Kåkbrinken is a

street A street is a public thoroughfare in a city, town or village, typically lined with Building, buildings on one or both sides. Streets often include pavements (sidewalks), pedestrian crossings, and sometimes amenities like Street light, streetligh ...

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 ...

. Stretching from the western waterfront

Munkbroleden Munkbroleden ( Swedish: "Monk's Bridge Route") is a busy street passing along the western waterfront of Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching north from Slussen to Riddarhustorget, Munkbroleden passes by three squares ...

, to the central square

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 ...

, it forms a parallel street to

Yxsmedsgränd Yxsmedsgränd is an alley in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching south from Västerlånggatan to Stora Nygatan, it forms a parallel street to Didrik Ficks Gränd and Kåkbrinken and is crossed by Lilla Nygatan an ...

Solgränd Solgränd (Swedish language, Swedish: "Sun Alley") is an alley in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. It connects the Stortorget square to the street Prästgatan. It is a parallel street to Storkyrkobrinken, Ankargränd, Spektens grän ...

, and

Bedoirsgränd Bedoirsgränd is an alley in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching from Västerlånggatan to Stora Nygatan, it forms a parallel street to Kåkbrinken and Skräddargränd. History The alley is named after the merchant Jean B ...

, while being crossed by

Munkbrogatan Munkbrogatan is a street in the western part of Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching south between Munkbron and Mälartorget squares, it forms a parallel street to Munkbroleden and Lilla Nygatan, crossed by Yxsmedsgr ...

Lilla Nygatan Lilla Nygatan () is a street in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching from the square Munkbron south to Kornhamnstorg, the street in intercepted by Yxsmedsgränd, Kåkbrinken, Schönfeldts Gränd, Tyska Brinken, and Le ...

Stora Nygatan Stora Nygatan is a street in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. The troubadour Carl Michael Bellman lived at number 1 in 1785-1787 and at number 20 (still present) in 1787–88. Description *Old names: ''nyegatun'' (1636), ' ...

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 ...

, and

Prästgatan Prästgatan ( Swedish: "The Priest's Street") is a street in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden, stretching from a cul-de-sac west of the Royal Palace to the street Österlånggatan in the southern corner of the old town. Präs ...

Origin of the name

First mentioned in 1477, and in more detail in 1496, the street is initially called ''Kakbringkin.'' This derives from the

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 ...

word ''kak'' which is the equivalent of the

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 ...

''kåk'', meaning "ramshackle house" or "prison", but at the time it referred to a

pillory The pillory is a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, used during the medieval and renaissance periods for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse. ...

placed on Stortorget. The pillory is first mentioned in connection with the so-called "

Käpplinge murders Käpplinge murders () was the name of a massacre conducted on ''Käpplingeholmen'' (now Blasieholmen) in Stockholm in June 1389, when 70 men were placed in a barn house and burned alive. The massacre was performed by the hättebröder as a part of t ...

" (''Käpplingemorden''). This was an incident in 1389 when a group of German burghers imprisoned about 70 prominent citizens in a hovel on

Blasieholmen Blasieholmen is a peninsula in central Stockholm, Sweden. It is located east of Kungsträdgården. Originally a small island, named Käpplingen, it became a peninsula, connected to Norrmalm, during the 17th century. Among the buildings at Blasi ...

(at the time called Käpplinge) and burned them alive. The Germans are said to have been led from the

Royal Palace This is a list of royal palaces, sorted by continent. Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania {, class="wikitable" width="95%" , - bgcolor="white" !align=center, Residence !align=center, Photo !align=center, City !align=cen ...

to the pillory. A copper statue of a man holding a

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

in his right hand, placed on top of the pillory in 1602, was replaced in 1647 by a new one in bronze which is still preserved in the

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

. The pillory was moved to

Norrmalmstorg Norrmalmstorg () is a town square in central Stockholm, Sweden. It connects shopping streets Hamngatan and Biblioteksgatan and is the starting point for tram travellers with the Djurgården line. Close to the southwest is the park Kungsträdg ...

in 1776, and from there to Eriksbergsplan in 1810. On a map dated 1733, the upper part of the street, between Stortorget and Västerlånggatan, is called Kåkbrinken, while the lower part is given several names: ''Kocks gränd'' (referring to the burgher Ragvald Kock); ''Jokum bagares'', ''Bagare gränd'', ''Schultens gränd'', and ''Nedre Schult gränd'' (referring to the baker Joachim Schult); ''Söte Gudmunds gränd'' ''Söte gummans gränd'' ("Alley of the Sweet Old Woman", Gudmund is also a proper name), ''Lasse Månssons gränd'', ''Björn Perssons gränd'', ''Mäster Eriks gränd'' (referring to men with those names), and ''Påfvel murmästares gränd'' ("Alley of Masonry master Paul"). Before the names of the streets of Gamla stan were fixed in 1885, the name 'Kåkbrinken' was used for various parts of its present extension.

The runestone

In the corner of Prästgatan and Kåkbrinken is a

runestone A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic alphabet, runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition of erecting runestones as a memorial to dead men began in the 4th centur ...

set into the wall, which carries the inscription "Torsten and Frögunn had the stone erected after their son". The stone was probably brought to Stockholm to be used as building material, but it is not known from where. As the female name Frögunn is known as a pagan name, the stone is believed to date from around AD 1000, the stone thus being about 200 years older than the city. A laser range scanner analysis conducted in 2002, showed variations in stroke patterns in the grooves of the stone, and that the stone was probably carved by a master carver and an apprentice. It is one of three runestones found in the old town: A second, U 274, originally located in a wall by the southern city gate near Slussen, is today kept in the

Museum of Medieval Stockholm The Museum of Medieval Stockholm (), centrally located north of the Stockholm Palace, Royal Palace, was constructed around old monuments excavated in an extensive archaeology, archaeological dig (dubbed ''Riksgropen'', "National/State Pit") in th ...

. It contains the words "Karl and Adisla had

his stone His or HIS may refer to: Computing * Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company * Honeywell Information Systems * Hybrid intelligent system * Microsoft Host Integration Server Education * Hangzhou International School, i ...

erected fterArnsil,

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

father" and is similar in style to stones found in

Södermanland Södermanland ( ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latinisation of names, Latinized form Sudermannia or Sudermania, is a Provinces of Sweden, historical province (or ) on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Österg� ...

, south of Stockholm. The third runestone, U 54, is now lost but was once located in a stairway in the church

Riddarholmskyrkan Riddarholmen Church () is the Church (building), church of the former medieval Greyfriars Monastery, Stockholm, Greyfriars Monastery in Stockholm, Sweden. The church serves as the final resting place of most Monarchs of Sweden, Swedish monarchs. ...

References

External links

hitta.se - location map

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kakbrinken Streets in Stockholm

Origin of the name

The runestone

See also

References

External links