Engelbrekt Church
The church rises on a rocky outcrop and seems to grow out of the hill. Wahlman won the competition with a free interpretation of medieval churches, in red brick and granite. Inside it has one of the highest church vaults in the Nordic countries, carried by huge, almost pointed arches.
When the Lärkstaden district of Östermalm was planned in the early 20th century, a church was needed for the new parish. An architectural competition was held, and Lars Israel Wahlman, who had earlier designed Tjolöholm Castle in Halland, won with a proposal that made use of the steep rock at the centre of the area. Construction began around 1910, and the church was consecrated in 1914. Wahlman did not want to copy any particular medieval style but sought a free, national expression in materials native to Sweden. The church was therefore built with a plinth and details in granite and walls of red brick, and he placed great emphasis on the craftsmanship of the masonry, ironwork and joinery. The church is one of the foremost works of National Romanticism in Stockholm.
The church interior is unusually tall and has one of the highest church vaults in the Nordic countries. It is carried by huge arches that are almost pointed and give the space a strong vertical effect, but without the slender piers of Gothic. The plan is short and broad, so that the congregation gathers close to the altar rather than in a long nave. The walls and vaults have paintings by Filip Månsson, who worked in a style reminiscent both of medieval wall paintings and of Art Nouveau. The exterior is built up of distinct, heavy volumes with steep roofs, and the tower stands on the summit of the rock and can be seen from far away. Steps and walls lead from the streets up to the church, so that visitors make an ascent towards the entrance.
Engelbrekt Church became one of the most admired church buildings of the early 20th century and pointed the way for many Swedish churches in which brick and granite were left to speak for themselves. Wahlman later became a professor at the Royal Institute of Technology and influenced a whole generation of architects through his teaching. The church interior has been renovated several times, and the paintings and furnishings have been looked after so that the overall impression is preserved. Today it is used both for services and for concerts, where the tall space gives it a special acoustic. The building also shows how National Romanticism worked with the landscape: the church is not placed on a level plot but seems to grow out of the rock, and the street plan of Lärkstaden was laid out around it.