Skogskyrkogården i Stockholm - ett Unesco världsarv

Writer: Helena Bergström

Skogskyrkogården in Stockholm is one of the Swedish World Heritage Sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List. We often check for world heritage sites when we are travelling, and now we suddenly realised that we have a world heritage site just 20 minutes from home, which we have never seen. Of course, we had to change this, so now we have visited Skogskyrkogården in Stockholm.

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Skogskyrkogården in Stockholm

Skogskyrkogården was designed between 1915 and 1940 by architects Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz. The cemetery has 100,000 graves, making it the largest in the country in terms of number of graves. There are also 10 000 pine trees, many of which are over 200 years old, and a 3.6 kilometre long stone wall.

As a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is guaranteed protection and care in perpetuity. The weather was nice in Stockholm yesterday and we decided to go on an unusual excursion: a cemetery!

Why is the Forest Cemetery in Stockholm a World Heritage Site?

A World Heritage Site is a cultural or natural monument that is so valuable and outstanding that it is considered to be of concern to all mankind. Countries can nominate sites to the list, and a World Heritage Committee then examines whether the site fulfils the criteria set out in the World Heritage Convention.

Many were sceptical when Sweden nominated a 20th-century cemetery, but in 1994 the news came: Skogskyrkogården in Stockholm was inscribed on the World Heritage List. The justification reads, among other things:

The design of Skogskyrkogården by architects Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz established a new form of cemetery that has fundamentally influenced the design of cemeteries around the world.
UNESCO

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Visiting Skogskyrkogården in Stockholm

We didn't have high expectations for our cemetery visit, but we were pleasantly surprised. The forest cemetery is huge, and the wild nature makes you feel like you are in the countryside - even though you are in the centre of the city.

The birds sing intensely and the buildings blend in with nature, as if nature and people belong together. Nice! We also have to show some of the most important and beautiful buildings and places we saw.

Forest chapel

Skogskapellet is the cemetery's first and smallest chapel. Designed by Gunnar Asplund and inaugurated in 1920, Gunnar originally planned a stone chapel but was told it would be too expensive. On a wedding trip to the Danish island of Mön, he was inspired to build a simple wooden chapel in the forest. Above the entrance hangs a copy of Carl Mill's sculpture 'Angel of Death' (the original was originally hung here, but it was stolen several times...).

The Resurrection Chapel at Skogskyrkogården cemetery

Soon after the inauguration of the Forest Chapel, it was realised that it was too small, and so the Resurrection Chapel was born. This chapel was designed by Sigurd Lewerentz and completed in 1925. The architecture, with 12 mighty columns at the entrance, is reminiscent of ancient Greek architecture.

The chapel is a walk-through chapelso that after the ceremony, mourners can leave and return to their lives on a different path than they entered. The path to the chapel, the Seven Wells Path, is a straight path 888 metres long, lined first with birch and then conifers, so that mourners feel more melancholy as they approach the ceremony.

Chapel of Faith, Hope and the Holy Cross

Skogskrematorium is a crematorium with three chapels designed by Gunnar Asplund. The three chapels are called Chapel of Faith, Chapel of Hope and Chapel of the Holy Cross, and the entire facility was completed in 1940. The entire building has no sharp corners, which is intended to give it a cosy feel. Gunnar Asplund died in 1940 and his grave is located here along with a simple memorial plaque with the inscription 'His work lives'.

Trons, hoppets och heliga korsets kapell

Alm height

Almhöjden is a meditation grove on a hill in Skogskyrkogården designed by Lewerentz. The hill can be reached via a staircase where the steps get lower the higher you go. This is so that the visitor does not get tired, but instead feels a meditative calm at the top.

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Greta Garbo's grave at Skogskyrkogården cemetery.

The most famous grave at Skogskyrkogården is that of Greta Garbo. Garbo died on 15 April 1990 in New York Hospital, and after many long disputes, she was buried at Skogskyrkogården in Stockholm on 16 June 1999. There is no date on the headstone, only a stylised copy of her signature.

Visitors Centre

A staff and service building designed by Gunnar Asplund was inaugurated in 1923. The playfully designed building was renovated in 1998 and now serves as a visitor centre. The centre will include a café and an exhibition, but it was closed when we visited. Right next door, a group of construction workers were also completing a new, larger building.

visitors center vid Skogskyrkogården i Stockholm

Have you been to the Forest Cemetery?

We experienced an unusually nice day in nature! Have you been to the Forest Cemetery? What is your experience?

Find Skogskyrkogården in Stockholm

Location: The main entrance to Skogskyrkogården is located at Sockenvägen 492 in Gamla Enskede, Stockholm.
Underground railway: Take the green line of the metro towards Farsta strand, and get off at Skogskyrkogården. The journey takes 13 minutes from T-centralen. From Skogskyrkogården station, you may be able to take bus 183, which is a ring line that passes several locations within the cemetery.
Car: You can drive to any of the entrances. The main entrance is Sockenvägen and we drove to the Bogårdsvägen entrance. The distance from T-centralen to the main entrance is about 7 kilometres and the driving time is estimated to be 10 minutes.

