Kungsträdgården
Kungsträdgården | |
---|---|
Type | Urban park |
Location | Norrmalm, Stockholm, Sweden |
Owned by | Stockholm Municipality |
Status | Open all year |
Kungsträdgården (Swedish for "King's Garden") is a park in central Stockholm, Sweden. It is colloquially known as Kungsan.
The park's central location and its outdoor cafés makes it one of the most popular hangouts and meeting places in Stockholm. It also hosts open-air concerts and events in summer, while offering an ice rink[1] during winters. There is also a number of cafés, art galleries and restaurants; for example Galleri Doktor Glas, a name taken from the novel Doctor Glas by Hjalmar Söderberg published in 1905.
The park is divided into four distinct spaces (south to north): (1) Square of Charles XII; (2) Molin's Fountain; (3); Square of Charles XIII and (4) "Fountain of Wolodarski" (which does not have an official name). The park is administered and events in it organized by the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce.
Overview
A number of Stockholm landmarks are found around the perimeter of Kungsträdgården:
South of the park is the quay Strömgatan interconnecting the bridges Strömbron and Norrbro, both of which stretches over to the Stockholm Old Town and the Royal Palace.
North of the park is Hamngatan with the department stores PK-huset and Nordiska Kompaniet (NK) facing the park.
On the western side are the Royal Swedish Opera with the Opera Bar, Saint James's church, Ivar Kreuger's Matchstick Palace designed by Ivar Tengbom, and Sverigehuset (home to a tourist information centre) designed by Sven Markelius, 1961–69.[6]
History
Though the royal
However, the demolition of the walls began in the early 19th century, and for the inauguration of the statue of
The following century saw several proposals to have the northern section of the park replaced by various buildings, but during WWII a contract determined the area should remain a park and in 1970 it finally became the property of the city.[8]
In the 1970s, construction of the metro station caused much controversy since the plans called for the old elms to be cut down, which led to violent protests and a tree-hugger campaign on May 12-May 13, 1971 with people chaining themselves to the trees, the so-called Battle of the Elms. Eventually these protests not only saved the trees and caused the station entrances to be located east and west of the park, but they also marked the end of a period when many old buildings in central Stockholm were demolished.[10]
The park had a reputation for rioting youth, prostitution, and drug dealing in the 1980s.
Squares of both Charles
The southern third of the park. called Karl XII:s torg ("Charles XII's Square") is centred on the statue of Charles XII by Johan Peter Molin, inaugurated for the 150th anniversary of the king's death on November 30, 1868. The square, until then forming a section of the levelled park carrying the name of Charles XIII, was subsequently renamed after Charles XII and transformed into more of a park than a square.[12]
The park is centred on the statue of
Now, Stockholmers were widely displeased with Charles XIII and therefore referred to the statue as "a gardener without a garden just as a king without honour" and, as Charles XII is surrounded by four backs from mortars, in Swedish called kruka ("pot") and Charles XIII is flanked by four lions, again popular humour used the opportunity to throw some dirt at the latter by referring to both statues as "a lion among pots and a pot among lions".
On the location for the statue of Charles XII was the palace
In the early 1970s, this was the location for the
Fountain of Molin
The fountain of Johan Peter Molin, originally carved in plaster, was the centrepiece of a Scandinavian art and industry exposition in 1866. While the exposition's main building, stretching 200 metres across the park and crowned by a dome 30 metres wide, was over-crowded with objects, it failed to attract an audience. The fountain was, however, appreciated to the extent a subscription was raised to have it cast in bronze, and was subsequently inaugurated in 1873 on the same location.[16]
The mythological characters inhabiting the fountain are the ocean god
For the inauguration of the fountain,
As one of thirteen objects selected for a project 1999–2006 to decorate prominent buildings and milieus in Stockholm with fiber optics, the fountain was furnished with a score of light sources accentuating the sculptures and cascades of water, toppled by a laterally emitting cable in the upper bowl.[18]
Fountain of Wolodarski
In August 1998, a total number of 63
Wolodarski's renewal of the park has been met with protest focusing on the "Baroque" scale and geometry of his design. Others have been critical about the park being "handed over" to an entrepreneur – for example,[19] the head of the city's garden department was upset nothing much remains of the park, notwithstanding the park was even reshaped into a golf course to suit a Mercedes-Benz campaign.
See also
Notes
- ^ "Skridskobanan". City of Stockholm., Opening hours and some more information.
- ^ Guide, Mårtelius, p 22.
- ^ Guide, Mårtelius, p 23.
- ^ Wisth
- ^ Guide, Mårtelius, p 27.
- ^ Guide, Hultin, p 95.
- ^ The garden is referred to as H:K: M:ttz Trägårdh, Konnungz Trägårdhen, Konungens Tregårdh, and Kongl. Trägårdhen throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. King Charles XI calls it Kongs-Trägordhen during the 1690s.
- ^ a b c Stockholms gatunamn, p 175.
- ^ a b Guide till Stockholms arkitektur, Mårtelius, p 12.
- ^ a b c Wahlgren, pp 20–23.
- ^ "Kungsträdgården rustas upp". Stockholms stadsbyggnadskontor. c. 2004.
- ^ Wrangel, Stockholmiana I–IV, p 171.
- ^ Statens Fastighetsverk
- ^ Stugart, DN, 2005-10-19
- ^ Stockholms gatunamn, p 163.
- ^ Wiberg
- ^ Explore Stockholm
- ^ City of Stockholm, Nattljus
- ^ Hallemar
References
- Mårtelius, Johan (1999). "Norra Innerstaden". Guide till Stockholms arkitektur (in Swedish) (2nd ed.). Stockholm: Arkitektur förlag. ISBN 91-86050-41-9.
- "Stockholmskällan – Kungsträdgården" (in Swedish). Stockholm City Museum. Archived from the original on 2008-01-26. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
- Wisth, Britt (1982). "Jernkontorets bildfris" (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm City Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-09. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
- "Karl XIII:s staty i Kungsträdgården" (in Swedish). Statens fastighetsverk. Archived from the original on 2011-06-12. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
- Wiberg, Jacob (2005). "Stockholm, 1866" (in Swedish). Populär Historia. Archived from the original on 2011-05-20.
- "Molins Fontän" (in Swedish). Explore Stockholm. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
- "Utvalda platser – Nattljusprojektet" (in Swedish). City of Stockholm. Retrieved 2008-01-20. [dead link]
- Wahlgren, Anders (2005). "Kungens köksträdgård blev Stockholms hjärta" (PDF) (in Swedish). Handelskammartidningen. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-11-11. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
- "Norrmalm". Stockholms gatunamn (in Swedish) (2nd ed.). Stockholm: Kommittén för Stockholmsforskning. 1992. ISBN 91-7031-042-4.
- Stugart, Martin (2005-10-19). "Är det rester av slottet Makalös nere i T-Kungsträdgården?" (in Swedish). Dagens Nyheter. Archived from the original on 2007-10-01. Retrieved 2007-02-16.
- Wrangel, Fredrik Ulrik (1912). "Stockholmiana I–IV". Project Runeberg. Retrieved 2007-02-16.
- Dan Hallemar (October 2004). "Kungarna av Kungsan" (in Swedish). Swedish Association of Architects. Archived from the original on 2011-05-24. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
Literature
- ISBN 91-0-046958-0.
External links
Media related to Kungsträdgården at Wikimedia Commons