Tyska kyrkan

The tall spire above the narrow street marks the Church of Gertrude of Nivelles, which grew out of a merchants' association house. German merchants were meeting here as early as the middle of the fourteenth century; their patron saint was one to whom travelers, merchants, and sailors turned. Later, the parishioners rebuilt the merchants' hall into the main body of today's church, while the cellars of the medieval house survived beneath it. A gilded Gertrude still stands above the north gate, a German inscription remains beside her, and German-language services are still held beyond these gates.

In sixteen oh seven, the German community persuaded Karl IX—the king on whom the building's fate depended—to give it the entire church. The Finns, who had worshipped here alongside the Germans, had to leave. That is how the church now known in Swedish as Tyska kyrkan came into being.

Before the church, this site held the house of the merchants' association of Gertrude of Nivelles. German merchants were meeting there as early as the middle of the fourteenth century. They chose Gertrude of Nivelles as their patron saint, a saint to whom travelers, merchants, and sailors turned. The church's official name, the Church of Gertrude of Nivelles, survives from their meetings.

After the Reformation, the king dissolved the merchants' association, and in fifteen forty-four its property passed to the state. Johan III, a king looking for premises for Finnish-language services, gave the former House of Gertrude to the Finns. Stockholm's Finns made their living through trade, sea transport, and urban crafts; until then, they had heard sermons in their own language in a cramped chapel in Storkyrkan. The merchants' hall was enlarged and adapted for their parish.

The German community had already existed for about twenty years. It consisted of merchants, craftsmen, and artists who also needed a priest and services in their native language. In fifteen seventy-one, Johan III allowed them to establish their own parish and build a church, but the Germans had to pay for its construction themselves. Five years later, they still had no separate church, and the king made them co-owners of the former House of Gertrude. From Easter of fifteen seventy-six onward, the German parish accounts even included a regular expense for building the “Finnish church”: the two communities maintained one building together.

This arrangement was not considered temporary. The Finns and Germans had their own priests, their own languages, and equal grounds for regarding the church as theirs. After Johan III's death, the German parishioners obtained a new decision from Karl IX. In sixteen oh seven, the king ordered the Finns to vacate the entire building. In exchange, they were promised the still-unfinished St. Jacob's Church, but the promise was not fulfilled. The Finnish parish was sent to the church of the former Franciscan monastery on Riddarholmen, now Riddarholm Church. The Germans became the sole owners of the House of Gertrude, and four years later Gustav II Adolf confirmed their unrestricted right to it.

Having received the whole building, the parishioners invested every available resource in rebuilding it. They turned the former merchants' hall into the main body of today's church. The cellars of the medieval house still survive beneath it. A gilded Gertrude stands above the north gate, beside an inscription in German: “Fear God! Honor the King!” German-language services are still held beyond these gates today.