Skogskyrkogården

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Skogskyrkogården*
UNESCO World Heritage Site

State Party	Sweden
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iv
Reference	558
Region†	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	1994 (18th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO.

Skogskyrkogården (translated as The Woodland Cemetery) is a cemetery located in southern Stockholm, Sweden. Its design reflects the development of architecture from national romantic style to mature functionalism.

Resurrection Statue at the Holy Cross

Resurrection Chapel

Skogskyrkogården came about following an international competition in 1915 for the design of a new cemetery in Enskede in the southern part of Stockholm, Sweden. The design of Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz, young architects from the Functionalist movement, was selected. Work began in 1917 on land that had been old gravel quarries that were overgrown with pine trees and was completed three years later. The architects' use of the natural landscape created an extraordinary environment of tranquil beauty that had a profound influence on cemetery design throughout the world.

The crematorium, with its remarkable Faith, Hope, and Holy Cross Chapels was Gunnar Asplund's final work of architecture, opened shortly after his passing in 1940. In 1994, Skogskyrkogården was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site and although it does not have the number of famous interments as the Norra begravningsplatsen, its much older counterpart in northern Stockholm, it is a major tourist attraction. At the Tallum Pavilion, visitors can see an exhibition about the cemetery and the story of its origins and the two architects whose vision created it.

A few of the notables buried here are:

Gunnar Asplund (1885-1940), architect
Greta Garbo (1905-1990), actress
Ivar Lo-Johansson (1901-1990), writer
Oscar A.C. Lund (1885-1963), silent film actor, director
Lennart "Nacka" Skoglund (1929-1975), football star
Alma Johansson (1880-1970)- missionary
Per Yngve Ohlin (1969-1991)- Black/Death Metal Singer

[edit] See also

List of famous cemeteries

[edit] External links

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Skogskyrkogården

v • d • e World Heritage Sites in Sweden

Agricultural Landscape of Stora Alvaret (Southern Öland) · Birka and Hovgården · Church Village of Gammelstad, Luleå · Engelsberg Ironworks · High Coast / Kvarken Archipelago (with Finland) · Naval Port of Karlskrona · Laponian Area · Mining Area of the Great Copper Mountain, Falun · Rock Carvings in Tanum · Royal Domain of Drottningholm · Skogskyrkogården · Struve Geodetic Arc (with nine other countries) · Varberg Radio Station (Grimeton VLF transmitter) · Hanseatic Town of Visby