Stora Nygatan - History

History

The street was created as part of a new town plan following the great fire of 1625, and thus probably dates back to about 1630. An official attempt to name the street Konungsgatan ("The Kings Street"), a name known from 1637, obviously failed. The southern part of the street dates back from before the fire.

On number two is the Bergstrahl House, originally built in the 1640s by Erik Ryning, member of the regency of Queen Christina, and designed by Simon de la Vallée. In the 18th century it was owned by Secretary Gottfried Sack who ran a tavern and a brothel there, frequently visited by the troubadour Carl Michael Bellman, the authors and poets Karl Israel Hallman, and Olof Kexél. When Sack died in 1774, Hallman delivered an oration to the memory of him, which became the starting point for the order Par Bricole, a society still devoted to cultivating and preserving the Swedish cultural heritage, especially if from the 18th century. The building was thereafter the location for newspapers and social clubs associated with the dawning Swedish democracy. Lately the address is used by state-level institutions such as the Supreme Court.