Gustav-Adolf-Kirche (Swedish Church)
A small Protestant wooden church in Kempen-St. Hubert, built in 1959 as a complete gift from Sweden.
In the middle of St. Hubert stands a church that actually came from Sweden: a small wooden church, given as a gift across the Baltic Sea, that still recalls an unusual post-war story.
The Swedish Church
After the Second World War, many Protestant refugees settled in St. Hubert and needed a church of their own. There was, however, no money for it. The parish priest of the time, Friedrich Fliedner, simply travelled to Sweden to ask for timber for a floor or a roof structure. The Swedes chose a far more generous answer: they gave the congregation an entire church.
To get the timber to its destination at all, a Catholic freight operator from the Emsland region stepped in and handled the transport free of charge, all the way to the harbour of Uerdingen. The little church was finally raised with the hands-on help of the congregation members themselves, following the model of the "Amsberg Chapel" in Stora Tuna, Sweden. It was consecrated on 9 August 1959.
Building and furnishings
In the years after its consecration the church continued to grow: a bell tower was added in 1962, and several renovations followed in the years afterwards. Coloured light comes from the windows by glass artist Joachim Klos, made in 1996 and 1997 by the Hein Derix glass workshop in Kevelaer. In 2006 a new organ by the Schreier company from Thierhaupten was also inaugurated.
Visiting
The Gustav-Adolf-Kirche stands at Evangelische Kirchstraße 31 in Kempen, in the district of St. Hubert. Anyone interested in post-war history or unusual sacred buildings will find here a piece of neighbourly help reaching across national borders.
Source: Wikipedia article "Liste von Sakralbauten in Kempen", St. Hubert section.
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Address
Martin-Luther-Straße 12
47906 Kempen
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Sources & links
- Official website
- Wikidata (retrieved 2026-07-06)
- Official website (retrieved 2026-07-06)
- openstreetmap.org (retrieved 2026-07-06)
- Wikipedia (retrieved 2026-07-08)
Auto-generated, last verified: 2026-07-08
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