page_title: Storkyrkan
section_title: Historical significance and royal connections
hierarchical_section_title: Storkyrkan / Historical significance and royal connections
caption_attribution_description: English: Crown Princess Stockholm Wedding
context_page_description: Storkyrkan, also called Stockholms domkyrka, is the oldest church in Stockholm. Storkyrkan lies in the centre of Stockholm in Gamla stan, between Stockholm Palace and Stortorget, the old main square of Stockholm. It was inaugurated in 1306 but construction of the church probably started in the 13th century. Inside, Storkyrkan still maintains much of its late medieval appearance in the form of a hall church with a vaulted ceiling supported by brick pillars. The exterior of the church is however uniformly Baroque in appearance, the result of extensive changes made in the 18th century. During the Middle Ages, it was dedicated to Saint Nicholas, but after the Reformation in Sweden – in which the church played an important role as the place where Mass was celebrated in Swedish for the first time – it has been a Lutheran church, not formally dedicated to any saint. It currently serves as the seat of the Bishop of Stockholm within the Church of Sweden since the creation of the Diocese of Stockholm in 1942.
  Storkyrkan was for a long time the only parish church of Stockholm, and from an early date it was connected with the Swedish royal family.
context_section_description: Storkyrkan has been the venue of important events in the history of Sweden. The growing wealth and influence of Stockholm during the Middle Ages, and the church's vicinity to the Royal Palace, attracted the attention of both the Archbishop of Uppsala and the monarchs of Sweden. The archbishop occasionally appointed a special representative to the church, and frequently intervened in local church matters. On at least one occasion, in 1338, a bishop (Hemming of Turku) was ordained in Storkyrkan.
  The Reformation in Sweden was at least partly born in Storkyrkan: it was here that Lutheranism was publicly preached for the first time in Sweden and Storkyrkan was at the same time the first church in Sweden where Mass was celebrated in Swedish (instead of Latin), in 1525. One of the main advocates of the Reformation in Sweden, Olaus Petri, then served as a priest in Storkyrkan. As Storkyrkan from then on was used exclusively by the Swedish-speaking congregation of Stockholm, the sizeable German and Finnish-speaking congregations also moved out to the German Church and a chapel in the town hall, respectively.
  The church has been used for the coronation of kings and queens of Sweden on several occasions. The first royal coronation that took place in Storkyrkan was the coronation of Magnus IV and Blanche of Namur in 1336. The coronation was conducted by Engelbert von Dolen, Bishop of Tartu, in the presence of all Swedish bishops. Most medieval coronations however took place in Uppsala Cathedral. The next time a coronation took place in Storkyrkan was in 1497, when King John was crowned King of Sweden there, during the Kalmar Union. His son Christian II of Denmark was crowned in Storkyrkan on 4 November 1521 in a ceremony designed to mark the submission of Sweden to the rule of King Christian. During the ceremony, representatives of Emperor Charles V presented the king with the Order of the Golden Fleece. Just a few days later, the Stockholm Bloodbath took place.
  For some time it was then considered inauspicious for ruling monarchs to be crowned in Storkyrkan. However, the wedding between King Eric XIV of Sweden and Karin Månsdotter, as well as her coronation following the wedding, took place in Storkyrkan in 1568. Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg was also crowned as Queen of Sweden in Storkyrkan, following her marriage to King Gustavus Adolphus in 1620. The next ruling monarch to be crowned in Storkyrkan was, after a hiatus of 130 years, Queen Christina, in 1650. The coronation of the next two kings were in Uppsala, but King Charles XII again preferred Storkyrkan for his coronation in 1697. The coronation of King Frederick I was also conducted in Storkyrkan, in 1720. From then on the coronations of all Swedish monarchs, with the exception of Gustav IV Adolf, took place in Storkyrkan. The last coronation of a Swedish monarch was that of King Oscar II in 1873, which took place in Storkyrkan.
  The church has been used for royal weddings on several occasions. Two of the daughters of King Gustav Vasa were married in Storkyrkan, as well as the son of King John III. The wedding between the future King Oscar I and Josephine of Leuchtenberg took place in Storkyrkan in 1823, and several other members of the royal family were married in the church during the 19th and 20th centuries. In 2010, Storkyrkan was the venue for the wedding of Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, and Daniel Westling.
  While Storkyrkan has rarely been used as a burial church for royalty (instead, Riddarholmen Church fulfilled that role until 1950), a number of high-profile funerals have taken place in Storkyrkan during the 20th century. After the bodies of the three members of the failed Andrée's Arctic balloon expedition (Salomon August Andrée, Knut Frænkel and Nils Strindberg) were retrieved and returned to Stockholm in 1930, their funeral was held in Storkyrkan. More recently, the funerals of writer Astrid Lindgren (died 2002) and of the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy Sara Danius (died 2019) were also held in Storkyrkan. When MS Estonia sank in 1994 with the lo
caption: The wedding of Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, and Daniel Westling in Storkyrkan in 2010
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