Själagårdsgatan (
Swedish: "The
Charitable Institution
A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good).
The legal definition of a cha ...
Street") is a street 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 ...
. Stretching south from
Köpmangatan to
Tyska Brunnsplan, it forms a parallel street to
Baggensgatan. It crosses the small triangular square
Brända Tomten and is intercepted by
Kindstugatan,
Tyska Skolgränd, and
Svartmangatan.
History
The street, appearing as ''Siela gardz gatan'' in 1487, ''Sielegatenn'' in 1593, ''Siähl gårdz gatan'' in 1688, and ''Siärgårds Gatan'' 1718, is named after a charitable institution (''Själagård'', "Soul Building/Homestead") built on number 13 in the early 1420s. The institution was founded by a Christian
Charitable trust as a home for old and sick, financed by donations (''själagåvor'', "gifts of the soul"). This sort of Christian institution disappeared after the
Reformation
The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...
during the second half of the 16th century.
The building in question was later used as the royal printing house were printing pioneer Jürgen Richolff the Younger produced the 1526 Swedish translation of the
New Testament
The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
.
The building was then used as a junior secondary school (''trivialskola'', "commoners' school") until the 19th century.
As the Swedish word ''Själagård'' declined in use, the street name was gradually interpreted as ''Skärgårdsgatan'' ("The Archipelago Street"), which was its official name during the 18th and 19th centuries and still used by older people until the 1960s. The street was officially renamed in 1925.
The film ''
Den vita katten'' directed by
Hasse Ekman in 1950 was shot at this location.
See also
*
List of streets and squares in Gamla stan
References
External links
hitta.se - Location map and virtual walk
Streets in Stockholm
{{Stockholm-road-stub