Skip to main content

Vrigstad kyrka

Address
Box 47, 57621, SÄVSJÖ
Municipality
Sävsjö Kommun
Denomination
Church of Sweden
Associated diocese
Diocese of Växjö

Vrigstad kyrka is a parish church of the Church of Sweden in Vrigstad, Jönköping County, part of the Vrigstad-Hylletofta parish within the Diocese of Växjö. It stands close to the site of its medieval predecessor.



The present stone church was built in 1865 to designs by the architect and professor Fredrik Wilhelm Scholander, replacing an earlier medieval church that stood just to the south and had become dilapidated as the local population grew. That older building, dating from the 12th century, had been constructed of roughly hewn granite with dressed sandstone detailing, comprising a rectangular nave, a square chancel and a semicircular apse. Building the new church required extending the churchyard northwards, rerouting the local road and moving the parish cottage. The first service in the new building was held on New Year's Day 1866.

The church's current appearance owes much to a major restoration in 1963, led by the architect Lars Stalin, during which side aisles shown on Scholander's original plans were finally added. Chancel windows by the artist Bo Beskow also date from this period.

Several older fittings survive from the medieval church. The sandstone font is said to have been carved in the 12th century by the stonemason Finvider. A crucifix dates from the 18th century, as does a Baroque-style pulpit from the early 1700s. The altarpiece, painted in 1778 by Pehr Hörberg, is a copy of the altarpiece in Växjö Cathedral, and further paintings by Hörberg, once part of the gallery front in the old church, are displayed beneath the gallery today.

The church has a colourful history of misfortune and mystery. An anonymous donor reportedly arranged for a clockmaker from Stockholm to fit a tower clock around 1884–85, and the donor's identity was never revealed. A storm shortly before midsummer 1885 tore down the church's large copper-clad cross and its four globes, damaging the slate roof in the process; a new cross, made of well-seasoned holly wood clad in copper and gilded, was made to replace it according to the original design.

The gallery organ, built in 1874 by Anders Victor Lundahl of Malmö, was praised at the time as one of the finest instruments of its size, and the congregation is said to have given the builder a silver drinking cup in gratitude; the organ is no longer playable. A separate chancel organ with 15 stops was built in 1964 by Troels Krohn of the Frederiksborg Orgelbyggeri in Denmark.

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.

Sävsjö pastorat

Vrigstad kyrka

Vrigstad kyrka is a parish church of the Church of Sweden in Vrigstad, Jönköping County, part of the Vrigstad-Hylletofta parish within the Diocese of Växjö. It stands close to the site of its medieval predecessor.

Box 47, 57621, SÄVSJÖ

Explore this church: Vrigstad 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

Annerstads kyrka

Annerstads kyrka stands on a rise beside the Bolmån river in Kronoberg county. The present building replaced a medieval stone church and was completed in the 1820s, retaining several older furnishings from its predecessor.

Annerstads kyrka 1, Annerstad

View church details: Annerstads kyrka
Basic listing

Furuby kyrka

Furuby kyrka is a late 19th-century parish church in Furuby, part of Hemmesjö-Furuby parish in the Diocese of Växjö. Built in a historicist mixed style blending Romanesque and Gothic Revival features, it replaced a medieval…

Furuby kyrka, Byvägen 31, 365 93, Furuby

View church details: Furuby 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: 9 Jun 2022. This is not an independent verification date.

Source record: 847bcde0-7c2b-45d6-a957-32d649e955c5

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.

Suggest a correction

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.