Bredgränd

Bredgränd ( _sv. Wide Alley) is an alley in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching from Skeppsbron to Österlånggatan, it forms a parallel street to Skeppar Karls Gränd and Kråkgränd.

Origin of the name

The alley appears in historical records as "östan mur i bredha grandena" ("east of the wall in the broad alley") in 1476 and as "Östre Bredgränden" ("East Broad-Alley" in 1570. The alley was called "Tunnbindargränden" from 1612 ("Tunnbindargränd", "The Barrel Binding Alley") until 1711 when street names were regulated and it is named "Bredgränd". It was given the name "Bredgränd" because it actually is wider than neighbouring alleys closest to the waterfront while the vault in the western end makes the name slightly hilarious. It was far from the only historical alley to be called 'wide' however; during 1400-1700, in the old town alone, Ferkens Gränd was called "Breda gränden östantill" ("The Wide Alley on the East"); Funckens Gränd "Breda gränden vid Kornhamn" ("The Wide Alley at Kornhamn"); and Skräddargränd "Breda gränden västantill" ("The Wide Alley on the West"). On Södermalm, Bellmansgatan was also called 'Bredgränd'.cite book
title = Stockholms gatunamn
edition = 2nd ed. | year = 1992
publisher = Kommittén för Stockholmsforskning
location = Stockholm | id = ISBN 91-7031-042-4
pages = 52 | chapter = Innerstaden: Gamla stan] cite web
author = Fredrik Ulrik Wrangel
title = Stockholmiana I-IV
publisher = Project Runeberg
year = 1912
location = Stockholm
url = http://runeberg.org/wrangsto/0081.html
accessdate = 2007-01-25]

History

Archaeological excavations in 1944 unveiled a part of the city wall from the late Middle Ages. This section of the wall was built in stone, two metres at the base, and narrowing off towards the top. Other sections of it was built in brick and occasionally even half-timbered.cite book | language = Swedish
title = Gamla stan med Slottet och Riddarholmen | pages = 113
author = Béatrice Glase, Gösta Glase | chapter = Östra Stadsholmen
edition = 3rd ed. | year = 1988 | id = ISBN 91 7160 823 0
publisher = Bokförlaget Trevi | location = Stockholm]

References

See also

* List of streets and squares in Gamla stan

External links

* [http://www.hitta.se/SearchCombi.aspx?__VIEWSTATE=%2FwEPDwUKMTg4NDI3NTMzNWRk&UCSB%3AWflWhite=1a1b&UCSB%3AWflPink=4a&SearchType=4&UCSB%3ABBX1=&UCSB%3ABBY1=&UCSB%3ABBX2=&UCSB%3ABBY2=&UCSB%3ATextBoxWho=&UCSB%3ATextBoxWhere=Bredgr%E4nd+Stockholm&UCSB%3AButtonSearch=%A0%A0hitta%21%A0%A0&CombiDetails%3AMapControl%3Acx=1629188&CombiDetails%3AMapControl%3Acy=6580526&CombiDetails%3AMapControl%3ApointsHidden=&CombiDetails%3AMapControl%3Az=3 hitta.se - Location map and virtual walk]
* [http://www.stockholmskallan.se/index.php?sokning=1&action=sok&fritext=Bredgr%E4nd Stockholmskällan - historical photos]