Helgo Nikolaus Zettervall, older spelling ''Zetterwall'', (21 November 1831 – 17 March 1907) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and professor of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Arts The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts (), commonly called the Royal Academy, is located in Stockholm, Sweden. An independent organization that promotes the development of painting, sculpture, architecture, and other fine arts, it is one of seve ...

. He is best known for his drastic restorations of churches and other buildings around

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Biography

Zettervall was born at

Lidköping Lidköping () is a locality and the seat of Lidköping Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had about 40,000 inhabitants in 2021. It is situated on the southern shore of Lake Vänern and sometimes refers to itself as "Lidkö ...

Västra Götaland County Västra Götaland County () is a county or '' län'' on the western coast of Sweden. The county is the second most populous of Sweden's counties and it comprises 49 municipalities (''kommuner''). Its population of 1,616,000 amounts to 17% of S ...

, Sweden. He attended the

Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts (), commonly called the Royal Academy, is located in Stockholm, Sweden. An independent organization that promotes the development of painting, sculpture, architecture, and other fine arts, it is one of seve ...

where he studied under

Fredrik Wilhelm Scholander Fredrik Wilhelm Scholander (June 23, 1816 – May 9, 1881) was a Swedish architect and artist. Biography Fredrik Wilhelm Scholander was born in Stockholm, Sweden. He was the son of Georg Fredrik Scholander (1785–1825) and Karin Nyström (178 ...

(1816–1881) and graduated during 1860. In 1862, he conducted a study trip to 1862 made a trip to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. After completing his studies Zettervall took over the restoration of Lund Cathedral from

Carl Georg Brunius Carl Georg Brunius (23 March 1793 – 12 November 1869) was a classical scholar, art historian, archaeologist and architect. He served as a professor and rector at Lund University. During 1833–1859, he led the restoration work of Lund Cat ...

. Zettervall got the job after several more experienced architects had declined the job due to fear of Brunius. As the architect of the Cathedral did Zettervall also get other commissions for both church and other works in the Scania region. Some notable ones are

Lund University Main Building The main building of the Lund University ( in Swedish) was designed by architect Helgo Zettervall and inaugurated by King Oscar II in 1882. Construction began in 1874, when the old main building Kungshuset had become too small for the growing n ...

(Universitetshuset),

All Saints Church All Saints Church, or All Saints' Church or variations on the name may refer to: Albania * All Saints' Church, Himarë Australia * All Saints Church, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory * All Saints Anglican Church, Brisbane, Queensland *All ...

(Allhelgonakyrkan) in

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

and Nosaby Church. He was chief of Board superintendent for the administration of state buildings (''Överintendentsämbetet'') from 1882–97. Zettervall was the chief architect in the restoration of old buildings and churches in Sweden during the period 1860–90. Among other commissions, Zettervall designed the plans for the renovation

Uppsala Cathedral Uppsala Cathedral () is a cathedral located between the University Hall (Uppsala University), University Hall of Uppsala University and the Fyris river in the centre of Uppsala, Sweden. A church of the Church of Sweden, the national church, in t ...

(1886–1893),

Linköping Cathedral Linköping Cathedral () is an active Lutheran church (building), church in the Swedish city of Linköping, the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Linköping in the Church of Sweden. One of the largest Gothic cathedrals in Scandinavia, it is situat ...

(1877–86),

Skara Cathedral Skara Cathedral () is a church (building), church in the town of Skara, Sweden. The cathedral is the seat for the bishop of the Diocese of Skara of the Church of Sweden . History Its history is traced from the 10th century, but its current app ...

(1886–94) and

(1885–93), as well as the

Kalmar Castle Kalmar Castle () is a castle in the city Kalmar in the province of Småland in Sweden. History During the twelfth century a round defensive tower was built on Kalmarsund and a harbour constructed. At the end of the thirteenth century King M ...

(1886–90). Oscar Fredrik Church (''Oscar Fredriks kyrka'') in

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

was constructed on the basis of plans drawn by Helgo Zetterwall. The church was inaugurated on 2 April 1893 and is a prime example of Northern European

Gothic Revival architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

Style

Zettervall was a proponent of

and is most commonly associated with his design of the plans for the extensive restoration of

Lund Cathedral Lund Cathedral () is a cathedral of the Lutheran Church of Sweden in Lund, Scania, Sweden. It is the seat of the Bishop of Lund and the main church of the Diocese of Lund. It was built as the Catholic cathedral of the archiepiscopal see of all ...

during the late 19th century. His influence has been criticized for his restoration principles. His restorations were often not intended to bring back old looks, but according to Zettervall to restore them according to the ideals in the style they were originally built in. One example of this is Zettervall changing the silloutte of Lund Cathederal's towers.

Personal life

In 1861, he married Ida Anna Christina Lagergren. He was father to architect

Folke Zettervall Folke Zettervall (21 October 1862 – 12 March 1955) was a Swedish architect and head architect with the Swedish State Railways (''Statens Järnvägar'') between 1895 and 1930. Biography Zettervall was born at Lund, Sweden. He was the son of ...

(1862–1955). He became an honorary member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities also called simply the Royal Academy of Letters or Vitterhetsakademien abbreviated KVHAA ( or or ) is the Sweden, Swedish Swedish Royal Academies, royal academy for the Humanities. Its ...

in 1884 and in 1897 was made a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...

. He died in

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 ...

during 1907 and was buried in the family plot at

Norra begravningsplatsen Norra begravningsplatsen, literally "The Northern Burial Place" in Swedish, is a major cemetery of the Stockholm urban area, located in Solna Municipality. Inaugurated on 9 June 1827, it is the burial site for a number of Swedish notables. Th ...

References

Other sources

*Bodin, Anders (2016
''Zettervall i Lund : arkitektur och stadsbyggnad i 1800-talet''
(Lund: Föreningen Gamla Lund)

External links