Gustav Adolf Stave Church, Germany

A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building once common in north-western Europe. Originally very widespread, most of the surviving stave churches are in Norway.  But a stave church is a very popular phenomenon and several churches have been built or rebuilt around the world in this style. The two most copied are the Borgund and Hedared stave churches.  The ‘new’ stave churches are mostly built with some variations and sometimes with adaptations to add elements from other known stave churches.  In some places the ‘new’ stave church is more of free form.

The Protestant Gustav Adolf Stave Church (Gustav-Adolf-Stabkirche) in Hahnenklee, a borough of the city of Goslar in the Harz mountain region in Germany is a free copy of Borgund stave church in Norway with adaptions to fulfil its role as the Hahnenklee parish church. The construction began in 1907, and the church opened its doors for use in 1908.

 

Hans-Albert K. (8 July 2014) Direct Swap Postcrossing has sent me this wonderful postcard and also two great photographs that he took of this church in winter.