Guide: Info, opening hours and prices

Opening hours: You can visit Skogskyrkogården at any time, and the gates are always open. In 2019, the Visitors' Centre is open every day in May-September, and on weekends in October. 11-16. It is closed on Midsummer's Eve and Midsummer's Day.
Guided tours: On Sundays between May and September, there are public tours of the World Heritage Site Skogskyrkogården, including visits to the chapels that are otherwise closed. The tours are held in Swedish, and in July-September also in English. You can also book a private tour at any time during the year.
Prices: There is no charge to visit the Forest Cemetery or the Visitors Centre. General tours cost 150 SEK.
Service: The Visitors Centre has a shop, café, tourist information and an exhibition on the World Heritage Site (about 15 minutes walk from the main entrance). Toilets are marked on a map of the area.
To think about: You can bring your dog, but it must be on a lead. Remember to be respectful of ongoing funeral ceremonies and burials.
Read more: You can find more information at Skogskyrkogården's website.

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15 Comments

Add yours →

Matts Torebring says:

It is almost 50 years ago that I visited Skogskyrkogården for the first time, on road 73 towards Nynäshamn. Since then it has been several times. Now I feel like I should stop and walk around. I have always found it so beautiful and peaceful.

06 April 2019 - 8:29

- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  Isn't it nice and peaceful to walk around here!
  
  06 April 2019 - 11:16
  
Britt-Marie Lundgren says:

Five years ago, when we travelled with our motorhome in Stockholm for a few days, we visited the beautiful Skogskyrkogården. It is really beautiful and peaceful.
Even Catherine's rather famous cemetery has been visited.

06 April 2019 - 8:43

- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  Really nice nature area! We have not visited Katarina's cemetery.
  
  06 April 2019 - 11:16
  
Bara brittiskt says:

Yes, here my uncle rests in the memorial grove and in a grave of my grandmother and grandfather and my father whose funeral was in the Forest Chapel a few years ago. I remember how bizarre it felt that there were tourists walking around minutes before when we welcomed funeral participants.

06 April 2019 - 9:36

- JoY says:
  
  Oh I understand that I must have felt bizarre with the tourists when you had a nice time together. You really have to take that into account.
  
  06 April 2019 - 10:56
  
- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  Just British, nice to have a funeral in this beautiful setting! But sorry if you felt disturbed! Otherwise, I think it is nice that you can walk around in these beautiful and peaceful environments. Peter also has older relatives who are buried in this cemetery.
  
  06 April 2019 - 11:21
  
Nils-Åke Hansson says:

I avoid burials but have an aunt in this particular cemetery.

06 April 2019 - 10:45

- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  Nice cemetery!
  
  06 April 2019 - 11:21
  
JoY says:

The forest cemetery is really a large area, I have some people who have their final resting place there.
There is a lot to look at there, all the statues and the wall of the Chapel of the Holy Cross that is lowered to the floor. But guided tours in a cemetery still feel strange, at least to me.
There is also a large Muslim and Jewish section, a little further away at Skogskyrkogården.

06 April 2019 - 11:03

- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  Yes, it is true that there is a Muslim and a Jewish part! We saw it on the map, but didn't go there. I would think that the guided tours are about the architecture of the chapels, similar to guided tours of churches. I did some reading, and the architects seem to be very conscious of every millimetre of the buildings.
  
  06 April 2019 - 11:27
  
Emma, Sol som sol? says:

I was there two years ago when my mother-in-law's former husband was scattered there at the memorial grove. I am sorry but I did not like that cemetery. The building there with the crematorium (where a friend used to work) looks like a factory.
The memorial grove was rubbish when we were there, and there were also some young people sitting on the bench chatting, it felt wrong. I just wanted to leave ...

06 April 2019 - 12:53

Lena - gott för själen says:

Yes, it was indeed a different trip. But nice! I have of course heard about Skogskyrkogården a number of times, but have never visited it. Was a bit surprised that it was so big!

Hug Lena

06 April 2019 - 18:16

BP says:

The forest cemetery is very nice, perhaps a bit grandiose in places. But I like the cemetery with its special "natural" lighting. Do not know if you thought about it. I have been there twice, once for a funeral and the second time as a "tourist" at home.

06 April 2019 - 21:20

znogge says:

The forest cemetery is really nice and well worth a visit!

08 April 2019 - 20:43

Skogskyrkogården in Stockholm - a Unesco World Heritage Site

Writer: Helena Bergström

Skogskyrkogården in Stockholm

Why is the Forest Cemetery in Stockholm a World Heritage Site?

Visiting Skogskyrkogården in Stockholm

Forest chapel

The Resurrection Chapel at Skogskyrkogården cemetery

Chapel of Faith, Hope and the Holy Cross

Alm height

Greta Garbo's grave at Skogskyrkogården cemetery.

Visitors Centre

Have you been to the Forest Cemetery?

Find Skogskyrkogården in Stockholm

Guide: Info, opening hours and prices

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15 Comments

Matts Torebring says:

Helena says:

Britt-Marie Lundgren says:

Helena says:

Bara brittiskt says:

JoY says:

Helena says:

Nils-Åke Hansson says:

Helena says:

JoY says:

Helena says:

Emma, Sol som sol? says:

Lena - gott för själen says:

BP says:

znogge says:

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