Visiting the Main Harbour Canal and the German Church, Gothenburg, Sweden: A Gracious Setting
Strong links with Germany
The gracious scene, above, depicting a canal (1) and a church building is derived from Gothenburg (Swedish: Göteborg), Sweden.
The edifice dates from 1648. The building at Norra Hamngatan formerly possessed a spire, which may be seen in an 18th century representation. The tower was built by C. F. Adelkranz in 1780. An element of octagonal roofing is another noted feature of the building.
The building suffered a serious fire in the 17th century, necessitating significant repairs. In 2001, a program of refurbishment was undertaken.
Interestingly, the existence of the German church in Gothenburg caused the city's Swedish Lutheran Cathedral to be referred to as the Swedish church (Swedish: Svenska kyrkan ), in order to maintain a distinction between two prominent church buildings (2).
The German church was formerly also the venue for Dutch-language services.
The existence of the German church in Gothenburg is a reminder of the historically strong commercial links between Sweden and Germany. This German church is Protestant, yet before the Reformation, these commercial links were solidified in Medieval times by the Hanseatic League, which brought prosperity to port cities in northern Germany and Scandinavia.
The canal, depicted above, looks picturesque and inviting, although for the record when I saw it the somewhat adverse weather conditions offered a rather more bleak scene. Like Swedes, Canadians will be well used to visitors having widely differing impressions of their country depending on the season of the year in which they choose to travel!
August 27, 2012
Notes
(1) Dutch engineers were responsible for many of the city's canals.
(2) The building is also known as the Christina church (Swedish: Christinae kyrkan).
Also worth seeing
In Gothenburg itself, other visitor attractions include: the Maritime Museum; the Volvo Museum; the City Museum of Gothenburg and the Gothenburg Museum of Art; Ernst Torulf's former Post Office building; A. V. Edelsvaerd's Central Railroad Station; north of the city, at Säve, the Aeroseum aviation collection specializes in insights into Cold War defence measures, and many others.
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How to get there: Delta Airlines (with KLM) flies from New York via Amsterdam to Gothenburg -Landvetter Airport (Göteborg-Landvetter flygplats ). It may be convenient for North American visitors, who make London, England their base, to fly with Ryanair from London Stansted Airport to Göteborg-City Airport . You are advised to check with the airline or your travel agent for up to date information. Please refer to appropriate consular sources for any special border crossing arrangements which may apply to citizens of certain nationalities.
MJFenn is an independent travel writer based in Ontario, Canada.
