Helge Ljungberg

The Right Reverend Helge Ljungberg Th.D.
Bishop of Stockholm
Helge Ljungberg (right) installs Arne Branderud as vicar of Brännkyrka in 1957.
Church	Church of Sweden
Diocese	Stockholm
In office	1954-1971
Predecessor	Manfred Björkquist
Successor	Ingmar Ström
Personal details
Born	(1904-11-25)25 November 1904 Enköping, Sweden
Died	24 November 1983(1983-11-24) (aged 78) Stockholm, Sweden
Buried	Danderyd Church Cemetery
Nationality	Swedish
Denomination	Lutheran
Parents	David Ljungberg & Hilda Jansson
Spouse	Ruth Sterner
Children	3

Helge Ljungberg (25 November 1904 – 24 November 1983) was a Swedish religious historian and Bishop of Stockholm from 1954 till 1971.

Biography

Ljungberg was born on November 25, 1904 in Enköping in Uppsala County, Sweden, the son of David Ljungberg and Hilda Jansson and brother of politician Blenda Ljungberg. he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1926, and with a doctorate in theology from Uppsala University in 1938 with his dissertation concerning the change of religion from Norse religion and Christianity in the Nordic countries. He was considered as a specialist in the pre-Christian religions in Sweden and in 1980 published the popular book Röde Orm och Vite Krist (The Red Snake and White Christ). He was an associate professor of religious history with religious psychology at Uppsala University between 1938 and 1950.

In 1947 he became vicar of Oscar's Church while in 1950 he became pastor of Engelbrekt Church in Stockholm. In 1954 he was appointed Bishop of Stockholm. In 1960, as Bishop of Stockholm, Ljungberg ordained the first woman priest in the Church of Sweden. He became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Uppsala in 1958 and was involved in the Society Pro Fide et Christianismo between 1974 and 1983. He was the editor of the magazine Vår lösen between 1941 and 1951. He died on November 24, 1983 and was buried in the cemetery of Danderyd church.

Publications

• Den nordiska religionen och kristendomen(1938),
• Fornnordisk livsåskådning(1943),
• Ansgar och Björke(1945),
• Hur kristendomen kom till Sverige(1946),
• Tor I(1947),
• Herdabrev(1954).

References

• Bra Böckers Lexikon, 1977
• http://runeberg.org/vemarvem/sthlm62/0857.html