Karl Johans Torg
Encyclopedia
Public Square
Public Square is the central plaza in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It takes up four city blocks; Superior Avenue and Ontario Street cross through it. Cleveland's three tallest buildings, Key Tower, 200 Public Square and the Terminal Tower, face the square...
between the old town 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...
and Slussen
Slussen
Slussen is an area of central Stockholm, connecting Södermalm and Gamla stan. The area is named after the locks between Lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The locks themselves allow passage between these two bodies of water...
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....
.
Setting
North of the square and behind the statue is the street SlussplanSlussplan
Slussplan is a street in Stockholm, Sweden.Located on the southern end of Gamla stan, the old town, and just north of Slussen and the public square Karl Johans Torg, it stretches west from Skeppsbron to Katarinavägen and Munkbroleden. South of the street is the statue of Charles XIV John, the...
; the bridges and ramps of the southbound street Katarinavägen and the northbound quay Skeppsbron
Skeppsbron
Skeppsbron is both a street and a quay in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, capital of Sweden, stretching from the bridge Strömbron in front of the Royal Palace southward to Slussen....
delimits the square to the west and to the east respectively; while the canal Karl Johanslussen
Karl Johanslussen
Karl Johanslussen is a lock and a sluice, connecting and controlling the flood discharge between Riddarfjärden, the easternmost part of Lake Mälaren, and Saltsjön, the section of the Baltic Sea reaching into central Stockholm, Sweden. The lock is 75 meters long, 10 meters wide and 3.90 meters deep...
forms the southern edge of the square. Under the bridge in the south-eastern corner of the square is the rock club Debaser
Debaser
"Debaser" is a song by the American alternative rock band Pixies, and is the first song on their 1989 album Doolittle. The song was written and sung by frontman Black Francis and was produced by Gil Norton during Doolittles recording sessions....
, boasting some 1,500 artists since its opening in 2002. In summer, the lock and the occasionally dramatic passage of numerous pleasure boats and the accompanying families makes the square a popular spot to tourists and Stockholmers alike, while the club and its open-air restaurant, makes the space a natural hangout for a slightly younger audience. On the opposite side of the canal is an elevated space called Slussterrasen.
The statue
It is named after the precense of the equestrian statueEquestrian sculpture
An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin "eques", meaning "knight", deriving from "equus", meaning "horse". A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an "equine statue"...
of King Charles XIV John
Charles XIV John of Sweden
Charles XIV & III John, also Carl John, Swedish and Norwegian: Karl Johan was King of Sweden and King of Norway from 1818 until his death...
(1763-1844) today placed just north of the square but originally located south of the canal, and inaugurated November 4, 1854, on the 40th anniversary of the union between Sweden and Norway
Union between Sweden and Norway
The Union between Sweden and Norway , officially the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, consisted of present-day Sweden and Norway between 1814 and 1905, when they were united under one monarch in a personal union....
and four years after the inauguration of the lock of Nils Ericson
Nils Ericson
Friherre Nils Ericson was a Swedish mechanical engineer...
. Designed by Bengt Erland Fogelberg
Bengt Erland Fogelberg
Bengt Erland Fogelberg , was a Swedish sculptor.Fogelberg was born at Gothenburg. His father, a copper-founder, encouraging an early exhibited taste for design, sent him in 1801 to Stockholm, where he studied at the school of art...
(1786-1854), at the time located in Italy, the sculpture was cut in Rome and cast in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
in 1852, while the tall base was cut in Carrara
Carrara
Carrara is a city and comune in the province of Massa-Carrara , notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some west-northwest of Florence....
to the design of the artist. The original intentions of the sculptor was to have the statue facing east, the king's command baton pointing out the obvious enemy on the opposite side of the Baltic
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
. When inaugurated, however, the statue was instead turned north towards the city, thus symbolizing the French general and the Bernadotte
Bernadotte
The House of Bernadotte, the current royal house of Sweden, has reigned since 1818. Between 1818 and 1905, it was also the royal house of the Norway...
Dynasty which came with him, arriving to Stockholm to occupy the Swedish throne.
When the Slussen area was adapted to modern traffic loads in 1935, the statue was turned south, pointing strait at the new and lively discussed roundabout. While the reason for this U-turn remains unelucidated, save for the fact the statue would otherwise be standing face to face with the façades north of the square, Sweden remains a monarchy
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
and the Bernadotte Dynasty is still occupying the Royal 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...
in the old town.
The lock
The present lock was inaugurated in 1935 and the fourth to be built, preceded by a first horse-driven lock, called Drottining Kristinas Sluss ("Lock of Queen ChristinaChristina of Sweden
Christina , later adopted the name Christina Alexandra, was Queen regnant of Swedes, Goths and Vandals, Grand Princess of Finland, and Duchess of Ingria, Estonia, Livonia and Karelia, from 1633 to 1654. She was the only surviving legitimate child of King Gustav II Adolph and his wife Maria Eleonora...
"), constructed by two Dutch engineers and inaugurated in 1642; a second, Polhems sluss ("Lock of Polhem"), designed by and named after Christopher Polhem
Christopher Polhem
Christopher Polhammar , better known as , which he took after his ennoblement, was a Swedish scientist, inventor and industrialist. He made significant contributions to the economic and industrial development of Sweden, particularly mining.-Biography:Polhem was born on the island of Gotland...
(1662-1751), and inaugurated in 1755; and a third, (Nils Ericsons sluss) inaugurated in 1850 and designed by Nils Ericson
Nils Ericson
Friherre Nils Ericson was a Swedish mechanical engineer...
(1802-1870) and located and still present under the statue.