German Church, Lutheran church in Gamla Stan, Stockholm, Sweden
The German Church is a church building in Gamla Stan with a 96-meter copper-covered brick steeple. Its interior features white vaulted ceilings, marble floors, and a grand Baroque altar that dominates the worship space.
The German merchants' St. Gertrude guild, founded on this site in the 14th century, had its headquarters rebuilt into a church from the 1580s. King John III authorized a separate German parish in 1571, and in 1607 King Charles IX transferred the premises exclusively to the Germans. Hans Jacob Kristler enlarged the chapel into the present two-nave church in 1638–1642, consecrated in 1642.
The church served as a gathering place for German-speaking merchants and their families from its earliest days. Today it continues to host services in German and concerts that keep this heritage alive for visitors and worshippers.
The church is open daily in summer and at weekends in winter. German-language services are held Sundays at 11 am. The main entrance is the south sandstone portal with statues of Jesus and Moses, reached from the courtyard off Tyska Brinken.
The carillon plays two specific hymns: "Nun danket alle Gott" at 8 am and 4 pm, and "Praise the Lord" at noon and 8 pm. The tower's spire, completed in 1887, is flanked by four small turrets and crowned by a gilded rooster, the highest point in Gamla stan at 96 metres above the water.
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