Högvaktsterrassen
Encyclopedia
Street
A street is a paved public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, but is more often paved with a hard, durable...
in Gamla stan
Gamla stan
Gamla stan , until 1980 officially Staden mellan broarna , is the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Gamla stan consists primarily of the island Stadsholmen. The surrounding islets Riddarholmen, Helgeandsholmen, and Strömsborg are officially part of, but not colloquially included in, Gamla stan...
, the old town in central Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
passing west of Yttre Borgården, the outer court of the Stockholm Palace
Stockholm Palace
The Stockholm Palace is the official residence and major royal palace of the Swedish monarch. . Stockholm Palace is located on Stadsholmen , in Gamla Stan in the capital, Stockholm...
.
The street stretches north from the Stockholm Cathedral
Storkyrkan
Sankt Nikolai kyrka , most commonly known as Storkyrkan and Stockholms domkyrka , is the oldest church in Gamla Stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. It is an important example of Swedish Brick Gothic...
at Storkyrkobrinken
Storkyrkobrinken
Storkyrkobrinken is a street in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden.Leading from Högvaktsterrassen near the Royal Palace down to Myntgatan and Riddarhustorget it forms a parallel street to Salviigränd and Stora Gråmunkegränd and is crossed by Trångsund, Prästgatan, and...
and ends in a terrace
Terrace (building)
A terrace is an outdoor, occupiable extension of a building above ground level. Although its physical characteristics may vary to a great degree, a terrace will generally be larger than a balcony and will have an "open-top" facing the sky...
offering a panoramic view of the Parliament Building
Parliament of Sweden
The Riksdag is the national legislative assembly of Sweden. The riksdag is a unicameral assembly with 349 members , who are elected on a proportional basis to serve fixed terms of four years...
, the square Mynttorget
Mynttorget
Mynttorget is a public square in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden.- Setting :From the square the bridge Stallbron leads over to the Parliament island Helgeandsholmen; to the west the street Myntgatan leads to Riddarhustorget, while the quay Kanslikajen stretches along the...
and the northern ramp of the palace, Lejonbacken
Lejonbacken
Lejonbacken is a system of ramps leading up to the northern entrance of the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden, during the 1780s named after the pair of sculpted Medici lions prominently exposed on the stone railings of the ramps....
. It is delimited to the east by the two curved western wings of the Royal Palace, and to the west by a state-owned annex composed by the Oxenstierna Palace and Beijer House and serving as offices and the workrooms of the court.
History
The area north of the cathedral and west of the Medieval palace Tre KronorTre kronor (castle)
Tre Kronor or Three Crowns was a castle located in Stockholm, Sweden, on the site where Stockholm Palace is today. It is believed to have been a citadel that Birger Jarl built into a royal castle in the middle of the 13th century...
("Three Crowns"), burnt down in 1697, was known as Helvetet ("Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
"). The background of this atrocious name have been subject for some scholarly disputes; some suggesting it reflexes the popular belief the area north of churches were the location of evil (and therefore suitable for suicides and criminals), while other found references in Norse folklore
Norse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
where the "Kingdom of the Dead" was believed to be located to the north, and, 'Hell' still not associated with the pejorative meaning of today, was simply used to indicate northern locations in general.
Historical records from the 15th century describes the area as the location for the city's executioner
Executioner
A judicial executioner is a person who carries out a death sentence ordered by the state or other legal authority, which was known in feudal terminology as high justice.-Scope and job:...
during the years 1491-1528, and for the city's school building and the royal mint
Mint (coin)
A mint is an industrial facility which manufactures coins for currency.The history of mints correlates closely with the history of coins. One difference is that the history of the mint is usually closely tied to the political situation of an era...
in the 1430s. Among the numerous alleys once found in the area were many craftsmen's workshops - shoemakers, saddlers, blacksmiths, bakers, etcetera. On a 16th century map, the area is taken up by a slope leaning north with a block occupying the location for the present street, a block not present on a map dated 1626, instead suggesting the royal gardens were located here. In 1653, the Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna
Axel Oxenstierna
Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna af Södermöre , Count of Södermöre, was a Swedish statesman. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1609 and served as Lord High Chancellor of Sweden from 1612 until his death. He was a confidant of first Gustavus Adolphus and then Queen Christina.Oxenstierna...
(1583–1654) started to build his palace still present on the south-western corner of the street, while both his old residence and that of Herman Wrangel
Herman Wrangel
Herman Wrangel was a Swedish soldier and politician of Baltic German extraction. He was appointed Field Marshal in 1621, Privy Councillor in 1630, and Governor General of Livonia in 1643...
(1587–1643) were demolished in the 1740s when the wings of the Main Guard were built.
