Tyska Brunnsplan (

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 ...

: "German Well Square") is a small, triangular

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 ...

. It is located in the junction between the streets

Svartmangatan Svartmangatan ( sv, (literally)) "Black Man Street") is a street in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching south-east from the central square Stortorget to Södra Benickebrinken and Norra Benickebrinken leading to the eastern ...

and

Själagårdsgatan Själagårdsgatan (Swedish: "The Charitable Institution Street") is a street in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching south from Köpmangatan to Tyska Brunnsplan, it forms a parallel street to Baggensgatan. It cro ...

, the former leading to

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 ...

and the latter to

Brända Tomten Brända Tomten ( sv, The Burnt Lot) is a small, triangular public square in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. A few benches under a chestnut tree, the ivy hanging from the surrounding façades makes the space a lush, relaxe ...

. As several local names knows to tell (e.g.

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 ...

and Tyska Skolgränd) the square is named after the vicinity to the German Church and the German community which once occupied the neighbourhood.

Origin of the name

The square appears as ''Tyske Brunnen'' ("German Well") and ''Stadsens brunn vid Gillestugan'' ("the city's well by the guild homestead") in 1649; as ''Tyska Brunn'' in both 1728 and 1820; and as ''Tyska Brunsplan'' in 1863.

History

Until the early 18th century, the corner where the two streets meet was the location for a well of considerable proportions. During the later part of the century, the city's fire company established so called 'turning spaces' (spaces big enough for the turning radius of

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) at various locations to prevent throngs of people causing accidents in case of fire, and thus had a building demolished on this location in 1783 to create more space. They appointed the city architect

Erik Palmstedt Erik Palmstedt (16 December 1741, Stockholm — 12 June 1803) was a Swedish architect working for the court circle of Gustav III, where he was in the forefront of Neoclassical style and at the heart of a social and intellectual circle that formed ...

(1741-1803) to design the new square, its well and façades. The Neoclassical ambitions of the Gustavian architect had to be restricted in the Medieval urban landscape, which resulted in the present small-scale composition; the concave façade with its windows of various sizes acting as a scenic background for the magnificent well and its

doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

columns. The first

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

in Stockholm (see

Aaron Isaac Aaron Isaac ( he, אהרון יצחק; lived 1730–1817) was a Jewish seal engraver and merchant in haberdashery. He came from Pommery (Swedish Pomerania), a German-speaking area then part of the Swedish Empire, during the reign of Gustav III, and ...

) was found on the square's eastern side in the 19th century, from 1870 the location for a police station. The current location of the well flanked by two

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelat ...

trees, was once the site of the pharmacy ''Svanen'' ("The Swan") which gave the block its Latin name ''Cygnus''. With the creation of the square the pharmacy moved across Svartmangatan were its sign is still hanging. The address is today the location for a public bath and the school of the old town.

References

External links

hitta.se - Location map and virtual walk
Squares in Stockholm {{Stockholm-geo-stub

Origin of the name

History

See also

References

External links