Mårten Trotzigs gränd ( Swedish: "Alley of Mårten Trotzig") is an

alley An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, footpath, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane), or a path, w ...

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. Gamla Stan includes the surrounding islets ...

, the old town of

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Leading from Västerlånggatan and Järntorget up to Prästgatan and

Tyska Stallplan Tyska Stallplan (Swedish language, Swedish: "German Stable Square" or literally "Plane") is a street in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching south from Svartmangatan to Prästgatan, it is connected to Baggensgatan and ...

, the width of its 37 steps tapers down to a mere , making the alley the narrowest street in Stockholm.

History

The alley is named after the

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

and burgher Mårten Trotzig (1559–1617), who, born in

Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...

, immigrated to Stockholm in 1581, and bought properties in the alley in 1597 and 1599, also opening a shop there. His original German name is said to have been ''Traubtzich'', but he is also mentioned under various other names, such as ''Trutzich'', ''Trutzigh'', ''Trusick'', ''Trotuitz'', ''Tråtzich'', ''Trotzigh'' and ''Tråsse''. According to sources from the late-16th century, he dealt in iron and later copper, by 1595 he had sworn his burgher oath, and was later to become one of the richest merchants in Stockholm. He was however beaten to death during a trip to Kopparberg in 1617. Possibly referred to as

Trångsund Trångsund () is a part of Huddinge to the south of Stockholm located between the two lakes Magelungen and Drevviken. Trångsund had 9,114 inhabitants in 2019. Trångsund is 17 minutes away from Stockholm City Station by train on the Bålsta-N ...

("Narrow strait") before Mårten Trotzig gave his name to the alley, it is mentioned in 1544 as ''Tronge trappe grenden'' ("Narrow Stairs Alley"). In 1573 a property is referred to as situated... *

Old Swedish Old Swedish ( 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 from about 1375 unti ...

: ''...norden för Järntorgitt näst Lång gaten westen till vp med then trånge trappe grändh, som löper vp till Suarttmuncke clöster''. *

Modern Swedish Modern Swedish () is the 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 Modern Swedish'' (1526–1750 ...

: ''...norr om Järntorget intill Långa gatan i väster upp för den trånga trappans gränd, som löper upp till svartmunkeklostret''. * English : ...north of ' the iron square' next to ' the Long street to the west' up the narrow stairs alley, running up to the Blackfriars abbey. In 1608, it was referred to as ''Trappegrenden'' ("The Stairs Alley"), but a map dated 1733 calls it ''Trotz gr �nd', a name which, using various alternative spellings, was to remain the name used, save for an attempt in the late-18th century to inexplicably rename it ''Kungsgränden'' ("The Kings Alley"). The alley was closed off in the mid-19th century, not to be reopened until 1945. Its present name was officially sanctioned by the city in 1949.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marten Trotzigs Grand Streets in Stockholm

History

See also

References