Salabacke Church ( sv, Salabackekyrkan) is a church in

Sala backe Sala or SALA may refer to: Places Europe * Sala, the historical name of the river IJssel and home of the Salii Franks * Sala (Estonian island), one of the Uhtju islands * Sala Baganza, a municipality in Emilia-Romagna, Italy * Sala Bolognese, ...

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat 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 inha ...

, Sweden that was opened in 1958. The church was designed by Sten Hummel-Gumaelius and is made of wood. It suffered an arson attack in 1993 but was later rebuilt with an almost identical design.

History

When the population in the newly established

area in Uppsala grew in the early 1950s, the need for a small church became apparent. The architect Sten Hummel-Gumaelius – cooperating with Jean Michon Bordes, proposed a design which was approved and construction of the church began by the firm Anders Diös. It was opened on 14 December 1958. The church used to belong to

Uppsala Cathedral Uppsala Cathedral ( sv, Uppsala domkyrka) is a cathedral located between the 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 the Lutheran t ...

parish, but it later became part of

Vaksala parish A hundred is a geographic division formerly used in northern Germanic countries and related colonies, which historically was used to divide a larger region into smaller administrative divisions. The equivalent term in Swedish is (in Uppland a ...

when the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

borders were changed in 1963. An arson destroyed the main church building in July 1993, but the parish buildings survived the fire. It was rebuilt with mostly the same design after the fire, though minor changes were made. A roof window was made a bit bigger and the sacristy near the southern wall of the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. ...

was expanded.

Architecture

The building contains low rows of parish buildings combined with the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-typ ...

which is characterized by its height and space, with a steep

pitched roof Roof pitch is the steepness of a roof expressed as a ratio of inch(es) rise per horizontal foot (or their metric equivalent), or as the angle in degrees its surface deviates from the horizontal. A flat roof has a pitch of zero in either insta ...

and clean wooden surfaces. The floor-to-ceiling rafters of laminated timber contribute to the nave's individuality. The nave has been likened to a ship with the keel upwards.

Inventory

The

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting ...

that was installed on 27 October 1963 depicts Jesus' entry into Jerusalem and was painted by

Bror Hjorth Bror Hjorth (1894 in Marma, Sweden – May 21, 1968 in Uppsala, Sweden) was a Swedish artist. Hjorth was one of Sweden’s best-known sculptors and painters, and was professor of art at the Royal University College of Fine Arts in Stockholm ...

. It was the only thing that could be saved from the 1993 fire, due to the firefighters concentrating their efforts on the chancel wall. Three pieces of

textile art Textile arts are arts and crafts that use plant, animal, or synthetic fibers to construct practical or decorative objects. Textiles have been a fundamental part of human life since the beginning of civilization. The methods and materials us ...

were donated to the church for its 25-year anniversary. They were made by

Bärbel Neumann Bärbel is a German-language feminine given name, often a diminutive or variant of the name Barbara. Individuals bearing the name Bärbel include: * Bärbel Bas (born 1968), German politician *Bärbel Bendiks, East German rower *Bärbel Beuerman ...

and decorate the church walls. The

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

, built by Grönlunds Orgelbyggeri, was installed in 1997. The organ architect

Kerstin Fernert Kerstin is a female German and Swedish given name; it is the Scandinavian version of Christina. Notable persons with this name include: * Kerstin Alm (born 1949), Finnish politician from the Åland Islands *Kerstin Anderson Kerstin Anderson ( ...

based the colors on Bror Hjorth's altarpiece.

Gallery

File:Salabackekyrkan int1.jpg, alt=Interior view towards altarpiece, Interior view towards altarpiece File:Salabackekyrkan int2.jpg, alt=Interior view towards organ, Interior view towards organ

References

{{Churches in Uppland Churches in Uppsala County Churches in the Diocese of Uppsala 1990s fires in Europe 1993 fires Fires in Sweden