Kolmätargränd is a small
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 ...
in
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 in central
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 ...
. Passing under a low vault it connects the street
Västerlånggatan
Västerlånggatan ("the Western Long Street") is a street in Gamla Stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching southward between the squares Mynttorget and Järntorget, it follows the course of the city's now demolished 13th-century defen ...
to the square and courtyard
Brantingtorget forming a parallel street to
Klockgjutargränd and
Stenbastugränd.
Mentioned as ''Kholmetare Grenden'' in 1646 and ''Kåålmäterenss grändh'' in 1652, the alley is named after the assessor and magistrate ''Hans Kohlmeter'' (1626–1686), who according to a source dated 1661 had his house built over the alley. While this name seems to have been established around 1700, the commonly used name for the alley during the 17th century was ''Johan Sekreterares Gränd'' (''Johannis secretereres grend'', "Alley of Secretary John"), and a century earlier ''Herman Ruggens gränd'' (1584).
History
The present alley is one of the shortest in the old town and it has reached an all but legendary status among a large number of Swedes through the still popular troubadour
Carl Michael Bellman
Carl Michael Bellman (; 4 February 1740 – 11 February 1795) was a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, poet, and entertainer. He is a central figure in the Swedish song tradition and remains a powerful influence in Swedish music, as wel ...
(1740–1795) and his 34th
epistle
An epistle (; ) is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as part of the scribal-school writing curriculum. The ...
named ''Till Movitz, när elden var lös i hans kvarter uti Kolmätargränden'' ("To
Movitz, when fire ravaged his block in Kolmätargränden").
The eleven verses of the song details how a fire among the brothels in the alley and the succeeding hullabaloo, embarrassingly unveils the presence of the otherwise distinguished customers, symbols for various prominent ranks left behind in the gutters, and, in the end, how Movitz escapes the scene, likened to
Aeneas
In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas ( , ; from ) was a Troy, Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus (mythology), Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy ...
leaving the burning
Troy
Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...
, overburdened with all his musical instruments:
Furthermore, the extent of the alley was considerably tail-docked during WW2, when the planned enlargement of
Kanslihuset (The "Chancellery House") caused the old blocks in the neighbourhood to be levelled to the ground, the so-called "Battle of Kolmätargränd" led by
Vera Siöcrona ending in the current compromise, the circular courtyard (
Brantingtorget) of the Chancellery annex (''
Kanslihusannexet'') surrounded by the still intact remaining buildings.
See also
*
List of streets and squares in Gamla stan
References
External links
*
Streets in Stockholm
{{Stockholm-road-stub