Kornhamnstorg (

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

: "Grain Harbour Square") is a

public square A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Relat ...

Gamla stan Gamla Stan (, "The Old Town"), until 1980 officially Staden mellan broarna ("The Town between the Bridges"), is the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Gamla Stan consists primarily of the island Stadsholmen. Gamla Stan includes the surrounding islets ...

, the old town in central

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Known as ''Kornhaffn'' (1427), ''Jernboen'' (1586), ''Åkaretorget'' (1644), and ''Kornhampns torget'' (1651), it is connected to the streets:

Munkbroleden Munkbroleden ( Swedish: "Monk's Bridge Route") is a busy street passing along the western waterfront of Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching north from Slussen to Riddarhustorget, Munkbroleden passes by three squares ...

Lilla Nygatan Lilla Nygatan () is a street in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching from the square Munkbron south to Kornhamnstorg, the street in intercepted by Yxsmedsgränd, Kåkbrinken, Schönfeldts Gränd, Tyska Brinken, and Le ...

Stora Nygatan Stora Nygatan is a street in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. The troubadour Carl Michael Bellman lived at number 1 in 1785-1787 and at number 20 (still present) in 1787–88. Description *Old names: ''nyegatun'' (1636), ' ...

Torgdragargränd Torgdragargränd ( Swedish: "Market Draughter's Alley") is an alley in Gamla stan, the old town in Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching from the street Västerlånggatan to the square Kornhamnstorg, it forms a parallel street to Tyska Brinken and Funck ...

Funckens Gränd Funckens Gränd is an alley in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Leading south from the street Västerlånggatan to the square Kornhamnstorg, it forms a parallel street to Torgdragargränd and Triewaldsgränd. Origin of th ...

Triewaldsgränd Triewaldsgränd ( Swedish: "Alley of Triewalds") is an alley in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching south from the square Järntorget to Kornhamnstorg and Munkbroleden, it forms a parallel street to Funckens Gränd ...

. The statue of a man drawing a bow on the square, often misinterpreted as depicting

William Tell William Tell (, ; ; ; ) is a legendary folk hero of Switzerland. He is known for shooting an apple off his son's head. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albrecht Gessler, ...

, was inaugurated in 1916 as an homage to

Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson (1390s – 4 May 1436) was a Swedish nobleman, rebel leader and military leader of German ancestry. He was the leader of the Engelbrekt rebellion in 1434 against Eric of Pomerania, king of the Kalmar Union. Biograp ...

, leader of the

Engelbrekt rebellion The Engelbrekt rebellion (''Engelbrektsupproret'') was an uprising during 1434–1436 led by Swedish miner and nobleman Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson and directed against Eric of Pomerania, the king of the Kalmar Union. The uprising, with its c ...

(1434–1436) against the German-dominated government of

Eric of Pomerania Erik of Pomerania ( 1381/1382 – 24 September 1459) ruled over the Kalmar Union from 1396 until 1439. He was initially co-ruler with his great-aunt Margaret I of Denmark, Margaret I until her death in 1412. Erik is known as Erik III as King of ...

. The statue was carved by the sculptor Christian Eriksson (1859–1935).

Archaeology

An archaeological investigation in 2002 exposed sections of unmoved cultural deposits at +2.4–1.9 metres

asl American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States and most of Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that is expressed by employ ...

(square pavement slightly below +3) of layers of sand containing fragments of red pottery,

faïence Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip of a lead glaze, was a major ...

, and Chinese porcelain, probably dating from the 18th century.

History

The square is named after the harbour ''Kornhamn'' where corn delivered to the city by ships from the

Lake Mälaren A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...

area was embarked in the Middle Ages, the corn then stored on an open space called ''Korntorget'' ("Grain Square"). At the time, however, the city looked entirely different and the square in question was actually located where today the square known as Järntorget ("Iron Square") is found. The latter was renamed after the iron trade which grew in importance, and which also for a while gave Kornhamnstorg the name ''Jernbroen'' ("Iron Bridge"). The square probably was a product of the city plan created for the western part of the old town in the 1620s, though the space was referred to as ''Åkaretorget'' ("Carter Square") during that century, arguably because of the

horse-drawn vehicle A horse-drawn vehicle is a piece of equipment pulled by one or more horses. These vehicles typically have two or four wheels and were used to carry passengers or a load. They were once common worldwide, but they have mostly been replaced by auto ...

s stationed there. Both historically and in modern times, the names ''Kornhamn'' and ''Kornhamnstorg'' have been used for the square, the harbour, and the present quay. In the early 1740s, the harbour and its quays were restored together with to canal separating

Riddarholmen Riddarholmen (, "The Knights' Islet") is a small islet in central Stockholm, Sweden. The island forms part of Gamla Stan, the old town, and houses a number of private palaces dating back to the 17th century. The main landmark is the church Riddarh ...

from the rest of the old town.

Gallery

Image:Kornhamnstorg Gamla stan jonez flickr.jpg, Kornhamnstorg viewed from Slussen, September 2006. Image:Kornhamnstorg 51 Scharenbergska oriel March 2007.jpg, The oriel on Number 51. Image:Kornhamnstorg 53 March 2007.JPG, Inscription of Tomas Funck on Number 53. Image:Kornhamnstorg Engelbrekt March 2007.JPG, Statue of Engelbrekt.

Notes

# While the Swedish word ''korn'' signifies 'grain' today, its original meaning was similar to that of the English word 'corn', which today translates to ''säd'' (compare 'seed').

References

External links