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Architectural style · c. 1840–1910 in Sweden

Gothic Revival

Nygotik

The 19th century's favourite church style. Pointed arches, slender spires and machine-made brick – the Middle Ages, industrial edition.

How to spot it Find it in the app

The style in timeDrag to travel in time

  1. Zigguratc. 2200–500 BC
  2. Ancient Greek architecturec. 700–30 BC
  3. Roman architecturec. 500 BC–AD 400
  4. Nabataean architecturec. 300 BC–AD 106
  5. Byzantine architecturec. 330–1453 in the Eastern Roman Empire
  6. Moorish architecture8th–15th century in al-Andalus and North Africa
  7. Carolingian architecturec. 780–900 in the Frankish Empire
  8. Novgorod and Pskovc. 1045–1600 in north-western Russia
  9. Norman architecturec. 1050–1200
  10. Romanesquec. 1050–1250
  11. Mudéjarc. 1100–1600
  12. Gothicc. 1235–1530
  13. Brick Gothicc. 1250–1530
  14. Late Gothicc. 1400–1530
  15. Manuelinec. 1490–1530
  16. Renaissancec. 1520–1650
  17. Palladian architecturec. 1550–1800
  18. Dutch Renaissancec. 1560–1650 in the Netherlands and Flanders
  19. Baroquec. 1640–1730
  20. Carolean Baroquec. 1680–1720
  21. Georgian architecture1714–1830
  22. Rocococ. 1730–1775
  23. Neoclassicismc. 1750–1850
  24. Gustavianc. 1772–1810
  25. Karl Johan stylec. 1810–1850
  26. Victorian architecture1837–1901
  27. Gothic Revivalc. 1840–1910
  28. Historicismc. 1840–1900
  29. Industrial architecturec. 1850–1950
  30. Neo-Renaissancec. 1850–1900
  31. Swiss chalet stylec. 1850–1900
  32. Landshövdingehus1875–1945
  33. Neo-Baroquec. 1880–1910
  34. Beaux-Artsc. 1830–1920
  35. National Romanticismc. 1890–1920
  36. Art Nouveauc. 1896–1914
  37. Art Decoc. 1910–1940
  38. 1910s Neoclassicismc. 1910–1920
  39. Bauhaus1919–1933
  40. Swedish Gracec. 1920–1930
  41. Functionalismc. 1930–1950
  42. Socialist classicismc. 1933–1955
  43. Post-war Swedish modernismc. 1940–1960
  44. Brutalismc. 1950–1975
  45. The Record Yearsc. 1955–1975
  46. The Million Programme1965–1974
  47. DeconstructivismFrom the 1980s
  48. Postmodernismc. 1980–1995
  49. LonghouseStone Age to Viking Age
  50. Log houseThe Middle Ages onwards
  51. Raised storehouseIron Age to 20th century
  52. Swedish vernacularc. 1600–1900
  53. Croft and cottagec. 1700–1900
  54. Decorated farmhouses of Hälsinglandc. 1700–1900
  55. Half-timberingThe Middle Ages to the 19th century
  56. Sámi goahtiFrom prehistory to the present day
  57. Seljuk architecturec. 1040–1300
  58. Persian architectureIran
  59. British Colonialc. 1700–1950 in the British Empire

01. The Middle Ages return

Gothic Revival is born in 18th-century England and becomes the obvious style for churches across much of Europe in the 19th. In Sweden it is introduced by Carl Georg Brunius, and his church in Kristinehamn is seen as its breakthrough.

In the second half of the century the towns grow, and new town churches are built in Gothic Revival, often in exposed brick. Haga Church in Gothenburg by Adolf W. Edelsvärd is finished in 1859, St John's in Stockholm in 1890 and Oscar Fredrik Church in Gothenburg in 1893. Pointed windows, a tall tower with a spire and – inside – a blue chancel ceiling with golden stars.

At the same time medieval churches are "restored", often heavily, to look more Gothic than they ever were. Helgo Zettervall gives Uppsala Cathedral its present spires during the restoration of 1885–1893.

In the 1890s, Gothic moves into apartment blocks too. Red-brick buildings take German Brick Gothic – the "Rohbau" style – as their model, with pointed windows and portals beneath a pointed ornamental gable, a wimperg.

02. How to spot it

  • 1.Pointed arches as decoration in windows and portals
  • 2.A tall, slender tower with a spire
  • 3.Exposed, regular machine brick or render
  • 4.Tracery and stained glass
  • 5.Portals beneath a wimperg – a pointed ornamental gable – with finials
  • 6.Capitals with crockets – knobs on projecting stems
  • 7.Inside: a blue chancel ceiling with golden stars

03. The giveaway

Perfection. Medieval walls are uneven and rebuilt in stages – a Gothic Revival church is regular, symmetrical and built in one go.

Read the façade

  1. Spires
  2. Finial
  3. A wimperg over the portal
  4. A pointed arch with tracery

04. Architects and builders

  • Carl Georg Brunius
  • Adolf W. Edelsvärd
  • Helgo Zettervall
  • Axel Herman Hägg

05. Where to see it

  • Haga Church, Gothenburg1859
  • St John's Church, Stockholm1890
  • Oscar Fredrik Church, Gothenburg1893
  • All Saints' Church, Lund
  • The spires of Uppsala Cathedralrestoration 1885–1893

06. In the app

7 places in this style in Everyday Grandeur, added by the app's users. Tap a place to see it on the map.

07. Often confused with

Gothic. Genuine medieval Gothic has uneven, handmade brick or fieldstone and has usually been rebuilt several times.

Sources

  • Svenska kyrkan, Folkungabygdens församling: "Stilar och epoker"
  • Olle Svedberg: Arkitekternas århundrade – Europas arkitektur 1800-talet (Arkitektur förlag, 2001)
  • Cecilia Björk & Laila Reppen: Tidstypiskt – arkitekturdetaljer i flerbostadshus 1880–1980 (Svensk byggtjänst, 2016)
  • Swedish Wikipedia: "Nygotik", "Uppsala domkyrka"

Text: Pontus Bovin · Last updated 9 November 2026

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