Kåkbrinken is a

street A street is a 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, ...

in Gamla stan, the old town of

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 ...

. Stretching from the western waterfront

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 � ...

, to the central square

Stortorget Stortorget (, "the Grand Square") is a public square in Gamla Stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. It is the oldest square in Stockholm, the historical centre on which the medieval urban conglomeration gradually came into being. To ...

, it forms a parallel street to

Yxsmedsgränd Yxsmedsgränd is an alley in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching south from Västerlånggatan to Stora Nygatan, it forms a parallel street to Didrik Ficks Gränd and Kåkbrinken and is crossed by Lilla Nygatan and Mu ...

, Solgränd, and

Bedoirsgränd Bedoirsgränd is an alley in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching from Västerlånggatan to Stora Nygatan, it forms a parallel street to Kåkbrinken and Skräddargränd. History The alley is named after the merchant Je ...

, while being crossed by

Munkbrogatan Munkbrogatan is a street in the western part of Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching south between Munkbron and Mälartorget squares, it forms a parallel street to Munkbroleden and Lilla Nygatan, crossed by Yxsmeds ...

Lilla Nygatan Lilla Nygatan ( sv, Small New Street) 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 B ...

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), '' ...

Västerlånggatan Västerlånggatan ("the Western Long Street") 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 def ...

, and

Prästgatan Prästgatan (Swedish: "The Priest's Street") is a street in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden, stretching from a cul-de-sac west of the Royal Palace to the street Österlånggatan in the southern corner of the old town. Prästg ...

Origin of the name

First mentioned in 1477, and in more detail in 1496, the street is initially called ''Kakbringkin.'' This derives from the

old Swedish Old Swedish (Swedish language, Modern Swedish: ) is the name for two distinct stages of the Swedish language that were spoken in the Middle Ages: Early Old Swedish (), spoken from about 1225 until about 1375, and Late Old Swedish (), spoken fro ...

word ''kak'' which is the equivalent of the

modern Swedish Modern Swedish ( sv, nysvenska) is the Linguistics, linguistic term used for the Swedish language from the Bible translation of 1526 to the development of a common national language around 1880. The period can further be divided into ''Early Mode ...

''kåk'', meaning "ramshackle house" or "prison", but at the time it referred to a

pillory The pillory is a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse. The pillory is related to the stocks ...

placed on Stortorget. The pillory is first mentioned in connection with the so-called "

Käpplinge murders Käpplinge murders ( sv, Käpplingemorden) was the name of a massacre conducted on ''Käpplingeholmen'' (now Blasieholmen) in Stockholm in June 1389, when 70 men were placed in a barn house and burned alive. The massacre was performed by the hätte ...

" (''Käpplingemorden''). This was an incident in 1389 when a group of German burghers imprisoned about 70 prominent citizens in a hovel on

Blasieholmen Blasieholmen is a peninsula in central Stockholm, Sweden. It is located east of Kungsträdgården. Originally a small island, named Käpplingen, it became a peninsula, connected to Norrmalm, during the 17th century. Among the buildings at Blasie ...

(at the time called Käpplinge) and burned them alive. The Germans are said to have been led from the

Royal Palace This is a list of royal palaces, sorted by continent. Africa * Abdin Palace, Cairo * Al-Gawhara Palace, Cairo * Koubbeh Palace, Cairo * Tahra Palace, Cairo * Menelik Palace * Jubilee Palace * Guenete Leul Palace * Imperial Palace- Massa ...

to the pillory. A copper statue of a man holding a

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...

in his right hand, placed on top of the pillory in 1602, was replaced in 1647 by a new one in bronze which is still preserved in the

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

. The pillory was moved to Norrmalmstorg in 1776, and from there to Eriksbergsplan in 1810. On a map dated 1733, the upper part of the street, between Stortorget and Västerlånggatan, is called Kåkbrinken, while the lower part is given several names: ''Kocks gränd'' (referring to the burgher Ragvald Kock); ''Jokum bagares'', ''Bagare gränd'', ''Schultens gränd'', and ''Nedre Schult gränd'' (referring to the baker Joachim Schult); ''Söte Gudmunds gränd'' ''Söte gummans gränd'' ("Alley of the Sweet Old Woman", Gudmund is also a proper name), ''Lasse Månssons gränd'', ''Björn Perssons gränd'', ''Mäster Eriks gränd'' (referring to men with those names), and ''Påfvel murmästares gränd'' ("Alley of Masonry master Paul"). Before the names of the streets of Gamla stan were fixed in 1885, the name 'Kåkbrinken' was used for various parts of its present extension.

The runestone

In the corner of Prästgatan and Kåkbrinken is a

runestone A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition began in the 4th century and lasted into the 12th century, but most of the runestones da ...

set into the wall, which carries the inscription "Torsten and Frögunn had the stone erected after their son". The stone was probably brought to Stockholm to be used as building material, but it is not known from where. As the female name Frögunn is known as a pagan name, the stone is believed to date from around AD 1000, the stone thus being about 200 years older than the city. A

laser range scanner A laser rangefinder, also known as a laser telemeter, is a Rangefinding telemeter, rangefinder that uses a laser beam to determine the distance to an object. The most common form of laser rangefinder operates on the time of flight principle by s ...

analysis conducted in 2002, showed variations in stroke patterns in the grooves of the stone, and that the stone was probably carved by a master carver and an apprentice. It is one of three runestones found in the old town: A second, U 274, originally located in a wall by the southern city gate near Slussen, is today kept in the

Museum of Medieval Stockholm The Museum of Medieval Stockholm ( sv, Stockholms medeltidsmuseum), centrally located north of the Royal Palace, was constructed around old monuments excavated in an extensive archaeological dig (dubbed ''Riksgropen'', "National/State Pit") in t ...

. It contains the words "Karl and Adisla had

his stone His or HIS may refer to: Computing * Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company * Honeywell Information Systems * Hybrid intelligent system * Microsoft Host Integration Server Education * Hangzhou International School, in ...

erected fterArnsil,

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officiall ...

father" and is similar in style to stones found in

Södermanland Södermanland ( or ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latin form ''Sudermannia'' or ''Sudermania'', is a historical province or ''landskap'' on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Östergötland, Närke, Västmanla ...

, south of Stockholm. The third runestone, U 54, is now lost but was once located in a stairway in the church Riddarholmskyrkan.

References

External links

hitta.se - location map

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kakbrinken Streets in Stockholm

Origin of the name

The runestone

See also

References

External links