Hötorget

PÅ GUSTAV VASAS TID låg här Nya ladugården dit bönder körde hö och halm till kungens kor och hästar. Kanske hänger namnet Hötorget, känt från 1640-talet, ihop med vanan att lasta av hölassen just här.
År 1663 bestämde regeringen att hästmarknader kulle hållas på Hötorget den förstada gen i varje månad.

Bondtorget och Månglartorget
År 1856 flyttades handelń med hö till Norrmalmstorg och Hötorget blev salutorg, dubbelt så stort som nu. På Bondtorget i norr såldes kött och mjölk, på Månglartorget i söder grönsaker och bröd. Vem som helst fick idka torghandel. Det fanns regler för hur man skulle uppföra sig men någon kontroll av livsmedlen förekom inte. År 1882 byggdes en saluhall vid Månglartorgets södra sida. Då kunde en del av matvaruhandeln ske under tak och med bättre hygien.

Bondkvarter, kreaturshandel och slaktplatser
Vid Holländargatan var det kreaturshandel och slaktplatser. Runt torget fanns inkvarteringsställen »bondkvarter«, källare och krogar. På Konserthusets pläts låg Stora Hälsingegården, där bönder från Norrland kunde få en spilta åt hästen, en bänk att sova på och ett glas efter avslutade affärer. Hälsingehönderna sålde unghästar om höstarna. Folk från samma trakt hade sällskap på resan och höll i hop iStockholm.
Även en del dalfolk höll till vid Hötorget. Där det Första höghuset står fanns en gård där älvdalingar och leksandskarlar bodde oçh skötte vedhantering, en verksamhet som fanns kvar ännu i början av 1950-talet.

PUB
Paul Urbanus Bergström var en ung västgöte som kom till Stockholm 1876. Han fick tjänst hos en lärftkramhandlare vid Hötorget. 22 år gammal öppnade han en egen affär och ett skrädderi. Bergström sålde färdigsydda kläder, vilket var nytt. Han avskaffade prutsystemet och införde fasta priser. År 1889 hade han affärer i alla hörn av torget. År 1925 öppnades Paul U Bergströms moderna varuhus PUB, som 1935 övertogs av Kooperativa förbundet.

Konserthuset
Det blå Konserthuset, ritat av arkitekt Ivar Tengbom och invigt 1926, är Stockholms finaste exempel på nyklassicistisk arkitektur. Carl Milles Orpheusbrunn kom på plats 1936. Konserthusets höga kolonner i grå granit, de väldiga portarna, trappan och brunnen spelar tillsammans en mäktig konsert.

Kungsgatan 44
Huset Kungsgatan 44, ritat av arkitekt Edward Bernhard, stod klart 1935 och är ett fint exempel på den tidiga funktionalismens byggnadsstil. De två avtrappade övre våningarnas skapar fond för ett myller av ljusreklam. De två nedre våningarna är terrasserade och framdragna mot Hötorget och var tänkta att rivas vid en eventuell breddning av Kungsgatan.

Citysanering
Vid citysaneringen på 1950-och 1960-talen revs så gott som all bebyggelse söder om Hötorget. Många kända byggnader försvann liksom de smala, trånga gatorna med omväxlande fasader.
Det nya Hötorgscity invigdes i april 1959 när Första höghuset, ritat av David Helldén, stod klart. De fyra andra höghusen och gågatan färdigställdes under början av 1960-talet.
På terrasser en våning upp från Sergelgatans geometriska mönster fanns trädgårdar, caféer och restauranger. Höghusen liknades vid »fem trumpetstötar« och Stockholm hade fätt ett modernt kommersiellt centrum.

Summary

Hõtorget »Haymarkets« is so called because peasants in the sixteenth century brought hay and straw to the king’s »New Barn« here. In 1663 the government decided that horse markets should beheld in at Hötorget, on the first day of each month.
In 1856 the haymarket was moved and Hõtorget became a general market square, twice as big as it is now. The first market hall was built in 1882 and some of the food sales could be carried on under cover and with better hygiene.
In the blocks around the square there were places for livestock dealing and slaughtering, and accommodation in cellars and inns. Peasants who had come from far away could obtain a box for their horses, a bench for themselves to sleep on, and a drink after closing a deal. People from the same district who came to Stockholm together found it safest to stay together here.
The blue Concert Hall, designed by the architect Ivar Tengbom and opened in 1926, is Stockholm’s finest example of neo-classical architecture. The Orpheus fountain by Carl Milles was put in position in 1936.
In the slum clearance of the 1950s and 1960s, virtually all the buildings to the south of Hötorget were demolished. Many famous buildings disappeared, as did the narrow streets packed with small houses with varied façades.

