Clas på Hörnet is a hotel and restaurant on Surbrunnsgatan in Vasastan,

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, located to the northeast of the

Stockholm School of Economics The Stockholm School of Economics (SSE; sv, Handelshögskolan i Stockholm, HHS) is a private business school located in city district Vasastaden in the central part of Stockholm, Sweden. SSE offers BSc, MSc and MBA programs, along with ...

. It was founded by restaurateur Christer von Arnold in 1984. The building itself was originally the Browallshof inn, founded by Clas Browall in 1731. The 18th-century inn is famous in history as it is frequently mentioned in the poetry of

Carl Michael Bellman Carl Michael Bellman (; 4 February 1740 – 11 February 1795) was a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, poet and entertainer. He is a central figure in the Swedish song tradition and remains a powerful influence in Swedish music, as well ...

History

Early history

In 1731, Clas Browall (d. 1742) and his spouse Annika Browall (d. 1749) bought the building called ''Hjärpes gård'' (Hjärpe farm) for their mutual savings from the inn ''Ingemarshof'', where Clas had worked as a waiter and Annika as a manager. They named their own inn first ''Browallshof'', but it was soon called ''Clas på Hörnet'', both of them names from the co-founder of the inn. The inn, which was very conveniently positioned close to the Roslagstull customs and the popular health spring '' Surbrunnen'', quickly expanded into one of the most fashionable in Stockholm, frequented by customers of all social classes. It also offered the biggest dancing parlor in Stockholm, where

ball A ball is a round object (usually spherical, but can sometimes be ovoid) with several uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used f ...

s were held by the aristocracy: in 1745,

Frederick I of Sweden Frederick I ( sv, Fredrik I; 28 April 1676 – 5 April 1751) was prince consort of Sweden from 1718 to 1720, and King of Sweden from 1720 until his death and (as ''Frederick I'') also Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel from 1730. He ascended the throne f ...

participated in one of the balls, where he was introduced to a replacement for

Hedvig Taube Hedvig Ulrika Taube (31 October 1714 – 11 February 1744), also Countess von Hessenstein was a Swedish courtier and countess, a Holy Roman countess of the Empire, and royal mistress to king Frederick I of Sweden from 1731 to 1744. She is regarded ...

Gustavian era

During the reign of

Gustav III of Sweden Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of Adolf Frederick of Sweden and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Prussia. Gustav was a vocal opponent of what ...

, the inn was redecorated and expanded even further by its owner Petter Helin P:son, who took over in 1774 and made it renowned for its luxury with ten new ballrooms. In 1782, it was the stage of a scandal when the former courtier Carl Anders von Plommenfeldt mocked the monarch with negative remarks on a window (the window had a known inscription with the text "Gustav III, the first of citizens", to which Plommonfelt added "He used to be, but is now the first of fools") and was sentenced to death in his absence for

Lèse-majesté Lèse-majesté () or lese-majesty () is an offence against the dignity of a ruling head of state (traditionally a monarch but now more often a president) or the state itself. The English name for this crime is a borrowing from the French, w ...

19th-century

In the early 19th century, the inn had lost its popularity among the upper classes. In an attempt to regain its former success, the owners launched the spring Ugglevik as a new health spring, and arranged balls to its honor, called the "Ugglevik balls". However, the Ugglevik balls attracted a different clientele than what had been the case in the 18th-century and the inn became in disrepute. In 1834, the establishment was closed by the authorities, who needed the localities for a hospital for the victims of the severe

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

epidemic which came to the capital that year, and afterward, the building was not regarded as secure for seven years. In 1841-1865, the inn was again in operation under Anna Stark. In 1877, the building was taken over by Stockholm city authorities, who divided it into apartments. All of the building except the present wing was torn down during the 20th-century.Strövtåg i S:t Johannes församling 1. Clas på Hörnet. Klotter, kolera och kulinariska renässans!

Modern history

In 1984, the current restaurant Clas på Hörnet was opened by the restaurateur Christer von Arnold.

References