From Malaysia to Sweden: Katarina Church

9 June 2017

Today's outing bring me to Katarina Church. I am attempting all places with free entrance and they mostly comprise of museums and churches. This is due to the fact I am jobless. Money needs to be saved where necessary.

Katarina kyrka (Church of Catherine) is one of the major churches in central Stockholm, Sweden. The original building was constructed 1656–1695. It has been rebuilt twice after being destroyed by fires, the second time during the 1990s. The Katarina-Sofia borough is named after the parish and the neighbouring parish of Sofia. Construction of the church started during the reign of Charles X of Sweden, and the church is named after Princess Catherine, mother of the king, wife of John Casimir, Palsgrave of Pfalz-Zweibrücken and half-sister of Gustavus Adolphus. The original architect was Jean de la Vallée. The construction was severely delayed due to shortage of funds.

In 1723 the church, together with half of the buildings in the parish, was completely destroyed in a major fire. Rebuilding started almost immediately, under supervision of Göran Josua Adelcrantz, the city architect, who designed a larger, octagonal tower. May 17, 1990, the church burned down again. Almost nothing but the external walls remained. Architect Ove Hidemark was responsible for rebuilding the church, which was reopened in 1995. The new organ was built by J. L. van den Heuvel Orgelbouw in the Netherlands. Source from Wikipedia.

When I stepped in, there was an event going on. I striked a conversation with a visitor who was holding a flower.

'Why are you holding a flower?' "To give to my nephew" "Why is your nephew getting a flower" "His graduation."

That shocked me. A graduation in a church. I spoke to a church staff who told me that this is a nursing school graduation and it is free to hold a graduation in a church.

The next thing that shocked me was to see Muslims in the church too. In Malaysia, it is almost impossible to have that. You will never see Muslims stepping inside a temple or church unless they don't mind. I digress. It is beautiful to see such a harmonious event.

The last thing that shocked me was to hear their graduation-goodbye song in English. I was expecting to hear Swedish songs but the loud blare of English song made me laugh.

The event ended after an hour, and I walked around the Church. I noticed that this Church did not have a statue of Jesus Christ or Mother Mary in the middle. I can't seem to find in Google the significance of their wooden model.

This was the first time I saw a church piano so up, close, and personal.

There was an art exhibition going on inside the Church too. I am not sure if this art exhibition was advertised anywhere. Interesting sculptures. As you can see, I am not an art fan as I have limited vocabulary in appreciating art. Haha!