Kornhamnstorg (

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

: "Grain Harbour Square") is a

public square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true square, geometric square, used for community gathe ...

Gamla stan Gamla stan (, "The Old Town"), until 1980 officially Staden mellan broarna ("The Town between the Bridges"), is the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Gamla stan consists primarily of the island Stadsholmen. Officially, but not colloquially, Gamla stan ...

, the old town in central

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 ...

. Known as ''Kornhaffn'' (1427), ''Jernboen'' (1586), ''Åkaretorget'' (1644), and ''Kornhampns torget'' (1651), it is connected to the streets:

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 � ...

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), '' ...

Torgdragargränd Torgdragargränd (Swedish language, Swedish: "Market Draughter's Alley") is an alley in Gamla stan, the old town in Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching from the street Västerlånggatan to the square Kornhamnstorg, it forms a parallel street to Tyska Br ...

Funckens Gränd Funckens Gränd is an alley in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Leading south from the street Västerlånggatan to the square Kornhamnstorg, it forms a parallel street to Torgdragargränd and Triewaldsgränd. Origin o ...

Triewaldsgränd Triewaldsgränd (Swedish: "Alley of Triewalds") is an alley in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching south from the square Järntorget to Kornhamnstorg and Munkbroleden, it forms a parallel street to Funckens Gränd and ...

. The statue of a man drawing a bow on the square, often misinterpreted as depicting

William Tell William Tell (german: Wilhelm Tell, ; french: Guillaume Tell; it, Guglielmo Tell; rm, Guglielm Tell) is a folk hero of Switzerland. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albr ...

, was inaugurated in 1916 as an homage to

Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson (1390s – 27 April/4 May 1436) was a Swedish nobleman, rebel leader and military boss of German ancestry. He was the leader of the Engelbrekt rebellion in 1434 against Eric of Pomerania, king of the Kalmar Union. Enge ...

, leader of the

Engelbrekt rebellion The Engelbrekt rebellion (''Engelbrektsupproret'') was an uprising during 1434–1436 led by Swedish miner and nobleman Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson and directed against Eric of Pomerania, the king of the Kalmar Union. The uprising, with its center ...

(1434–1436) against the German-dominated government of

Eric of Pomerania Eric of Pomerania (1381 or 1382 – 24 September 1459) was the ruler of the Kalmar Union from 1396 until 1439, succeeding his grandaunt, Queen Margaret I. He is known as Eric III as King of Norway (1389–1442), Eric VII as King of Denmark (1396 ...

. The statue was carved by the sculptor

Christian Eriksson Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρισ ...

(1859–1935).

Archaeology

An archaeological investigation in 2002 exposed sections of unmoved cultural deposits at +2.4–1.9 metres

asl American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that is express ...

(square pavement slightly below +3) of layers of sand containing fragments of red pottery,

faïence Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip of a lead glaze, was a major ad ...

, and Chinese porcelain, probably dating from the 18th century.

History

The square is named after the harbour ''Kornhamn'' where corn delivered to the city by ships from the

Lake Mälaren A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

area was embarked in the Middle Ages, the corn then stored on an open space called ''Korntorget'' ("Grain Square"). At the time, however, the city looked entirely different and the square in question was actually located where today the square known as Järntorget ("Iron Square") is found. The latter was renamed after the iron trade which grew in importance, and which also for a while gave Kornhamnstorg the name ''Jernbroen'' ("Iron Bridge"). The square probably was a product of the city plan created for the western part of the old town in the 1620s, though the space was referred to as ''Åkaretorget'' ("Carter Square") during that century, arguably because of the

horse-drawn vehicle A horse-drawn vehicle is a mechanized piece of equipment pulled by one horse or by a team of horses. These vehicles typically had two or four wheels and were used to carry passengers and/or a load. They were once common worldwide, but they have m ...

s stationed there. Both historically and in modern times, the names ''Kornhamn'' and ''Kornhamnstorg'' have been used for the square, the harbour, and the present quay. In the early 1740s, the harbour and its quays were restored together with to canal separating

Riddarholmen Riddarholmen (, "The Knights' Islet") is a small islet in central Stockholm, Sweden. The island forms part of Gamla Stan, the old town, and houses a number of private palaces dating back to the 17th century. The main landmark is the church Riddarho ...

from the rest of the old town.

Gallery

Image:Kornhamnstorg Gamla stan jonez flickr.jpg, Kornhamnstorg viewed from Slussen, September 2006. Image:Kornhamnstorg 51 Scharenbergska oriel March 2007.jpg, The oriel on Number 51. Image:Kornhamnstorg 53 March 2007.JPG, Inscription of Tomas Funck on Number 53. Image:Kornhamnstorg Engelbrekt March 2007.JPG, Statue of Engelbrekt.

Notes

# While the Swedish word ''korn'' signifies 'grain' today, its original meaning was similar to that of the English word 'corn', which today translates to ''säd'' (compare 'seed').

References

External links