The altarpiece in the Sankt Petri church in Malmö

The altarpiece in the medieval Sankt Petri church in Malmö is the largest in northern Europe:



The altarpiece was inaugurated in 1611.

Stortorget - Malmö's historic main square

Stortorget ("the big square") has since its founding in 1538 been the main square in Malmö. For a long time the 2,500 square metres also was the largest square in Scandinavia. Several notable buildings, including the Town Hall, surround the Stortorget. In the middle of the square stands the equestrian statue of King Charles X Gustav, who took Scania (Skåne) from the Danes through the treaty of Roskilde in 1658.

The square is often used for large scale public outdoor events, including the annual Malmö Festival.

This is how Stortorget looked in the year 1900:

And this is how Stortorget looked yesterday:

Here is a picture from another part of the square. On the right side of the yellow building is the neo renaissance style house built by the owner of the Leijonet ("The Lion) pharmacy in 1896:

 

Stortorget seen from the Town Hall:

The Malmö railway station now - and in the year 1900

The Malmö Central Station train shed.

The first railway station in Malmö was opened in 1856, coinciding with the opening of the Malmö - Lund railway. Since the opening the railways station has been rebuilt, extended and modernised several times to cater for changing needs.

A new train shed with four new tracks was built in 1891. This is how it looked at the turn of the century:

The Malmö railways station train shed in 1900.



Another photo, probably shot in 1897.


In 1924 architect Folke Zettervall designed a new train shed, which is still in use, although most of the train traffic has moved to the new lower level:

In 2000, both local and long-distance trains began running directly to Denmark via the new Öresund Bridge. Malmö became the centre of the new Oresund train regional railway system spanning eastern Denmark and much of southern Sweden, which in 2009 became integrated with local buses and trains in most of its service areas. The trains were, however, forced to reverse direction in Malmö’s terminal station, creating delays for anyone travelling to Denmark from Lund and beyond, and restricting the frequency of service, as each train had to both enter and leave Malmö by the same tracks.
The opening of the City Tunnel in December 2011 made it possible for passenger trains to travel through the station, which had previously been a terminus, and most traffic shifted to the new lower level. All passenger traffic to Denmark now uses the tunnel, and most local trains continue to the new Triangeln and Hyllie stations even if they are not going beyond Malmö. The existing train shed was, however, renovated at the same time, to accommodate occasional long-distance trains including some services to Stockholm and the night express to Berlin, but several tracks were removed to make room for an extended bus terminal.
 (Source: Wikipedia)

This is how the Malmö Central Station train shed looks today:

The old train shed is nowadays mostly used by long-distance trains.



In one of the old halls there are now a number of restaurants and coffee shops.



Another image of the restaurant hall.


The St Peter's church in Malmö

The Gothic style St Peter's cathedral (Sankt Petri Kyrka in Swedish) is the oldest church in Malmö. Construction on it started in the beginning of the 14th century. The St Petri is very similar to the St. Mary's of Lübeck.

(Image by the Church of Sweden)

The tower of the church has changed shape several times. The present design of the 105 m (344 ft) tower is from the 1890s.

The white interior is from the 17th century.



The altar is said to be the largest wooden altar in Europe.

The organ is a 11,2 m Marcussen from 1951.

The pulpit is from 1599.



Another view of the pulpit.

There are many beautiful epitaphs in the St Petri.



The baptistery still retains the original vault and wall paintings.

 

Another general view.

A strange "tower" in Øresund

This afternoon I took this picture of a small regatta in central Helsingborg, about 6 km to the south from the point of where I was standing:

Back home, when I had a closer look at the image, I found something strange in it: There is a huge dark tower-like structure in the background, immediately to the left of the crane on the right side.

You can see the "tower" better in this detail of that area in the picture:

Could the "leaning tower" be the tallest building in Scandinavia, the Turning Torso in Malmö, about 70 km away from where the picture was taken?  Maybe the atmospheric conditions created a mirage effect greatly magnifying the Turning Torso, which otherwise scarcely would be visible from this distance. Or is the "tower" the deformed mirage shape of a ship?

If you have some better explanation for the "tower", let me know.

Here is an image of the Turning Torso:

The Turning Torso in Malmö.
(image by Wikipedia)

The first visit of a Zeppelin to Denmark and Sweden in 1912

The "Hanse" flying over Malmö on September 19, 1912.

The first visit of a Zeppelin to Denmark and Sweden - and also the first commercial Zeppelin flight outside of Germany - took place in September 19, 1912. The Swedish weekly Hvar 8 Dag published the following report of the event, together with three photographs:

"The Zeppelin airship 'Hansa', piloted by count Zeppelin, departed on 19 September at 4 A.M. from Hamburg to Copenhagen and Malmö. On board were about ten passengers, two of whom were German and two Danish officers, with a responsibility to supervise that no photographs were taken when flying over military fortifications. The other participants were German and Danish journalists.

At 10 A.M. 'Hansa' arrived in Copenhagen after a most enjoyable flight in calm and sunny weather. Having circled over the city for an hour the airship landed at the Amager airport, where 
20 000 people welcomed the travelers with roaring ovations.

At 11.35 A.M. the 'Hansa' took off and steered towards Malmö, where it arrived at 11.55. The airship did not land, but confined itself to circle over the city, where people had gathered to cheer and celebrate the visit."

"Hanse" landing at the Amager airport in Copenhagen.

Count Zeppelin and the other people on board welcomed after the landing.

 Wikipedia has published a detailed schedule of the flight, with somewhat different time indications:

• 03:55 53°33′N 9°59′E early morning launch from Hamburg, Germany;
• 07:15 54°35′N 11°31′E over the Hyllekrog spit on Lolland island;
• 07:20 54°34′N 11°56′E over Gedser;
• 08:00 54°46.5′N 11°30.5′E over Maribo;
• 08:25 55°0′30″N 11°54′37″E over Vordingborg;
• 08:40 55°15′N 12°08′E over Faxe;
• 09:10 55°25′N 12°09′E over Herfølge;
• 09:30 55°27′N 12°11′E over Køge;
• 10:00 55°39′N 12°18′E over Taastrup;
• 10:20 55°41′N 12°34′E landed at Copenhagen, where people wrote postcards to family in Germany;
• 11:55 55°35′N 13°2′E launched from Copenhagen and flew over Malmö;
• 13:30 54°46′N 11°53′E over Nykøbing Falster;
• 15:30 53°52′N 10°41′E over Lübeck;
• 16:40 53°33′N 9°59′E landed back in Hamburg.

The " LZ 13 Hanse" was brand new at the time of the visit - it had been delivered on July 30 the same year. 

During two years of commercial service it carried 6,217 passengers on 399 flights, covering 44,437 kilometres. At the outbreak of World War I, the German military requisitioned it for use in attack flights, reconnaissance, and finally as a training airship.