1700-talet, 1800-talet, 1900-talet, English, Medeltid, Turism, Uncategorized, Vandringar

Wander through the heart of the Old Town, with gems that tourists miss. Stortorget – German Church – Palace Guard Terrace

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Travel here

The easiest way to get to Stortorget in Stockholm by public transport is to take the metro to the nearby  Gamla Stan station , which is only about a 4–5 minute walk from Stortorget. Alternatively, you can also take a bus to nearby stops such as  Kornhamnstorg  (1 minute walk),  Gustav Adolfs Torg  (2 minutes) or  Mälartorget  (4 minutes). Many bus lines stop in the area, including lines 2, 3 and 4.

Get deeper

Start Stortorget. Where medieval men became a head shorter

Stortorget has a well-attended Christmas market and has historically been the city’s central place for trade, events and dramatic events, such as the Stockholm massacre. < Wikipedia > < streetview > < map > < photo >

The Stock Exchange, inaugurated by Gustav III in 1776, replaced the town hall that had stood there since the Middle Ages. The exchange first traded in goods, before switching to stock trading in the mid-19th century. 

  • 13th century. The area around Stortorget began to take shape in connection with the founding of Stockholm (mid-13th century). The square served as the city’s center for trade, administration and justice. Stone houses grew up around the square, often owned by German merchants affiliated with the Hanseatic League.
  • 14th century. Stortorget was now established as Stockholm’s most important marketplace. The buildings around the square consisted mainly of merchant houses with warehouses on the ground floors. The city’s town hall was located on the square.
  • 15th century. Trade and crafts flourished, and Stortorget was a hub for international trade. During the late Middle Ages, the square became a place for royal proclamations and festivities.
  • 16th century. The square continued to be the city’s central place for trade and market.

1520 : The Stockholm massacre took place in the square, when around 80–100 Swedish nobles, burghers and priests were executed on the orders of the Danish King Christian II. The event is deeply etched in the history of the square and in Sweden’s collective memory.

  • 17th century. The heyday of Stockholm during the great power era. Many of the houses around the square were given their current height (3–4 floors). Facade styles were influenced by Renaissance and Baroque. The square was still used for trade, but also for official ceremonies.
  • 18th century The center of trade gradually shifted to other parts of the city, but Stortorget remained a symbolically central place. In 1732, the Post- och Inrikes Tidningar , the world’s oldest still-existing newspaper, was founded in a house at Stortorget. Coffee houses and social life began to be established around the square.
  • 19th century. The square was redesigned, it got its current well in the middle. Square trade decreased, but the place became important for city life and culture. Artists and writers began to pay attention to the square as a historical environment.
  • . 20th century . The Nobel Prize ceremony festivities are linked to the Stock Exchange Building, where the Swedish Academy and the Nobel Museum were later established. The 1950s–70s were marked by restorations to restore the square’s historical character. < photo >
  • 2000s. Today, Stortorget is one of the most visited places in the Old Town. The Nobel Museum (opened in 2001) in the Stock Exchange Building brings international glory. The square is famous for its annual Christmas market (with traditions since the 1830s).

Stortorget.  The old stock exchange with the Nobel Museum is reminiscent of the Hereditary Prince’s Palace at Gustav Adolf’s Square. The same neoclassical style and the same architect,   Erik Palmstedt , who also designed the square’s fountain. Construction for both began in 1753, the same year that the Stockholm Observatory was inaugurated. The Royal Palace was so completed that King Adolf Fredrik and his consort Lovisa Ulrika were able to move in the following year.

Stop 1. Köpmangatan – shopping street through the centuries

Köpmangatan , is one of the two oldest streets in the Old Town. Mentioned in 1323 , and was the main thoroughfare for medieval merchants, between Stortorget and the fish market by the city walls Wikipedia kopmangatan.com . < Wikipedia > < streetview > < map > < photo >

Today, Köpmangatan is a vibrant center with craft shops, antique stores and small local traders – just like in the Middle Ages kopmangatan.com .

We see.

