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Architectural style · c. 1520–1650 in Sweden

Renaissance

Renässans

The style of the Vasa kings. Medieval strongholds become palaces – with symmetry, round towers and ornament borrowed from antiquity.

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 fortress becomes a palace

The Renaissance – the "rebirth" of antiquity – arrives in Sweden with Gustav Vasa and his sons. The new royal power needs strongholds, but the castles must also show off a princely, European taste.

Gripsholm is begun in 1537 in brick on a base of fieldstone. Vadstena Castle is begun in 1545 as a fortification and grows into a Renaissance palace; its gables are finished only around 1620. Kalmar and Uppsala castles are rebuilt in the same period.

In the first half of the 17th century the impulses come mainly from the Netherlands: red brick with bands and ornament in pale sandstone, and tall, curving gables. Uppsala Cathedral gets Dutch Renaissance spires in 1614–1619 – they are taken down in the 1880s, but live on in old engravings.

02. How to spot it

  • 1.Symmetrical façades
  • 2.Round corner towers with domes or spires
  • 3.Curving, scrolled gables (Dutch Renaissance)
  • 4.Red brick with bands of pale sandstone
  • 5.Antique ornament: masks, scrolls and columns

03. The giveaway

The gables. Tall gables curving in scrolls, ideally in brick with sandstone bands, are 17th-century Dutch Renaissance.

Read the façade

  1. Stepped gable
  2. Symmetrical windows

04. Architects and builders

  • Henrik von Cöllen (Gripsholm)
  • Arendt de Roy (Vadstena)

05. Where to see it

  • Gripsholm Castle, Mariefredbegun 1537
  • Vadstena Castle1545 to around 1620
  • Kalmar Castlea medieval fortress rebuilt as a Renaissance palace
  • Uppsala Castle

06. In the app

3 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

Neo-Renaissance. The 19th-century revival. A "Renaissance" palace or apartment block in a town centre from the 1880s is almost always Neo-Renaissance.

Dutch Renaissance. The model. Town halls, guild houses and churches in Antwerp, Haarlem and Amsterdam, with brick, sandstone bands and curving gables. Sweden's 17th century borrows its gables from there.

Sources

  • Svenska kyrkan, Folkungabygdens församling: "Stilar och epoker"
  • Swedish Wikipedia: "Gripsholms slott", "Vadstena slott", "Uppsala domkyrka"

Text: Pontus Bovin · Last updated 9 November 2026

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