The Fjellstedt School (Swedish: ) was a private

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

, Sweden, founded in 1862 and closed in 1982, with the main aim of preparing students for academic studies in

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

and the priesthood in the

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden () is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.5 million members at year end 2023, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sweden, the largest List ...

. ''The Fjellstedt School Foundation'' () has been a theological training and course institute since 1982. The foundation owns a large property between the Fyris River and Östra Ågatan in central Uppsala, where, in addition to the foundation's activities, there are also premises for the Church of Sweden's educational institute.

History

The school has its origins in the work of priest and missionary

Peter Fjellstedt Peter Fjellstedt (17 September 1802 – 4 January 1881) was a Swedish '' Nyevangelist'' missionary and preacher who founded the Fjellstedt School and Evangeliska Fosterlands-Stiftelsen. Biography Upbringing Fjellstedt was born to carpenter ...

(1802–1881). In 1845, money was gathered to support him and his family by enabling him to preach, establishing the Lund Missionary Society, where he became director in 1846. He and several theology professors at

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

wanted to promote theological education. Bishops Henrik Reuterdahl,

Ebbe Gustaf Bring Ebbe Gustaf Bring (4 July 1814 – 13 August 1884) was a Swedish bishop in the Church of Sweden and theologian. Biography Bring was born in Askersund, Örebro County in 1814, to city physician and assessor Sven Håkan Bring and Ulrika (Ulla) Sof ...

and priests

Johan Henrik Thomander Johan Henrik Thomander (16 June 1798 – 9 July 1865) was a Swedish professor, bishop, translator and author. He received his doctorate in theology in 1836 and was elected to the eighteenth chair of the Swedish Academy in 1856. After his father' ...

Peter Wieselgren Peter (Per) Wieselgren, born Jonasson (1 October 1800 – 10 October 1877) was a Lutheran priest, librarian, archivist, literary historian, and leader of the Swedish temperance movement who formed the first organised temperance society in Sweden. ...

, and were some of the clergy involved in the early organization. Its first two students in the 1840s were some of the first Swedish missionaries to China, Carl Joseph Fast and . The institute moved first to

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

in 1856 and later to

in 1859, where it was renamed in 1862 and became a school for future priests: the Fjellstedt School. The school had its own curricula with a strong focus on

classical languages According to the definition by George L. Hart, a classical language is any language with an independent literary tradition and a large body of ancient written literature. Classical languages are usually extinct languages. Those that are still ...

. In addition to modern languages, Latin was taught in five of the seven years, starting in the third year of

real school Real school (, ) is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), F ...

, and Greek was taught for four years. These languages also had more weekly hours than in other schools in the country. From 1914, the school had compulsory Hebrew lessons in the two highest years. In 1966, the focus was broadened and a degree was established to prepare for overseas service. It included the teaching of a non-European language, such as Swahili. A

church music Church music is a genre of Christian music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclesiastical liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. History Early Christian musi ...

degree was established in 1977. The conditions at the school, with the older humanities degree, led to a one-year delay in the abolition of the traditional ''

studentexamen Studentexamen (Swedish for "students' examination" or "students' degree"), earlier also ''mogenhetsexamen'' ("maturity examination") was the name of the university entrance examination in Sweden from the 17th century to 1968. From 1862 to 1968, ...

''. By decision of the king, the last took place at the Fjellstedt School in 1969. Approximately 1,650 students graduated from Fjellstedtska School until the school ceased operations in 1982. Until 1939, students had to submit an explicit declaration of intent to become a priest in their application. The Fjellstedt School Foundation now sees its task as strengthening the identity of priests and future priests – on the basis of the church's faith, confession and

doctrine Doctrine (from , meaning 'teaching, instruction') is a codification (law), codification of beliefs or a body of teacher, teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a ...