  • Grillska House (Stortorget 3–5, next to Köpmangatan) was built in the 1640s by Hans Bremer and is characterized by a Rococo portal and clover-shaped gables from 1718. The house was long owned by the Grill family, a prominent trading and industrial family with connections to the East India Company Wikipedia . < Wikipedia > < streetview > < map > < photo > < photo >
  • The Knappmakaren’s House , Köpmangatan 13 ( block Cepheus 19 ), is a well-preserved medieval property. It dates back to 1420 and was owned by, among others, the mayor Filippus Persson during the 16th century knappmakaren.se . < streetview > < map > < photo >
  • Trädgårdstvärgränd is a small pedestrian street that runs from Trädgårdsgatan into Köpmangatan. The name, like Trädgårdsgatan, comes from gardens that were located along the site in the 16th century, owned by private properties and the Royal Palace. < Wikipedia > < streetview > < map > < photo >

Corner house – number 13

The corner house facing Köpmangatan (no. 13) was built in 1768. Here an open space was created in front of the house so that carriages could turn around – the entire facade, the corner and parts of the interior are an example of Rococo aesthetics in a bourgeois city environment. < Wikipedia >< map > <photo>

Själagårdsgatan 2

’ Lyder Bartels († 1599) was a wealthy merchant and alderman in Stockholm, with roots in the German bourgeois family Bartels. He owned several properties in the city, but the houses at Vis Sjlagårdsgatan 2 and Kindstugatan 8 were particularly famous. It is a magnificent stone house from the 16th century. On the facade there are still anchors with the year 1657 , which shows when the house was rebuilt. < info > < streetview in> < map > < photo >

Stop 2. Burned Santa Claus, rest under the chestnut tree

Brända Tomten is an atmospheric little place – a triangular-shaped square at the intersection of Kindstugatan – Själagårdsgatan – Svartmangatan . The name comes from 1728 , when a house was destroyed in a big fire and the plot remained undeveloped for a long time. < Wikipedia > < streetview > < map > < photo >

  • The square is framed by 17th and 18th century facades . In the middle of the square grows a large chestnut tree , planted in the early 20th century. This makes Brända Tomten a green oasis in the Old Town. Around the square are cozy cafes and small shops.
  • The site was previously part of the Cepheus neighborhood . After the fire, it was decided not to rebuild the house. Erik Palmstedt’s well from 1785 was built by the same architect who designed the Stock Exchange Building at Stortorget.
  • The place was also a turning area for carts in the narrow alleys.
  • The burnt Santa Claus has inspired artists and writers. It appears in literary depictions of the Old Town, such as in Per Anders Fogelström’s novels. A favorite motif for photographers and painters.

Stop 3. Kindstugatan, with 17th century paintings from farmers and Lasse Lucidor

Notice the small treasures of detail: anchor ends, cartouches and reliefs. The name “Kindstugatan” probably comes from the old word kindhäst , which means “ear file” – perhaps from notorious skirmishes, Originally Tverru gatu (“Cross Street”) because it ran from the eastern to the western city gate Wikipedia .

Hostels where you can stay

At Kindstugatan 1, the corner house facing Brända Tomten, is Castanea hostel < info >. <Wikipedia> < streetview > < map > < photo > The house consists of two original buildings merged at the end of the 19th century. In the basement there are medieval wall sections and remains of a bricked-up door. The facades bear traces from both the 17th and 18th centuries, including anchor locks from the time

Kindstugatan 2-5

Bartelska and Törneska houses  are two houses that make up  the property  Cepheus 25  in  the Cepheus neighborhood  at  Köpmangatan  3,  Själagårdsgatan  2 and  Kindstugatan  2-4 at  Brända tomten. Details from the 18th century can be found in several of the apartments. The entrances have  limestone floors  and  cross vaults . < streetview > < map >

Törnska house – no. 4

The grey house at number 4 is called Törnska huset. < Wikipedia > The entrance door on the left has preserved parts from the 17th century and on the house there is a cartouche with the text: ”Then Gudh wil hielpa kan ingen stielpa Anno 1674 Olof Hansson Törne, Margareta Andersen.” (”God helps whom he wills – nothing can overthrow him.”) < streetview > < map >

The house was built by Olof Hansson Törne, who became a councilman, was ennobled to Törnflycht and whose family reached high positions in Sweden Wikipedia SeWiki .

