Brunnsparken ( Swedish for "well park") is a central square in

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

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 ...

. It is located between

Nordstan Nordstan is a shopping center in Gothenburg, Sweden. It is the largest shopping centre in Sweden in terms of revenue, and with approximately 180 shops and 150 offices. The shopping centre's total area is about divided into nine interconnected bu ...

and Arkaden, and between two of Gothenburg's oldest streets, Norra Hamngatan and Södra Hamngatan (actually bordering Stora Hamnkanalen to the north). With its central location " Inom Vallgraven" and with numerous shopping centres it is a popular meeting place in Gothenburg.

Traffic hub

Brunnsparken is dominated by

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

stops, surrounding the square from three directions. Together with Drottningstorget right to the east, Brunnsparken functions as an important hub for the tram network, with almost every line passing through it. Together with the

Gothenburg Central Station Gothenburg Central Station () is the main railway station of Gothenburg and it is the oldest railway station in Sweden still in use. The station serves 27 million passengers per year, making it the second largest railway station in Sweden after S ...

and the

Nils Ericson Terminal The Nils Ericson Terminal is a major bus terminus in Gothenburg, Sweden built in 1995. It is adjacent to and interconnected with Gothenburg Central Station and will be joined to the upcoming Centralen station via the ''Gothenburg Grand Central ...

, it forms the centre of all public transport in Gothenburg. Brunnsparken is one of the most frequently trafficked hubs in all of Sweden, with about 120 trams and 130 buses leaving per hour in

rush hour A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English, Indian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice e ...

traffic, which comes to about 4 trams or buses leaving per minute, from 10 stops.

History

Etymology

In 1822, trees were planted on an island in Stora Hamnkanalen, and in 1834, the owner of the Kronan

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

, Hans Jacob Cavallin, founded a well house made of stone on the site, and this gave the square its current name. This health well was frequently visited from 1834 to 1858, and one of the visitors was

Esaias Tegnér Esaias Tegnér (; – ) was a Swedish writer, professor of Greek, and bishop. During the 19th century, he was regarded as the father of modern poetry in Sweden, mainly through the national romantic epic '' Frithjof's Saga''. He has been called ...

who drank from the well in 1837. In 1858 the service was discontinued, but a wing from the well house was put to use as a warm bath house, up to 1879 when the buildings were torn down. On 23 July 1867, behind the bath house was opened "a little shop, which shall become a quite comfortable and frequently visited refuge in the days when the summer sun shines its golden rays from the cloud-free sky over passers-by. In this shop there shall be carbonated water, lemonade and other refreshments available to the public at prices lower than the usual". The building was designed by city architect Hansson, built by the Bark & Warburgs factory and painted by L. Rubenson "with the taste that always distinguishes his work". The first owner of "this comfortable installation" was J. G. Leufvenmark. The first documented use of the name Brunnsparken was in ''Göteborgs och Bohusläns calender för året 1847'', but the square only received its official name in 1863 when the plantations were improved.

Surroundings

Originally, what is now Brunnsparken was an island in Stora Hamnkanalen with the name ''Järnvågsplatsen'' (1753) after the iron

weighing scale A scale or balance is a device used to measure weight or mass. These are also known as mass scales, weight scales, mass balances, massometers, and weight balances. The traditional scale consists of two plates or bowls suspended at equal d ...

that had been located there since 1624. Work with these scales started in 1683 and was completed in 1690.''Det gamla Göteborg del I'', C R A Fredberg 1921, p. 450.''Sekelskiftets Göteborg i färg'', Gösta Carlson/Hans Falklind 1987, , p. 9.''Kronologiska anteckningar om viktigare händelser i Göteborg 1619–1982'', Ralf Scander et al., 1982, p. 32 + p. 10. The scales were transferred to Järntorget in 1785, and in the great fire in 1813, the rest of the scales burned down in Brunnsparken. Trees were planted on the site of the former scales in 1822, as a "promenade". In 1861, this part of Stora Hamnkanalen was filled in, south of the "island" that now forms Södra Hamngatan. In 1752, Niclas Jacobsson's

sugar refinery A sugar refinery is a refinery which processes raw sugar from cane or sugar extracted from beets into white refined sugar. Cane sugar mills traditionally produce raw sugar, which is sugar that still contains molasses, giving it color ...