In 1921, it was suggested the street should be named Kristina Gyllenstiernas skans ("Sconce
Sconce (fortification)
A Sconce is a small protective fortification, such as an earthwork often placed on a mound as a defensive work for artillery. It was used primarily in Northern Europe from the late Middle Ages until the 19th century. This type of fortification was common during the English Civil War, and the...
of. .") after Christina Gyllenstierna
Christina Gyllenstierna
Christina Nilsdotter of Fogelvik, Heiress of Tullgarn , was the wife of the Swedish regent Sten Sture the Younger, and after his death, leader of resistance to Christian II of Denmark...
(1494–1559), wife of Sten Sture the Younger
Sten Sture the Younger
Sten Sture the Younger , Lord of Ekesiö , was a Swedish statesman and regent of Sweden, under the era of the Kalmar Union.-Life:...
(1493–1520), who's statue, found nearby at the time, reminded of her bravely defence of the palace against the Danish army in 1520. However, some discussions concerning the city's right and need to name the location in the first place, eventually resulted in the present name suggested by the linguist Adolf Noreen
Adolf Noreen
Adolf Gotthard Noreen was a Swedish linguist who served as a member of the Swedish Academy from 1919 until his death.-Biography:...
(1854–1925).
Oxenstierna Palace
Designed by Jean de la Vallée
Jean De la Vallée
Jean de la Vallée was a French-born architect, who lived and worked in Sweden. He was the son of Simon de la Vallée, who was killed by a Swedish nobleman in 1642. The father had started the planning of the House of Knights in Stockholm, and in 1660 his son finished his father's work...
(1620–1696), the palace of the mighty chancellor Axel Oxenstierna was started in 1653 shortly before the death of the proprietor. The present building, merely a wing of the huge palace originally intended for the site, introduced the Roman palace architecture acting by means of elaborately decorated windows on a plain plastered wall. The interplay with the urban setting is underlined by the projecting parts of the southern façade being aligned to the street and thus not perpendicular to the façade. The building is unique for the well preserved exterior, including the various sandstone decorations, and the alternating mezzanines
Mezzanine (architecture)
In architecture, a mezzanine or entresol is an intermediate floor between main floors of a building, and therefore typically not counted among the overall floors of a building. Often, a mezzanine is low-ceilinged and projects in the form of a balcony. The term is also used for the lowest balcony in...
of the five storeys, and the interior, including decorative 17th century hinges. Notwithstanding the name, the Oxenstierna dynasty never actually lived in the building, instead serving as offices since its completion. The equivalent of the Bank of Sweden occupied the building in the end of the 17th century, and it has been the property of the Swedish State since.
Beijer House
Named after Johan von Beijer (-1669), a man of German origin appointed postmaster in 1642, who bought two buildings on the site that same year to replace them with his own residence, accordingly the only post office in the capital until his death. The brick cellar vaults of the two Medieval buildings are still preserved, and the building is the only burgher residence with a preserved 17th century courtyard. Two storeys were added during the 18th and 19th centuries, and in 1918 it became the property of the state and was subsequently merged with the Oxenstierna Palace. The building was declared a historical monument in 1949 and is today occupied by the accountants of the Parliament, the unique interiors and courtyard thus not accessible to the public.See also
- List of streets and squares in Gamla stan
- The Stockholm PalaceStockholm PalaceThe Stockholm Palace is the official residence and major royal palace of the Swedish monarch. . Stockholm Palace is located on Stadsholmen , in Gamla Stan in the capital, Stockholm...
article contains a panorama from Högvaktsterrassen
External links
- Stockholm City Museum - Högvaktsterrassen, main source for this article containing several maps over the area showing archaeological traces of older structures.
- 4πSr - Panorama of Högvaktsterrassen (fifth from bottom, 2.7 MB QTVRQuickTime VRQuickTime VR is a type of image file format developed by Apple Inc. for QuickTime. It allows the creation and viewing of photographically-captured panoramas and the exploration of objects through images taken at multiple viewing angles...
) - http://www.hitta.se/SearchCombi.aspx?__VIEWSTATE=%2FwEPDwUKMTg4NDI3NTMzNWRk&UCSB%3AWflWhite=1a1b&UCSB%3AWflPink=4a&SearchType=4&UCSB%3ABBX1=&UCSB%3ABBY1=&UCSB%3ABBX2=&UCSB%3ABBY2=&UCSB%3ATextBoxWho=&UCSB%3ATextBoxWhere=H%F6gvaktsterrassen&UCSB%3AButtonSearch=%A0%A0hitta%21%A0%A0&CombiDetails%3AMapControl%3Acx=1628870&CombiDetails%3AMapControl%3Acy=6580574&CombiDetails%3AMapControl%3ApointsHidden=&CombiDetails%3AMapControl%3Az=3hitta.se - location map]