No. 8 a merchant’s house – A rich German and the Queen’s personal physician owned the house

  • During the 17th century, the doctor Johan von Hoorn lived here , who introduced modern obstetrics to Sweden and wrote Den Swenska wäl-öfwade JordGumman (The Swedish Mother of Earth) (1697).

  • The house is considered one of the most prominent merchant houses on Kindstugatan. The name “Lyder Bartels hus” preserves the memory of the wealthy German merchant families who dominated Stockholm’s city life during the late Middle Ages and the Vasa period.
  • The facade of the house bears the anchor with the year 1657 , which shows the age of the building and provides an architectural journey through time lotten.se . Here lived Johan von Hoorn, Queen Ulrika Eleonora’s personal physician, who introduced obstetrics and published the influential textbook Den Swenska wäl-öfwade JordGumman (1697) – pioneering for Swedish maternity care Wikipedia .

Fimmelstången – no. 14. Tavern for Lasse Lucidor and farmers

In the pink-colored house at number 14 was once the basement Fimmelstången, where the poet Lasse Lucidor was tragically stabbed to death during a duel in 1674 Wikipedia SeWiki . At this tavern , the peasantry held their meetings during the 17th century. < Wikipedia > < streetview > < map > < photo >

Wikipedia .

Brasan – no. 18. 16th-century house on medieval grounds

The 19th-century facade of number 18 (called “Brasan”) hides a medieval basement, and the barber-surgeon Henrik Quant lived here in the 16th century. He had a sandstone relief with details from 1558 erected, which is interpreted as a medieval play-relief or as cosmological symbols – originally placed on the street but now behind the door < Wikipedia >. < info > < streetview > < map > < photo >

Stop 4. German Brinken / Shoemaker Street

German church with a scent from the Baroque era

The German Church, or St. Gertrude’s Church, has its roots in a 14th-century guildhall for German merchants. Construction of the church began in the 16th century and was given its Baroque interior in the 17th century. The spire, one of the highest points in the Old Town, was built in 1878. The pulpit in ebony and alabaster from the 17th century, an altar from the same period, and a gilded organ are from the 17th century. < Wikipedia > < streetview > < map > < photo >

The tavern at the German bank

The Gilded Lion (also Tyska Lejonet and Lejonet) was an inn  in  the Atlas quarter  at the corner of  Tyska brinken  /  Skomakargatan  in  Gamla stan ,  Stockholm . It existed there from 1605 to the end of the 19th century. The house, owned by  the Swedish Academy , < Wikipedia > < streetview > < map > < photo >

According to  Charles IX ’s decree from 1605 for inns to buy foreign wines and beers in  the City between the Bridges,  there were to be six open  inns  and two  open kitchens on Stadsholmen . Signs with symbols such as three cones, a blue eagle, a gilded lion or a griffin,

Stop 5. Shoemaker Street

Skomakargatan is one of the oldest and most historic streets in the Old Town, running from Stortorget towards the German Church (actually a continuation of Trångsund). Here are some interesting houses and places to see along Skomakargatan on the walk from the German Church to Stortorget:

  • Historical background:  Skomakargatan was mentioned as early as 1337 as “shoemakers’ street”, where craftsmen lived and had their shops. In the 17th and 18th centuries, many shoemakers remained here.
  • The Verkehrete Welt basement (Skomakargatan 11):  An old tavern that existed here from the 17th century to the early 19th century, famous and talked about in its time. <Wikipedia> < Streetview > < map > < photo >
  • Proximity to Stortorget:  Skomakargatan leads to the central Stortorget, Stockholm’s oldest square, full of colorful historic buildings, restaurants and museums such as the Nobel Museum.
  • Cannonball at Stortorget 9. According to folklore, the bullet almost hit Christian II in the head when he was at a window inside the house. It was fired from Brunkeberg during Gustav Vasa’s siege of Stockholm in 1521, the year after the Stockholm bloodbath. The truth is, however, that furniture dealer Grevesmühl had the house rebuilt in 1795 and in connection with this, the cannonball was walled in the corner. < Wikipedia > < Streetview > < map > < photo >

Stop 6. Trångsund, a name for the congestion

Here you get an insight into medieval history, shopping and a mini-exhibition about the Old Town. Until 1816, a cemetery ran around the Great Church, and Trångsund was one of the Old Town’s narrowest alleys, making it difficult for pedestrians and vehicles. And today’s tourists.

