Alböke Church

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The new church

The Church of Alböke on the Swedish island of Öland , north of Köpingsvik, is one of the three church buildings in the parish of Föra-Alböke-Löts församling of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sweden . The building is a church heritage site ( kyrkligt kulturminne ) under monument protection.

The old church

The first stone church was probably built in the 12th century. Remnants of their foundations are visible around today's church tower. In front of the first stone church there was a previous wooden building. The art historian Ragnhild Boström (1917-2016) believed that the church was built on the site of a pagan sacrificial site, which the place name with the prefix "Al" suggests.

The medieval church consisted of the nave , the apse and a porch. A tower later rose to the west. The church roof was covered with tar and sawdust . The walls were probably unplastered inside and out. While the apse and the tower (on the ground floor) had a stone vault, the nave was provided with an open roof.

In the 13th century a second tower was built over the choir in the east . The walls of the nave and the west tower were reinforced. A high wall around the church complex with the cemetery was built in connection with the renovations. The church thus became a saddle church , which also served the parish as a refuge. When it was demolished in 1861 to make way for a new church, it was the last and probably also the oldest church of this type on Öland. A lithograph by Nils M. Mandelgren from 1883 shows the state of the church before the church was demolished.

The new church

The new church, built between 1859 and 1862, replaces the old one. It was built at right angles to the old one, making it the only church on Öland with a north-south orientation. The walls of the church are made of limestone. The stone was not only fetched from the Stora Alvaret , but parts of the high enclosure wall were also dismantled. A ledge made of red limestone runs around the tower, which also has two portals. The roof of the nave and the sacristy are covered with tiles. The upper part of the detached tower has a copper dome. Inside the church there is a simple room with a flat wooden arched ceiling. Artifacts from the medieval church have been preserved and decorate the new church. The pews, altar and gallery are contemporary. A triumphal cross from around 1300 is placed on the east wall. On the western wall is a Madonna that was made in northern Germany in the mid-15th century. The pulpit and the altar top are probably from 1794.

  • Alböke Church

  • The saddle church in Alböke after a drawing from the 19th century

  • Pulpit and altar

  • Madonna

See also

Web links

Commons : Alböke Church  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ragnhild Boström: Kyrkor på Öland. Inledning - översikt av de skriftliga källorna . (Sveriges kyrkor - konsthistoriskt inventarium, vol. 108). Stockholm 1966.

Coordinates: 56 ° 56 '51.9 "  N , 16 ° 47' 2.5"  E