The Wall

A long stone wall encloses the entire cemetery. The wall was designed by Sigurd Lewerentz, and the oldest part was built between 1923 and 1932.

Photo: Mattias Ek.

During the 1920s, unemployment was high in Sweden. The state created jobs for the unemployed, such as building roads, bridges, and the wall around Skogs­kyrkogården.

The workers built the wall by hand. They drilled and blasted stones, dug with shovels and hoes, transported soil with wheelbarrows, mixed cement on site. The stones were transported by horse and carriage.

We gathered all sorts of professions; there were unemployed bakers and shoemakers. They were not used to this kind of heavy work, so it was very difficult for many.

A blacksmith described working on the wall.

Today, the entire wall is 4,228 meters long and one of the country’s longest stone walls.

Updated