Korsberga kyrka

The name Korsberga appears in written records from 1310, when it was spelled Corsbjerg. It is thought to derive from a natural cross-shaped crevice in the rock, still visible just east of the church, which may once have been a pre-Christian sacrificial site. Local tradition holds that people gathered here to hear the story of Christ some 800 years ago, probably on or near the site of the present church, and that old roads once passed by, making it a natural meeting point for travellers.

The earliest church on the site was built of timber. According to one account it was of a late-medieval type influenced by Cistercian building traditions, without a tower but topped with a spire and weathercock, its three bells hung in a separate frame. Any medieval fittings were lost when the church was destroyed by fire in 1598; new furnishings were introduced afterwards, including an altarpiece of four paintings depicting Christ's Passion, donated in 1693 by Colonel Per Stålhammar of Hultsvik, and a new pulpit made in 1705 by Torbern Röding.

By the early nineteenth century this building was judged unsafe. Following an inspection in 1837, Bishop Esaias Tegnér declared the old church, standing some 40 metres south of today's building, too old and cracked to remain in use, and called for a replacement. Plans were drawn up and revised over several years before construction finally began in 1855 under master mason Jonas Malmberg of Växjö. The new church, built in stone in the Empire style, was brought into use in 1856, though it was not formally consecrated until 1862, by Bishop Henrik Gustaf Hultman. Its total cost came to 3,800 riksdaler, aided by a great deal of unpaid communal labour. Churches built in this period under Tegnér's influence are sometimes nicknamed 'Tegnérladar' ('Tegnér barns') because of their plain, barn-like preaching-hall form.

The church consists of a nave with an apsidal chancel, a sacristy behind it to the north, and a tower to the south crowned with a lantern and cross, encircled by railings. The exterior is said to be largely unchanged since it was built. Inside, the chancel arch bears a religious inscription, and the apse is decorated with columns recalling Greek temple architecture. The altar decoration includes a small copy of Thorvaldsen's figure of Christ, and the pulpit, with its sounding board, is typical of the period. The older 1705 pulpit by Torbern Röding survives and is kept in the tower chamber. Carved angel figures playing trumpets decorate the sacristy doorways, and the organ gallery front is ornamented with a gilded lyre and crossed wind instruments.

Three bells hang in the tower: the smallest dates from 1631, the middle one from the medieval period, and the largest from 1796, recast in 1907. The church organ, built in 1865 by Johannes Magnusson of Lemnhult, has a well-preserved Empire-style case; an earlier instrument with eleven stops had been built for the church in 1743 by Lars Solberg of Norra Sandsjö. In more recent times the rearmost pews have been removed to create space for a quiet room and cloakroom.