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Oppeby kyrka

Address
Sandbacken 1, 59043, Rimforsa
Municipality
Kinda Kommun
Denomination
Church of Sweden
Associated diocese
Diocese of Linköping

Oppeby kyrka is an 18th-century stone church standing on a narrow neck of land between the lakes Åsunden and Nimmern in Östergötland, near Rimforsa. Consecrated in 1760, it replaced an earlier medieval wooden church and remains a distinctive landmark of the surrounding countryside.



The present church was built between 1759 and 1760 to designs by the Linköping master builder Peter Frimodig, replacing a medieval timber church that had stood on the site, reputedly since the Middle Ages and rebuilt after a serious fire in the early 1600s. The driving force behind the new building was the church's patron, Lieutenant Colonel Claës Diedrich von Breitholtz, who also financed and helped design the church at Misterhult. The foundation stone was laid in 1759, and the new church was consecrated in September 1760 by the elderly Bishop of Linköping, Andreas Olavi Rhyzelius, with celebrations held at the nearby manor of Stjärnevik, where services had been held during construction.

Architecturally the church is a single-nave building with a barrel vault, tall round-arched windows, a west tower and an arched chancel to the east, with a sacristy adjoining the north wall of the nave near the chancel. All the roofs are covered in wooden shingles, and the timber upper section of the tower is topped by a shingle-clad spire in two stages.

The interior is dominated by an altarpiece painted by Carl Fredrich Brander depicting the Nativity, set within an elaborate surround carved by the Målilla artist Jonas Berggren, who also created the pulpit and painted decorative panels on the gallery front. Berggren's pulpit carries a relief of Christ and the Samaritan woman at the well, and was a gift from von Breitholtz and his wife, whose combined coat of arms decorates the pulpit canopy. Berggren completed this work by 1763. A chandelier said to date from around 1766 was donated by a local lieutenant and his wife. An epitaph to von Breitholtz hangs on the north wall of the nave. These 18th-century furnishings sit alongside earlier survivals: a carved oak processional crucifix dated to the second half of the 13th century, and several relief figures from a north German altar cabinet of the late 15th century, both said to have come from the earlier church, with the altar reliefs reportedly brought here after also having stood in Asby church.

Other notable items include a medieval sick-communion chalice, a 17th-century silver paten and chalice, and church bells cast in 1654 and 1669. An organ of nine stops was installed on the west gallery in 1833 by the Stockholm organ builder Pehr Zacharias Strand, later enlarged and eventually replaced by a larger instrument in the twentieth century.

Opening hours

Opening hours have not been confirmed for the current date. This does not mean the church is closed.

Check access with the parish before travelling. Services and seasonal changes can affect visits.

Facilities & accessibility

  • Toilet
  • Hearing loop

Listed by the provider; availability has not been independently checked. An unlisted facility is not necessarily unavailable.

Rimforsa församling

Oppeby kyrka

Oppeby kyrka is an 18th-century stone church standing on a narrow neck of land between the lakes Åsunden and Nimmern in Östergötland, near Rimforsa. Consecrated in 1760, it replaced an earlier medieval wooden church and remains a distinctive landmark of the surrounding countryside.

Sandbacken 1, 59043, Rimforsa

Explore this church: Oppeby kyrka

Church information: Svenska kyrkan, Platser · CC BY 4.0. Each church page includes its credits and visiting notes.

Other churches in the same diocese

Basic listing

Kumla kyrka

Kumla kyrka is a small Romanesque limestone church near Väderstad in Östergötland, said to be Linköping diocese's smallest church. Built around the late 12th or early 13th century beside Lake Tåkern, it retains much of…

Kumla kyrka, 596 95, Väderstad

View church details: Kumla kyrka
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Hagebyhöga kyrka

Hagebyhöga kyrka is a medieval parish church in Hagebyhöga, Vadstena municipality, in Östergötland. Consecrated in the 1120s, it began as a Romanesque building and was substantially remodelled in the later Middle Ages, giving it the…

Hagebyhöga 109, 592 94, Vadstena

View church details: Hagebyhöga kyrka
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Bankekinds kyrka

Bankekinds kyrka stands on a hillside outside Linköping in Östergötland. Originally known as Svinstad kyrka, it retains a medieval tower from around 1200, while the rest of the building dates from a rapid rebuilding in…

Bankekind

View church details: Bankekinds kyrka
Basic listing

Häradshammars kyrka

Häradshammars kyrka is a parish church in Häradshammar, Östergötland, within Östra Husby församling in the Diocese of Linköping. Built in 1806 after fire destroyed its medieval predecessor, it is best known today for its altarpiece…

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View church details: Häradshammars kyrka

Sources & credits

Provider catalogue data: Svenska kyrkan, Platser, CC BY 4.0. Separately credited descriptions retain their stated source and licence terms. Catalogue and visiting data reformatted from the provider. The English guide combines and abridges separately credited sources below.

Provider record updated: 21 Nov 2025. This is not an independent verification date.

Source record: 4bcdf772-97cc-4df9-be00-13f6e67fb4df

Guide sources

This English guide combines, abridges and translates the sources below with AI assistance, with editorial contributions by Churches in Sweden. It has not been independently verified. The adapted guide text is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Photographs and map data have their own terms.

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Church data retrieved 24 Sep 2026. Visiting details have not been independently verified.

Sources, licences & reuse

Independent guide

Churches in Sweden is an independent guide. It is not an official Svenska kyrkan website and does not imply sponsorship or endorsement.

Church information

Source: Svenska kyrkan — Platser, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. English adaptations by Churches in Sweden are identified on each profile. Our adaptations solely from Platser are offered under CC BY 4.0. Guides combining Wikipedia with other compatible sources are identified individually and offered under CC BY-SA 4.0; this covers that guide text, not the whole website. Separately credited third-party material retains its stated terms. Independently written descriptions are identified on their profiles. Imported material has not been independently verified. Original names and visiting details are retained; presentation is reformatted. Each profile identifies its source record and any additional supplied credits.

You may reuse the licensed church material under CC BY 4.0, including commercially, with the required attribution, licence link and indication of changes. No additional site restriction overrides those rights. The licence does not automatically cover separately credited images or map data.

Provider disclaimer

Svenska kyrkan supplies Platser data without guaranteeing that it is correct, current, complete across its organisation, or always available. The material is provided as-is and as-available, subject to the licence’s disclaimer of warranties and limitation of liability.

Svenska kyrkan kan ej garantera att den data som finns i Platser:
– är korrekt.
– är aktuell.
– är komplett för hela Svenska kyrkans organisation.
– alltid är tillgänglig.

Preserved provider agreement · Full licence

Automatic diocese associations use the organisation codes from Svenska kyrkan UnitAPI. An association does not establish ownership or denomination. External editorial sources are credited separately.

Map and photographs

Map data: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL and © OpenMapTiles. Tiles and style are served by World Class Maps. Map rendering uses MapLibre GL JS. The map’s own attribution remains visible.

Photographs are credited individually with their own licence or permission. The API data licence does not automatically cover photographs. No images are imported automatically.