– in their mission as liturgists,

preachers A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as a m ...

and

pastors A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicis ...

with an integrated personal Christian faith, and to work for increased knowledge and understanding of different religious orientations, theological interpretations and expressions of Christian faith within the Church of Sweden and the worldwide church. Every year, some ten courses are organized in the fields of

church services A church service (or a worship service) is a formalized period of Christian communal worship, often held in a church building. Most Christian denominations hold church services on the Lord's Day (offering Sunday morning and Sunday evening servic ...

pastoral care ''The Book of Pastoral Rule'' (Latin: ''Liber Regulae Pastoralis'', ''Regula Pastoralis'' or ''Cura Pastoralis'' — sometimes translated into English ''Pastoral Care'') is a treatise on the responsibilities of the clergy written by Pope Greg ...

diaconia A diaconia was originally an establishment built near a church building, for the care of the poor and distribution of the church's charity in medieval Rome or Naples (the successor to the Roman grain supply system, often standing on the very sites o ...

and international activities.

Associated people and influence

A number of well-known priests, including 25 from the Lutheran Augustana Synod, attended the Fjellstedt School. Scholar Conrad Bergendorff notes, "It would be no exaggeration to say that the Fjellstedt influence was a predominant one in the development of the character of Swedish Lutheranism in the United States."

Notable instructors

* Carl Axel Brolén (1845–1939), Latinist, taught 1911–1925 *

Thore Christian Elias Fries Thore Christian Elias Fries (3 November 1886 – 31 December 1930 son of Theodor Magnus Fries and brother of Robert Elias Fries) was Professor of Systematic Botany at Lund University. He specialised in lichenology and plant geography. This bot ...

(1886–1930), botanist, taught 1911–1913 * Salomon Eberhard Hanschen (1847–1930), neurologist, taught 1870–1873 *

Frans Reinhold Kjellman Frans Reinhold Kjellman (4 November 1846 – 1907) was a Swedish phycologist and Arctic explorer renowned for his pioneering surveys of marine algae, especially in polar regions. He took part in several key expeditions—most notably the Veg ...

(1846–1907), botanist, taught 1872–1878 * Henrik Samuel Nyberg (1889–1974), expert in Iranology and Arab studies, taught 1916–1927

Notable students

Nicolaus Bergensköld Nils Gustaf Nicolaus Bergensköld (1838–1907) was a Swedish-American Lutheran clergyman and an early leader of the revivalist movement within Swedish immigrant settlements of the Midwestern United States during the later part of the 19th centu ...

(1838–1907), clergyman *

John Elof Boodin John Elof Boodin (November 14, 1869 – November 14, 1950) was a Swedish-born American philosopher and educator. He was the author of numerous books proposing a systematic interpretation of nature. Boodin's work preserved the tradition of philosop ...

(1869–1950), philosopher * Olof Olsson (1841–1900), clergyman *

Åke W. Sjöberg Åke W. Sjöberg (August 1, 1924 – August 8, 2014) was a leading Assyriologist, specialized in Sumerian language and literature. Biography Early years Åke Waldemar Sjöberg, emeritus Clark Research Professor of Assyriology and emeritus C ...

(1924–2014), Assyriologist

Rectors

* 1862–1866: Ulrik Mikael Lundgren * 1866–1870: Nils Linnarsson * 1870–1920: Johannes Kerfstedt * 1920–1936: Gustaf Norrman * 1936–1963: Georg Landberg * 1963–1982: Allan Parkman

Directors

* 1920–1928: Adolf Kolmodin * 1929–1930: Gustaf Ljunggren * 1930–1936: Torsten Ysander * 1936–1944: Yngve Rudberg * 1945–1958:

Ruben Josefson Ruben Josefson (25 August 1907 – 19 March 1972) was a Swedish bishop within the Church of Sweden. He enrolled at Uppsala University in 1926, became a graduate of theology there in 1931, theology licentiate in 1935 and doctor of theology in 193 ...

* 1982–1993: Allan Parkman * 1994–2011: Per Hansson * 2011– Leif Nordenstorm

References

Notes

Sources

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