Borgholms kyrka, the parish church of Borgholm on the island of Öland, was built in 1879 in a distinctive invented 'medieval style' that borrows freely from both Romanesque and Gothic traditions, rather than following either precisely.
Before Borgholm had its own church, residents had to travel to Köpings kyrka or Räpplinge kyrka. That changed when the town's church was completed in 1879 to designs by Ernst Jacobsson of the Överintendentsämbetet (the royal office of buildings), with construction led by A. Chronwall of Kalmar. The building is of natural stone with a rendered façade, decorated with round-arched friezes and buttresses. It was consecrated by Bishop Pehr Sjöbring on Whit Sunday 1879.
An unusual feature of the design is the tower's position at the centre of the building, dividing it into two distinct halves: the church hall to the east and, originally, a schoolroom to the west (now used as a parish hall). This arrangement reflects how, at the time, the parish and the local school were administratively linked, both overseen locally by the vicar and regionally by the bishop and cathedral chapter.
The church's interior looked quite different for its first eighty years, having a Neoclassical character until 1960. Between 1960 and 1961, architect Carl Hampus Bergman carried out a thorough modernisation that swept away the late-19th-century fittings in favour of a fully modernist scheme, including new stained-glass and wrought-iron work by Harald Garmland and Erik Höglund, a new altar, altar rail and pulpit, a flattened ceiling, and the replacement of pews with chairs (pews were later reinstated). A baptismal chapel in the base of the tower features glass mosaic work by Höglund alongside an earlier round window from 1929 by Erik Jerken, depicting the Good Shepherd.
The tower, topped by a tall Gothic-inspired spire, houses two bells: the larger cast in 1872 by Joh A Beckman, and the smaller originating from Bredestads kyrka in Aneby, cast in 1756 by Elias Fries Thoresson. Among the church's furnishings is a votive ship in the form of a full-rigged sailing vessel, made by Emil Johansson and Axel Jansson and given to the church in 1960.
The church has had several organs over the years, the current instrument dating from 1995, when organ builder Johannes Künkel enlarged an earlier organ from Sankt Elavi kapell to create a new choir organ, reusing pipework from the dismantled gallery organ.
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A listed ramp does not confirm step-free access throughout the building.
Norra Ölands pastorat
Norra Ölands pastorat
Borgholms kyrka, the parish church of Borgholm on the island of Öland, was built in 1879 in a distinctive invented 'medieval style' that borrows freely from both Romanesque and Gothic traditions, rather than following either precisely.
Östra Kyrkogatan 8, 387 31
Explore this church: Borgholms kyrkaChurch information: Svenska kyrkan, Platser · CC BY 4.0. Each church page includes its credits and visiting notes.
Gyllenfors kapell is a small chapel near Gislaved in Jönköping County, built in 1937 to serve the growing Gyllenfors area. Set beside a cemetery on the southern approach road towards Reftele, it remains a modest…
Åsbjörnsgatan 21, 332 36, Gislaved
View church details: Gyllenfors kapellLocation and available visiting information. A fuller English guide is still to be added.
Storgatan 50, Skillingaryd
View church details: Kapellet Skogskyrkogården SkillingarydKälleryds kyrka is a parish church in Källeryds församling, part of the Church of Sweden's Diocese of Växjö, standing in the village of Nissafors in Gnosjö kommun. Its present appearance dates largely from the early…
Gnosjö pastorat Järnvägsgatan 52, 33530, Gnosjö
View church details: Källeryds kyrkaVoxtorps kyrka stands about three kilometres north-west of Bor in Värnamo municipality, Småland, serving Voxtorp parish within the Diocese of Växjö. This modest neoclassical church replaced a medieval stone building on the same site.
CENTRUMVÄGEN 9, 33173, BOR
View church details: Voxtorps kyrkaSources, credits and English adaptations are identified on each church page. Provider data: Svenska kyrkan, Platser · CC BY 4.0.
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: 22 Jun 2026. This is not an independent verification date.
Source record: 72b23ad7-f88f-4ce3-917e-2f88c433e154
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.