Adoration of the Shepherds
Adoration of the shepherds
The Adoration of the shepherds, in the Nativity of Jesus in art, is a scene in which shepherds are near witnesses to the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. It is often combined with the Adoration of the Magi, in which case it is typically just referred to by the latter title...
by Louis Masreliez
Louis Masreliez
Louis Masreliez , born Adrien Louis Masreliez, was a Swedish painter and interior designer.Masreliez was born in Paris and came to Sweden in 1753. He began his education at Ritakademien at the age of 10. Since the academy did not teach painting, he studied at Lorens Gottman's workshop...
from around 1800. The pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
, the Baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
design of Carl Johan Cronstedt
Carl Johan Cronstedt
Carl Johan Cronstedt was a Swedish architect, inventor, Earl, noble, civil servant, scientist and bibliophile.-Biography:Cronstedt was the son of Jakob Cronstedt and Margareta Beata Grundel born in 1709 in Stockholm, Sweden. He married Countess Eva Margareta Lagerberg in 1744.Cronstedt became a...
, was inaugurated in 1763 and carries a medallion with the portrait of Mary Magdalene. The front of the organ was designed by Carl Fredrik Adelcrantz
Carl Fredrik Adelcrantz
Carl Fredrik Adelcrantz was a Swedish architect and civil servant. Adelcrantz's style developed from a rococo influenced by Carl Hårleman, the leading architect in Sweden in the early years of his career, to a classical idiom influenced by the stylistic developments in France in the mid-to-late...
in 1774 while the present 50-stop organ is from 1927. A second organ was added in 1986 and in the choir is a third smaller organ.
The baptismal font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
dates back to 1638 and among the sacramental vessels which survived the fire in 1759, is the oldest effects of the church - a sacramental pan in copper with capital inscriptions. Among the epitaph
Epitaph
An epitaph is a short text honoring a deceased person, strictly speaking that is inscribed on their tombstone or plaque, but also used figuratively. Some are specified by the dead person beforehand, others chosen by those responsible for the burial...
s in the church are one dedicate to Christopher Polhem
Christopher Polhem
Christopher Polhammar , better known as , which he took after his ennoblement, was a Swedish scientist, inventor and industrialist. He made significant contributions to the economic and industrial development of Sweden, particularly mining.-Biography:Polhem was born on the island of Gotland...
and another to Carl Michael Bellman
Carl Michael Bellman
was a Swedish poet and composer. Bellman is a central figure in the Swedish song tradition and remains a very important influence in Swedish music, as well as in Scandinavian literature in general, to this day....
. Under the church are older sepulchral chambers, the burial chapel of which today serves parishes of the Estonian-Finnish Orthodox Church
Finnish Orthodox Church
The Finnish Orthodox Church is an autonomous Orthodox archdiocese of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The Church has a legal position as a national church in the country, along with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland....
and the Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
.
Prominent people buried at the church include: Lasse Lucidor, Erik Johan Stagnelius
Erik Johan Stagnelius
Erik Johan Stagnelius was born October 14, 1793 in Gärdslösa, on the island Öland, Sweden, and died on April 3, 1823 in Stockholm. He was a Romantic poet and playwright....
, Werner Aspenström
Werner Aspenström
Karl Werner Aspenström was a Swedish poet.Born at Norrbärke, he was a member of the Swedish Academy, where he held Seat 12 from 1981 to 1997....
, Karl August Nicander
Karl August Nicander
Karl August Nicander is a Swedish lyric poet.-Bibliography:*Runesvärdet *Fosterlandskänslan *Dikter *Dikter *Markus Botzaris *Tassos död...
, and Evert Taube
Evert Taube
Evert Axel Taube was a Swedish author, artist, composer and singer. He is best known for his folk songs, and is widely regarded as one of Sweden's most respected musicians.-Biography:...
.
History
The church's history dates back to the 1350s when King Magnus ErikssonMagnus IV of Sweden
Magnus Eriksson as Magnus IV was king of Sweden , including Finland, as Magnus VII King of Norway , including Iceland and Greenland, and also ruled Scania . He has also vindictively been called Magnus Smek...
with the permission of Pope Clement VI
Pope Clement VI
Pope Clement VI , bornPierre Roger, the fourth of the Avignon Popes, was pope from May 1342 until his death in December of 1352...
had a funeral chapel built on the location and dedicated it to Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples, and the most important woman disciple in the movement of Jesus. Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons", conventionally interpreted as referring to complex illnesses...
. What then happened to the building is poorly documented. A copperplate depicts it as a small building with a single nave adorned with a large tower with a pointy spire.
When Gustav Vasa
Gustav I of Sweden
Gustav I of Sweden, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known simply as Gustav Vasa , was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death....
liberated Stockholm in the early 1520s, his troops led by Peder Fredag (see Peder Fredags Gränd
Peder Fredags Gränd
Peder Fredags Gränd is a small blind alley in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching north from Köpmangatan, it is located between Skeppar Olofs Gränd and Staffan Sasses Gränd, just south of the Tessin Palace.The inconspicuous alley remained nameless until the 20th...
) encamped in the chapel and suffered severe losses when the troops of Christian II of Denmark
Christian II of Denmark
Christian II was King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden , during the Kalmar Union.-Background:...
attacked from the city. This might have been one of the reasons Vasa had all churches, monasteries, and chapels on the ridges surrounding the city destroyed after the introduction of Protestantism
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
in 1527, including the chapel of Mary Magdalene. However, his son King John III
John III of Sweden
-Family:John married his first wife, Catherine Jagellonica of Poland , house of Jagiello, in Vilnius on 4 October 1562. In Sweden, she is known as Katarina Jagellonica. She was the sister of king Sigismund II Augustus of Poland...
started the construction of a new church on the location in 1588. His death in 1592 caused construction work to halt, and the church remained uncompleted until 1634.
Both Nicodemus Tessin the Elder
Nicodemus Tessin the Elder
Nicodemus Tessin the Elder was an important Swedish architect.-Biography:Nicodemus Tessin was born in Stralsund in Pomerania and came to Sweden as a young man. There he met and worked with the architect Simon de la Vallée...
and the Younger
Nicodemus Tessin the Younger
Count Nicodemus Tessin the Younger was a Swedish Baroque architect, city planner, and administrator.The son of Nicodemus Tessin the Elder and the father of Carl Gustaf Tessin, Tessin the Younger was the middle-most generation of the brief Tessin dynasty, which have had a lasting influence on...
gave the church its Baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
appearance. The spire of the former, however, inaugurated in 1676 and according to himself the most beautiful spire in Stockholm, was destroyed in a fire in 1759 together with some 300 buildings in the neighbourhood. Superintendent Carl Johan Cronstedt
Carl Johan Cronstedt
Carl Johan Cronstedt was a Swedish architect, inventor, Earl, noble, civil servant, scientist and bibliophile.-Biography:Cronstedt was the son of Jakob Cronstedt and Margareta Beata Grundel born in 1709 in Stockholm, Sweden. He married Countess Eva Margareta Lagerberg in 1744.Cronstedt became a...
was commissioned to rebuild the church and had his task completed in 1763. He humbly respected both his older colleagues and preserved much of their design, and the church is still largely intact since. An interior restoration was made in 1927 and the exterior yellow colour was ameliorated in 1986.