Stallbron - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Stallbron is an arch bridge

Arch bridge

An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side...

located 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....

. Stretching some 20 meters over Stallkanalen it connects Riksgatan

Riksgatan

Riksgatan is a street in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Located on Helgeandsholmen, and passing between the eastern and the western buildings of the Swedish Parliament Buildings, makes it the official address of the Parliament.In its northern end, the bridge Riksbron...

passing through 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...

on Helgeandsholmen

Helgeandsholmen

Helgeandsholmen is a small island in central Stockholm, Sweden. It is located north of Stadsholmen, and east of Strömsborg, with which, together with Riddarholmen, it forms Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm...

to 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...

on Stadsholmen

Stadsholmen

Stadsholmen is the historical name of an island in the centre of Stockholm, Sweden. Together with the small islands Riddarholmen and Helgeandsholmen it forms the Old town of Stockholm....

from where Västerlånggatan

Västerlånggatan

Västerlånggatan is a street in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching southward between the squares Mynttorget and Järntorget, it follows the course of the city's now demolished 13th century defensive wall....

extends it further south.

Stallbron was named in the late 19th century after the Royal Stables which king Gustav Vasa had built on Helgeandsholmen in the 1530s, thereafter rebuilt by Karl IX 1604-1612, and finally demolished in 1640 when the present stables were completed on Norrmalm, one km to the north.
Occupying one of the most central locations in Stockholm, Stallbron is, arguably, the location for the oldest bridge in the city. On its location was earlier found a wooden bridge, forming part of what was northern gate of the city, called Norrbro ("Northern bridge") and later Norrbrogatan ("Northern Bridge Street"). As an extension to Västerlånggatan

Västerlånggatan

it was directed more eastward, stretching diagonally across Helgeandsholmen, and leading to Gustav Adolfs torg

Gustav Adolfs torg

Gustav Adolfs torg is the name of several squares in Sweden.*Gustav Adolfs torg, Stockholm*Gustaf Adolfs torg, Göteborg*Gustaf Adolfs torg, Malmö*Gustav Adolfs torg, Helsingborg...

.
When the embankments of the watercourse were completed in the early 19th century this original bridge was first replaced by a small footbridge in 1810 and then replaced by a cast iron

Cast iron

Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...

bridge in 1843, in its turn superseded by a 7,2 m wide, vehicle capable steel bridge in 1879. This last bridge was the first to be officially called Stallbron.
Around the turn of the century when plans to relocate the parliament and the Bank of Sweden to Helgeandsholmen were being elaborated, this diagonal street was finally replaced by a street perpendicular to the northern front 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...

, much in accordance to the plans once drawn by Nicodemus Tessin the Younger

Nicodemus Tessin the Younger

Count Nicodemus Tessin the Younger was a Swedish Baroque architect, city planner, and administrator.The son of Nicodemus Tessin the Elder and the father of Carl Gustaf Tessin, Tessin the Younger was the middle-most generation of the brief Tessin dynasty, which have had a lasting influence on...

.
The eastern part of the present bridge is a single arch steel bridge, inaugurated on November 4, 1904. It was subsequently supplemented by a parallel bridge on its west side in 1982 covering a subway connecting the Parliament Building (Riksdagen) with the Government Offices (Kanslihuset). The small space between the two bridges can be seen through the gated gaps left in the street.

See also