Medborgarplatsen (literally ''Citizen Square'') is a large

city 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 geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

located near the center of the island of

Södermalm Södermalm, often shortened to just Söder, is a district and island in central Stockholm. Overview The district covers the large island of the same name (formerly called ''Åsön''). Although Södermalm usually is considered an island, wat ...

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 ...

. The square is often colloquially referred to as "''Medis''".

Description

The development of the citizen site was due to the railway's progress and the construction of

Stockholm South Station Stockholm South, ''Stockholms södra'', Stockholm S, locally known as ''Södra Station'' (Southern Station) is a railway station in Södermalm, Stockholm, Sweden. The Stockholm South railway station was originally opened in the year 1860, and w ...

(''Stockholms södra'') in the late 1850s. Near the square is a

Medborgarplatsen metro station Medborgarplatsen, formerly known as Södra Bantorget, is a station on the Green line (Stockholm metro), Green line of the Stockholm metro. It is situated near to the Medborgarplatsen square in the district of Södermalm in central Stockholm, and l ...

. The station was opened as an underground

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

station in 1933, and was converted for the new metro system in 1950 as one of the first stations on the network. The original exits did not open onto the square, but to the nearby street Folkungagatan. An entrance was opened on to Björns trädgård on November 29, 1995. The square has become a common place for demonstrations. On

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. T ...

, the Left Party usually start their parade from there, and are accompanied by other smaller leftist and communist parties as they walk to

Kungsträdgården Kungsträdgården (Swedish language, Swedish for "King's Garden") is a park in central Stockholm, Sweden. It is colloquially known as ''Kungsan''. The park's central location and its outdoor cafés makes it one of the most popular hangouts ...

. In 2001, Hammarby Fotboll celebrated its first victory in the

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

in front of about 35,000 supporters in the square. Medborgarplatsen has a small ice-skating rink which is turned into a terrace with benches in the summer. On one corner of the square there is a substantial public library, and diagonally across on another corner the 17th century Lillienhoff Palace. Medborgarplatsen is also where

Anna Lindh Ylva Anna Maria Lindh (19 June 1957 – 11 September 2003) was a Swedish Social Democratic politician and lawyer who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1998 until her death. She was also a Member of the Riksdag (member of parliament) f ...

, the Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs, held her last public speech before she was assassinated on September 10, 2003. In 2004, a memorial monument to Anna Lindh was erected at the square.

References

{{coord, 59.315, N, 18.072, E, display=title, source:nlwiki Squares in Stockholm no:Medborgarplatsen tunnelbanestasjon