[Images - from top to bottom]
(1) Månglerskor på Hötorget Foto AXEL MALMSTRÖM

(2) Hötorget 1953. Till vänster har rivningarna för tunnelbanebygget och de fem höghusen vid Sergelgatan påbörjats. Nya Elementarskolan bakom Hötorgshallen är nästan helt riven och snart kommer flera byggnader att gå samma väg, Bildhuggarbostället, huset med rundbågiga fönster snett vänster bakom Hötorgshallen, en gång skulptören Sergels ateljé, Gamla Konstfackskolan, Tekniska skolan till 1945, huset med lanternin på taket och den gamla Hötorgshallen mitt i bilden.
Fotografier i Stockholms stadsmuseum

Emblem of Stockholm Municipality
Tavlan är uppsatt år 2004 av Stockholms gatu- och fastighetskontor i samarbete med Norrmalms stadsdelsforvaltning
www.stockholm.se

One of a series of signs describing streets in the city of Stockholm

The place where the sign is located was photographed on the same day by the same photographer Click for a larger image

The pictures that appear on the sign are shown here enlarged, with the translation of the text below (the pictures are numbered from top to bottom)

(1) Peddler’s shoes on Hötorget - Photo AXEL MALMSTRÖM
Click for a larger image

(2) Hötorget in 1953. On the left, the demolition for the subway construction and the five high-rise buildings at Sergelgatan has begun. The new elementary school behind Hötorgshallen is almost completely demolished and soon several buildings will go the same way, the Sculptor’s residence, the house with round-arched windows diagonally left behind Hötorgshallen, once the sculptor Sergel’s studio, the Old Art School, the Technical School until 1945, the house with the lantern on the roof and the old Hötorgshallen in the middle of the picture.
Photographs in the Stockholm City Museum
Click for a larger image

Translation of the text on the sign:
[Translation of the text in Swedish]

Hötorget (Hay Square)

IN GUSTAV VASA’S TIME, the New barn was located here where farmers drove hay and straw to the king’s cows and horses. Perhaps the name Hötorget, known from the 1640s, is connected with the habit of unloading hay loads right here.
In 1663, the government decided that horse markets should be held on Hötorget on the first day of each month.

Bondtorget and Mänglartorget
In 1856, the hay trade was moved to Norrmalmstorg and Hötorget became Salutorg, twice as large as it is now. On Bondtorget in the north, meat and milk were sold, on Månglartorget in the south, vegetables and bread. Anyone was allowed to trade in the square. There were rules for how to behave, but there was no control of the food. In 1882, a market hall was built on the southern side of Månglartorget. Then part of the food trade could take place under roofs and with better hygiene.

Farm quarters, cattle trade and slaughterhouses
At Holländargatan there were livestock trades and slaughterhouses. Around the square there were accommodation places »farmers quarters«, cellars and taverns. On the site of the Concert Hall was Stora Hälsingegården, where farmers from Norrland could get a trough for their horses, a bench to sleep on and a glass after finishing their business. The Hälsinge dogs sold young horses in the autumn. People from the same area had company on the trip and kept iStockholm together.
Some valley folk also stayed at Hötorget. Where the First high-rise building stands, there was a farm where river valleys and play sand men lived and handled firewood, an activity that still existed in the early 1950s.

[б]PUB[/б]
Paul Urbanus Bergström was a young Västgöte who came to Stockholm in 1876. He got a job with a flea market dealer at Hötorget. At the age of 22, he opened his own shop and a tailoring shop. Bergström sold ready-made clothes, which was new. He abolished the bargaining system and introduced fixed prices. By 1889 he had shops in every corner of the square. In 1925, Paul U Bergström’s modern department store PUB was opened, which in 1935 was taken over by the Cooperative Union.

The concert hall
The Blue Concert Hall, designed by architect Ivar Tengbom and inaugurated in 1926, is Stockholm’s finest example of neoclassical architecture. Carl Mille’s Orpheusbrunn was built in 1936. The concert hall’s tall columns in gray granite, the enormous gates, the stairs and the well together play a mighty concert.

Kungsgatan 44
The house Kungsgatan 44, designed by architect Edward Bernhard, was completed in 1935 and is a fine example of the early functionalism building style. The two staggered upper floors create the foundation for a multitude of illuminated advertising. The two lower floors are terraced and extended towards Hötorget and were intended to be demolished in the event of a possible widening of Kungsgatan.

City Sanitation
During the city renovation in the 1950s and 1960s, almost all buildings south of Hötorget were demolished. Many famous buildings disappeared, as did the narrow, narrow streets with alternating facades.
The new Hötorgscity was inaugurated in April 1959 when the First High-rise, designed by David Helldén, was completed. The four other high-rise buildings and the pedestrian street were completed during the early 1960s.
On terraces one floor up from the geometric pattern of Sergelgatan there were gardens, cafes and restaurants. The high-rises were likened to »five trumpet blasts« and Stockholm had become a modern commercial center.

[images]
(1) Peddler’s shoes on Hötorget Photo AXEL MALMSTRÖM

(2) Hötorget in 1953. On the left, the demolition for the subway construction and the five high-rise buildings at Sergelgatan has begun. The new elementary school behind Hötorgshallen is almost completely demolished and soon several buildings will go the same way, the Sculptor’s residence, the house with round-arched windows diagonally left behind Hötorgshallen, once the sculptor Sergel’s studio, the Old Art School, the Technical School until 1945, the house with the lantern on the roof and the old Hötorgshallen in the middle of the picture.
Photographs in the Stockholm City Museum

The board was put up in 2004 by Stockholm’s street and property office in collaboration with Norrmalm’s stadsdelsforvaltning
www.stockholm.se