Femsjö kyrka

The church's border position, near the historic boundary between Danish Halland and Swedish Småland, left it exposed to repeated conflict. Sources describe damage during the Scandinavian Seven Years' War of 1563–1570, when the building was reportedly used at times as a stable and suffered fire and cannon damage. Following the peace treaties of Brömsebro and Roskilde, which brought Halland under Swedish control, the parish undertook a thorough rebuilding between 1734 and 1749, giving the church much of its present form.

The exterior reflects this layered history, combining a rounded, Romanesque-style doorway and arched windows with the rendered walls and tower typical of the later Baroque rebuilding. Despite the many upheavals, three items are said to survive from the medieval period: a granite font, a wooden Madonna figure, and a small 'prim bell' hung near the sacristy door, once used to signal the ringing of the main tower bells and now associated with baptisms.

Much of the church's decorative woodwork dates from the 1700s. The altarpiece and pulpit are attributed to the woodcarver Sven Segervall, the altarpiece dated to 1726 and the pulpit to 1744; the pulpit carries figures of the four evangelists and a figure representing Christ as Salvator Mundi. The font, though medieval in origin, reportedly had a varied later history, including a period of use for storing tar during roof works, before being re-carved and reconsecrated in the twentieth century.

Perhaps the most memorable feature for visitors is the painted ceiling, created in the 1740s by Peter Edberg, a military corporal from Jönköping who took on painting as a sideline. According to the sources, he completed the extensive scheme in only two months, drawing on German engravings for his imagery. The surviving scenes include allegorical subjects on themes such as death, judgement, and greed, contrasted with images of divine mercy and the crowning of the faithful. The paintings were restored in 1912 after their colours had begun to fade.

Two bells hang in the tower, cast within a couple of decades of each other in the late 1600s by the founder Arfvid Larsson of Jönköping. The church's organ has been replaced several times over the centuries, most recently by an instrument from a Danish organ-building firm inaugurated in 1962.