Maglarps new church

in Swedish

Before May 20, 2006, this was an image of Maglarp New Church in Hammarlöv parish near Trelleborg. Now it stands as a picture of a deconsecrated and soon-to-be-demolished building on its churchyard. On May 7, 2007, the County Administrative Board of Malmö granted permission for its demolition, which began in September 2007.

About Maglarp New Church

The church is nationally significant, as after years of debate and legal review it was deconsecrated. How many churches will the Church of Sweden keep, and what is the future for those with large maintenance needs? Read more about church maintenance ↓

The church was built near Skåre fishing village, just west of Trelleborg, and completed in 1908. It was among the first churches constructed with machine-made bricks—but these did not withstand the salty sea winds. Read more about the church on Wikipedia↗ svW

Preserving and Maintaining Churches

Under the heading A Church Worth Preserving, the Church of Sweden’s annual report from 2005 states:

The church building is, for many, a symbol of their home region and a connection with past generations. It is also a sacred space for personal contemplation and a place for the uplifting and redeeming power of communal worship. For this reason, the Church of Sweden has in many ways worked on questions regarding the preservation of church buildings and inventories, together with dioceses and national experts in conservation and building technology. The national level administers the state’s church antiquarian compensation, supporting parishes’ extra costs for conservation and archaeology.

The Cultural Heritage Act is one of the frameworks governing the management and preservation of churches.

When the parish wished to demolish Maglarp New Church, the County Administrative Board of Skåne, citing the Cultural Heritage Act, intervened to try and preserve it.

The case eventually reached the Supreme Administrative Court of Sweden↗, the country’s highest administrative court. In 2005, demolition was approved for Maglarp New Church. Read excerpts from the Supreme Court’s ruling ↓

The fate of the site, and what may be built in the church’s place, is still undecided.

Preserving churches is a demanding cultural mission, and an expensive one. The state provides funds—known as church antiquarian compensation—to meet the requirements and extra costs created by the Cultural Heritage Act. In 2002, the budget for this was SEK 50 million. By 2009, it increased to SEK 460 million per year, after which it was to be reviewed. Read more about church maintenance and compensation from the Church of Sweden↗.

See PDF about church maintenance.

Deconsecration is uncommon. As far as the author knows, only the church on Ven—now the Tycho Brahe Museum—and two other churches have been converted to secular use in recent years. Actual demolition is even rarer—so far. These facts may be a few years old.

Over 100 medieval churches were demolished in the late 1800s. The new, often large churches were dubbed “Tegnér barns”—after Bishop Esaias Tegnér of Växjö—or “Karl Johan churches.”

These new or rebuilt churches were large and bright, with generous windows—a strong contrast to the medieval churches and their high, small windows. Population shifts created demand for new churches, and the same forces now contribute to today’s church problem.

Two Postcards, from 2006 and 2008

Excerpts from the Supreme Administrative Court’s ruling regarding demolition permit – Case 2993-00

The Supreme Administrative Court issued its verdict on June 10, 2005, regarding the permit to demolish the church building.

Plaintiff: Hammarlöv parish in Trelleborg
Defendant: County Administrative Board of Skåne, Malmö

Appealed case: The judgment of the Court of Appeal for West Sweden (Göteborg) on April 6, 2000, case no. 1700-2000

(The full decision is about 6 pages and is not reproduced here. Excerpts from the ruling are italicized.)

Claims etc.

Hammarlöv parish requests that the Supreme Administrative Court reverse the Court of Appeal’s judgment and, primarily, grant permission to demolish Maglarp New Church, or alternatively, grant permission to demolish parts of the church. The parish argues, among other things, that Maglarp New Church is surplus from a religious perspective. The last service was held in 1976. The parish has about 1,950 members and is responsible for eight churches. It lacks the financial resources needed to restore Maglarp New Church. For the same reason, it has been unable to maintain the church over the years. Damage reports and cost estimates from August 2004 show that the cost of fully restoring the church inside and out to serve as a worthy place of worship amounts to SEK 31.2 million.

They argue further that even though church antiquarian compensation and building grants are available, financing would still require contributions that the parish cannot afford.

Maglarp New Church stands completely isolated on the plain, without nearby buildings or village community. The church is a “solitary” and “unusual feature” in the cultural landscape. The parish’s six medieval churches, in contrast, are located within classic village settings. Maglarp New Church represents a late neo-Gothic church tradition, with touches of Art Nouveau and National Romantic style. The Lund Diocese contains about fifty churches characterized as neo-Gothic. Maglarp New Church does not have the same high cultural and historical value as other neo-Gothic churches in the diocese...

The National Heritage Board opposes the appeal in an opinion obtained by the Supreme Court. The Board notes, among other things, that Maglarp New Church has considerable cultural and historical value. It has historical value for both the church and society, reflecting the early 20th-century restructuring of state and church... Architecturally, it is an outstanding example of the work of Boklund, an esteemed architect in Skåne, and represents a unique transitional style between neo-Gothic, National Romantic, and Art Nouveau. The church has very high architectural value, with both exterior and interior built to exceptional technical and artisanal standards...

Reasons for the Supreme Administrative Court’s Decision

The Court begins by recapping basic facts about the church, then poses the question:

Demolition Is Now Complete

References

• About BiBB, a media company and an encyclopedia 4.0
• Nära Trelleborg. Karta | Stiftskartor i Lund
• Text/foto/webb: Johan Schlasberg

Published: 2006.08 Updated: 2025.09.09

Kategorier 20 Platser och Offentliga rum 20 Skåne 5

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