Caroli kyrka in Malmö

in Swedish

The former Caroli Church is today not a church but part of the shopping center. Caroli City↗. The congregation itself ceased to exist in 1949 and the Church of Sweden in Malmö sold Caroli Church in 2009 for 2 million kronor and the buyer intended to make it part of Caroli City in some unclear way.

Probably to profile the business and raise its status. However, this was more difficult and expensive than expected. They had to give up and a new property owner took over.

After further changes of ownership, the church and shopping center are now part of the Swedish-owned and listed company. Corem Property Group.

The church building was for a period rented to the Malmö Academy of Music, which sometimes held concerts of various kinds. A place for music students to show their talents.

The ormer Caroli Church in Malmö

Caroli Church is named after Charles XI, who in 1683 gave his permission to a German congregation in Malmö..

Services were held in German until 1778, but from 1831 only in Swedish. By the end of the 19th century, the congregation had grown to over 20,000 people, and at the church meeting in 1876 it was decided to build a new church. This was inaugurated in 1880.

The church previously belonged to S:t Petri congregation↗ and its most important object was the so-called Mazepa chalice. This communion chalice is probably a spoil of war during Charles XII's wars. The congregation no longer exists and it is now part of Malmö parish↗.

In a small wall cabinet on one of the facades there is a slightly faded text about Caroli Church. The opening sentences are ...

Throughout the 17th century, the number of Germans who immigrated to Malmö was very large. Time and again, people considered forming a purely German congregation with German as the language of worship and with preachers brought from their former homeland. In 1863, the German congregation in Malmö was established. [...]

The eastern parts of Malmö grew more and more and in the 1870s, proposals were made one after another to expand the church. [which now had Swedish as the language of worship]. The decision to expand was made in 1878 [...] but after it became clear that reinforcement work and extensions would be quite costly, it was decided - for the same amount - to build two new churches - the current Caroli and St. Petri churches. In 1880, the Bishop of Flensburg was able to consecrate the new church. (Ove Theander)

AEe-Christianization of a church is a fairly unusual process in Sweden. However, the maintenance costs of churches are a heavy burden for many congregations, even though they can apply for grants from a fund specifically set aside for the purpose.

Maglarp's new church (IDstory) in Skåne was dechristianized in 2006 and demolished in 2007. The text about the church tells more about dechristianization.

Memorial plaque on the facade

The plaques are for Frans Suell dead 1817 and his wife Anna dead 1831. Frans Suell (IDstory) was a successful merchant and entrepreneur. About Anna Suell it says

She was not overconfident in the days of happiness, endured its changeability with fortitude, thought wisely, acted nobly. Lived and died as a true Christian.

Future plans for Caroli Church and the surrounding area

Caroli Church + Caroli City = true, but how? Maybe there will be more culture? Or will they get permission to start a church café? More experiments will follow.

In 2009, the then owner published a press release about Caroli Church and Caroli City. It announced, among other things, the transfer of the Caroli church plan with the church building (the Malmö Innerstaden property 1:152)..

The Church of Sweden stated

This was a unanimous decision in the church council that will improve our financial situation today and benefit the development of our operations in the future, says Anders Lindberg, acting head of the office, Church of Sweden in Malmö. For the Church of Sweden, the transfer means reduced costs and freeing up resources for operations in Malmö.

One of the previous owners had big plans and said ...

The planning for a major investment in the adjacent Caroli shopping center is in the final stages and the acquisition of the church building is an important additional component for the development of the entire neighborhood. We want to strengthen the Caroli church area as a public meeting place and want to preserve the church building as the beautiful architectural landmark it is. The future direction should also reflect the building's traditional role in the city, an open and inviting place.

The premise of the whole concept is that people shop for food at Malmborgs, which undoubtedly accounts for the largest influx of people. Store turnover is high and unfortunately Bianchi moved its bicycles and restaurant, Hamrelius bookstore went bankrupt, as did the large clothing and multi-brand store Woods (1,200 sq m) but was continued by the shopping center under the name 1880, a name that alluded to the year the new church was completed. Restaurant Vapiano left in 2015. The list of previous tenants is growing. New tenants include German-owned Lidl.

Several owners have failed to achieve profitability with Caroli City. Running a shopping center is a challenge for many today, for example Entré (IDstory).

References

• About BiBB, a media company and an encyclopedia 4.0
• Adress: Östergatan 1   Karta
• Om Caroli kyrka - Wikipedia
• Caroli City
• H Schlyter, Caroli nya kyrka Elbogen - Malmö Forminnesförening - 1980:4
• Text/photo: Johan Schlasberg

Published: 2005.08 Updated: 2025.07.05

Kategorier 20 Fastigheter 47 Malmö 44

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