German Church

The German Church on the picturesque harbour canal is the oldest in Gothenburg. It is actually called "Christinenkirche" - in memory of the historical Queen Kristina. She was the daughter of King Gustav Adolf II. She caused a scandal when she converted to Catholicism in Protestant Sweden on Christmas Eve 1654. Later she renounced the throne, lived many years in the Vatican and was buried there as one of few women in the grottoes of St. Peter's Basilica.

On the Lilla Berget, the Little Mountain, the Tyska Kyrkan was built in Gothenburg. In the immediate vicinity of the church is the city hall and the publishing building of the Handelsblatt. The consecration of the church in 1648 coincided with the end of the Thirty Years' War and the Peace of Westphalia. King Gustav II had already approved the building because a great many Germans sought to come to Sweden and asked for a church to be built where preaching could take place in their language. However, the respective pastors had to commit themselves to spreading Luther's teachings alone.

The original form of the German Church was not preserved after two major fires. It did not receive its present appearance with its impressive windows until 1788. Some of these original windows with depictions of prophets and evangelists were destroyed in a bomb attack on the town hall. Since 1961, the German Church has been enriched by a carillon on the church tower. There a melody resounds four times a day. A collection chest worth seeing has been preserved from the early days of the church. The altar and pulpit were financed by the will of a large merchant.