The churches of Gotland

Trade makes Gotland rich, and the farmers build a church in almost every parish, in limestone with carved portals. In the 14th century the wealth ebbs away and building comes to a halt.

More than ninety medieval churches survive almost unaltered – one of the densest medieval landscapes in Europe.

Gotland lay in the middle of the Baltic and in the Viking Age and early Middle Ages became a hub of trade between Russia, the Baltic lands and western Europe. Gotlandic farmers themselves sailed to trade in Novgorod and along the Baltic coasts, and more hoards have been found on the island than anywhere else in the Nordic region. Christianity took hold in the 11th century, and the island was divided into parishes where the farmers themselves paid for their churches. The first generation of churches was often of wood, but in the 12th century people began building in stone. Limestone was everywhere in the bedrock, and southern Gotland had sandstone suitable for sculpture, so the island’s own stonemasons had plenty of material.

Most churches were not built all at once but in stages. A Romanesque tower might remain while the nave and chancel were demolished and rebuilt larger and in the Gothic style. That is why many churches are a mixture of different periods. The master masons are anonymous, but scholars have named them after their works. The masters Hegvald and Majestatis carved fonts in the 12th century, and the master known as Egypticus made portals and sculptures in the 14th century, including at Stånga. The interiors were filled with wall paintings, crucifixes and stained glass, and in churches such as Dalhem and Lye medieval glass survives. Gotlandic fonts were exported to the mainland and around the Baltic.

In the 14th century Gotland’s golden age came to an end. The Hanseatic League and the German merchants in Visby took over the trade, and in 1288 there was even a civil war between the town and the countryside. The Black Death struck around 1350, and in 1361 the island was conquered by the Danish king Valdemar Atterdag after a bloody battle outside Visby. The money vanished, and building work was abandoned in mid-course. This can still be seen in several churches, where a large new chancel or tower stands next to a smaller, older nave that was never replaced. Gotland remained Danish until 1645 and was then poor for a long time, and that is largely why the churches were never modernised and survive so untouched.