  • No. 12, Knorringska huset: Built in the 17th century. Gunnar Sträng bought the house in 1973, then with a branch of Systembolaget (of which he, as Minister of Finance, was the chief executive). Part of the Aesculapius 1 block . <Wikipedia> < Streetview > < map >

  • No. 10, Sundmanska huset, built in 1638. Is one of the oldest and most historically valuable houses on the street. Has typical 17th-century architecture with well-preserved older facade and interior details. Popular photo motif. < Wikipedia > < Streetview > < map > < photo >
  • No. 8. Frans Carré’s House is named after the merchant Frans Carré, who had the medieval house restored in the 1750s  . Carrés renovated the interior and exterior. Check out the men’s clothing store.
  • No. 3. At Trångsund 3 there is the Medeltidsboden during the summer, where you can experience miniature exhibitions and buy tickets for city walks that tell the story of medieval Stockholm. <Wikipedia> < Streetview > < map > < photo >
  • No. 2 at Storkyrkobriken. Built in 1487 and extended in 1680 by the merchant Olof Hansson Törne (1640-1713), ennobled  Törnflycht  . The preserved  manor roof was created at that time . The large windows are from the early 20th century. < Streetview > < map >

Stop 7. Storkyrkobrinken and Högvaktterrassen

Storkyrkobrinken 2,   Axel Oxenstierna’s Palace , or  Oxenstiernska palatset , is a  wing building  to an originally planned  palace  at  Storkyrkobrinken  2 and  Högvaktterrassen , designed by  architect  Jean de la Vallée  for  Chancellor  Axel Oxenstierna  and construction began in 1653 and the building was completed in the 1650s. < photo > < Streetview > < map > < photo >

Storkyrkobrinken riots 1848. At least 18 dead from the military’s cavalry charge on Sunday 19 March. In addition, many wounded in this ”Stockholm’s unknown bloodbath”. Soldiers, called in by the king, slashed with sabres and shot through the alleys to disperse  the citizens’ uprising . Or thugs, as the authorities perceived it. Young people stocked up in a pastry shop and a glazier was there to smash window panes. Oscar I became aware of the uprising the night before when he was on his way home from Jenny Lind’s performance at the Opera. The king calmed the crowd, but the next day the city’s citizens wanted to see the devastation – and the slaughter was a fact. Certainly not against a proletariat like in the Paris riots two weeks earlier, but there was fear that the infection would spread.

The Guard Terrace   is located outside the outer courtyard of  Stockholm Palace . On the west side is  Axel Oxenstierna’s Palace . The north side is open, with views towards  Mynttorget  and  the Riksdagshuset . The Guard Staircase connects the terrace with Lejonbacken.

The High Guard Wing is part of the Royal Palace in Stockholm and has been used by the High Guard since 1756. The High Guard has been at the palace since 1523 and is responsible, among other things, for protecting the royal family and ensuring military readiness in Stockholm. The High Guard Wing has premises for the High Guard, such as the guard expedition and officers’ quarters. < Wikipedia > < Streetview > < map > < photo > < photo > < photo >

The city jail in the High Guard Wing is famous for having imprisoned the famous Swedish poet and musician Carl Michael Bellman. Bellman’s cell is on the upper floor, just above the passing guard. He was imprisoned in the High Guard Wing for ten weeks in the spring of 1794, due to an unpaid debt. During this time, his cell window faced the back of the palace. Did the royals hear him singing from there?

The Changing of the Guard and Guard Parade at the castle is a popular tourist attraction. During the summer months, the guard parade marches or rides with a band through Storkyrkobrinken to the castle’s outer courtyard. It is a historically rich and ceremonial experience that demonstrates the traditions of the Swedish High Guard.

/ By Ingemar Lindmark

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