The complicated relocation of the culturally and historically valuable and over 600 ton heavy church has required many years of preparation. A completely new road has been built for the transport of the church, which must be moved to a new location due to LKAB's mining. The actual move is taking place with the help of specially built trailers.
Moving this church in one stage will undoubtedly be exciting to participate in, says Johan Erhag.
Sverker makes a comeback
The relocation of the entire town of Kiruna, including the over hundred year old church, has attracted attention all over the world. The church is architecturally unique in its kind: a mixture of Gothic, Art Nouveau, Baroque and with Sami and ancient Nordic ornamentation.
During the broadcast, Sverker Olofsson makes a comeback on the TV screen, this time as a flying reporter, while Beppe Starbrink hosts the program from the studio.
We have 30 cameras that follow the church's five kilometer long journey to the new location. The maximum speed is half a kilometer per hour, so everything will go - very - slowly.
"Relaxing window"
While other concepts are losing viewers, TV broadcasts that praise slowness have become an, perhaps unexpected, success story. Millions of viewers have followed "slow TV" in the form of, for example, "The Great Elk Migration".
TT: What makes slow TV so popular?
It's really the ten thousand kronor question. One explanation may be that it is a relaxing window, an experience in peace and quiet, which is the exact opposite of what we see and hear today in the form of fast clips and lots of information.
The relocation of Kiruna church takes place on August 19-20 and the journey can be followed on SVT2 and SVT Play.
Helena Nordenberg/TT
Facts: "The Great Church Move"
TT
At 7:55-17:00 on August 19 and 20, SVT will broadcast the move of the 672 ton heavy church live.
This will be the largest building to be relocated in Kiruna's community transformation.
In addition to the TV broadcast "The Great Church Move", tens of thousands of people are expected to be on site to follow the move.
Sources: SVT and others.
The church is being moved as part of Kiruna's city move, due to LKAB's mining which has caused cracks in the ground. The city move has been going on for almost 20 years.
The church will be moved from the old city center to a height near Kiruna's new center, where a churchyard is already located.
Kiruna church is a culturally and historically valuable building, known for its unique architecture with national romantic elements. The church is one of Sweden's largest wooden buildings.
The building was designed by Gustaf Wickman and inaugurated in 1912. In the church is Prince Eugen's famous altarpiece "The Holy Grove".
Sources: Kiruna municipality and others.