(a "Såkerraffinaderiwärk") on Södra Hamngatan was completed, designed by architect

Carl Hårleman Baron Carl Hårleman (27 August 1700 – 9 February 1753) was a Sweden, Swedish architect. Biography Hårleman was born in Stockholm, son of the garden architect and head of the royal parks and gardens Johan Hårleman, who had been Ennoblemen ...

. The sugar refinery was later owned by

Pontus Fürstenberg Pontus Fürstenberg (4 October 1827 – 10 April 1902) was a Swedish art collector and merchant from a Jewish family. He was married to Göthilda Magnus. Background Pontus Fürstenberg was born at Östra Hamngatan 26, in Gothenburg, Sweden. ...

. It was damaged in the fire on 2 March 1792, but remained in use up to 1841, when it was discontinued. Parts of its foundation remain under the Palacehuset hotel to this day. In April 1913, an underground pumping station was built near Brunnsparken.

Johanna i Brunnsparken

At the western end of Brunnsparken is a fountain with the statue '' Såningskvinnan'' ''(the sowing woman)''. The statue was unveiled on the day of Johanna on 21 July 1883, and is therefore popularly called ''Johanna''. The statue was made by

Per Hasselberg Per Hasselberg (1 January 1850 – 25 July 1894), until 1870 Karl Petter Åkesson, was a Swedish sculptor. He has received critical acclaim mainly for his delicate and allegorical nudes, copies of which are widely distributed in public places ...

and cast in

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

by ''Gruet Jeunes'' in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France, partially financed by

, who lived nearby. The

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate Hydrate, dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk ...

original is located in the Gothenburg Museum of medicinal history. The administration building for the city railways was located at the site of the statue up until 1820. In 2015, statue was temporarily removed for maintenance and conservation. An archeological excavation was done at the site and one of the two iron balances that were used in Sweden during the 17th and 18th century was found. The balance in Gothenburg weighed all the iron manufactured in the

Värmland Värmland () is a ''Provinces of Sweden, landskap'' (historical province) in west-central Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland, and Närke, and is bounded by Norway in the west. Name Several Latinized version ...

part of

Bergslagen Bergslagen is a historical, cultural, and linguistic region located north of Lake Mälaren in northern Svealand, Sweden, traditionally known as a mining district. In Bergslagen, the mining and metallurgic industries have been important since t ...

during the 1800s. The balance was found below the present-day street level. There are two more statues in Brunnsparken. Two lions made of bronze lie at the staircase at Stora Hamnkanalen. They are made by Camilla Bergman in 1991. Between 1638–1673 there was a wooden bridge at Brunnsparken, having four standing lion statues. This bridge was called the "Lion bridge".

Brunnsparken in popular culture

Brunnsparken is mentioned in the

Christmas song Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...

'' Jul'', recorded by

Snowstorm A winter storm (also known as snow storm) is an event in which wind coincides with varieties of precipitation that only occur at freezing temperatures, such as snow, Rain and snow mixed, mixed snow and rain, or freezing rain. In Continental cl ...

and

Thorleifs Thorleifs was a Swedish dansband, formed in 1962 in Norrhult, Kronoberg County, Sweden and led by Thorleif Torstensson. The band sings in Swedish and many other languages, and released some albums in German. It also took part in Melodifestiv ...

among others, with the lyrics depicting someone being lonely here during

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

time. Brunnsparken is also mentioned in the song ''Alla vägar bär till götet''. The

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

band Motvinds's song ''Göteborg'' (1977) mentions "''fyllona i Brunnsparken''". Kai Martin and Stick! have made a song called "Johanna i Brunnsparken".

References

Sources

* ''Göteborgsbilder 1850–1950'', Harald Lignell (ed.), Bokförlaget Nordisk Litteratur, Ludw. Simonson Boktryckeri, Gothenburg 1952, p. 204. * ''Göteborg'', Richard Holmström/Stig Roth 1960, p. 59. * ''Göteborg berättar'', Bengt A. Öhnander 1988, pp. 19–21. * ''Göteborgs Gatunamn 1621–2000'', Greta Baum 2001, p. 60 + p. 151.