Riddarholmsbron (Swedish

Swedish language

Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...

: "The Knights Islet bridge") is a bridge

Bridge

A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...

 in Gamla stan

Gamla stan

Gamla stan , until 1980 officially Staden mellan broarna , is the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Gamla stan consists primarily of the island Stadsholmen. The surrounding islets Riddarholmen, Helgeandsholmen, and Strömsborg are officially part of, but not colloquially included in, Gamla stan...

, the old town in central Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, leading from the square Riddarhustorget

Riddarhustorget

Riddarhustorget is, arguably, a public square in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden, named after its location in front of House of Knights ....

 on Stadsholmen

Stadsholmen

Stadsholmen is the historical name of an island in the centre of Stockholm, Sweden. Together with the small islands Riddarholmen and Helgeandsholmen it forms the Old town of Stockholm....

 to the smaller neighbouring island Riddarholmen

Riddarholmen

Riddarholmen is a small islet in central Stockholm, Sweden. The island forms part of Gamla Stan, the old town, and houses a number of private palaces dating from the 17th century...

.

Wooden bridges

When the first bridge to connect Riddarholmen to Stadsholmen, a simple wooden bridge leading from Gråmunketornet ("The Greyfriars Tower"), was built, Riddarholmen was still called Gråmunkeholmen ("The Greyfriars islet"), both names referring to the franciscan

Franciscan

Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....

 abbey

Abbey

An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...

 on the island, and the bridge was accordingly called Munkbron

Munkbron

Munkbron is a public square on the western waterfront of Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Connected to the square are Stora Gråmunkegränd, Gåsgränd, Lilla Nygatan, Yxsmedsgränd, and Munkbrogatan; while the traffic route Munkbroleden separates it from the canal...

 ("The Friars Bridge"). Once the name of islet had been changed, Munkbron was instead referring to the quay then facing Riddarholmen.

In 1630 the Councillor

Privy Council of Sweden

The High Council of Sweden or Council of the Realm consisted originally of those men of noble, common and clergical background, that the king saw fit for advisory service...

 Åke Tott

Åke Henriksson Tott

Åke Henriksson Tott was a Swedish soldier and politician. He was born in Lohja to Princess Sigrid of Sweden. He was appointed Privy Councilor in 1630, and Field Marshal in 1631. In the Thirty Years' War , he commanded troops at the Battle of Grubin, in 1627 and the Battle of Breitenfeld, in 1631...

 (1598–1640) was granted permission to build a drawbridge

Drawbridge

A drawbridge is a type of movable bridge typically associated with the entrance of a castle surrounded by a moat. The term is often used to describe all different types of movable bridges, like bascule bridges and lift bridges.-Castle drawbridges:...

 over to his estate on Riddarholmen from the north-western corner of the House of Knights, a construction that would survive himself with only 15 years.

Following the fire of the Royal Palace

Stockholm Palace

The Stockholm Palace is the official residence and major royal palace of the Swedish monarch. . Stockholm Palace is located on Stadsholmen , in Gamla Stan in the capital, Stockholm...

 in 1697, the members of the Royal Family

Swedish Royal Family

The Swedish Royal Family since 1818 consists of a number of persons in the Swedish Royal House of Bernadotte, closely related to the King of Sweden. They are entitled to royal titles and style , and some perform official engagements and ceremonial duties of state...

 were accommodated in the Wrangel Palace

Wrangel Palace

Wrangel Palace is a townhouse in Stockholm, Sweden. Since 1756 the palace has housed Svea Hovrätt, the regional court of appeal. It was the residence of the royal court during the first half of the 18th-century....

 on Riddarholmen, which therefore needed some face-lifting. Both bridges leading to the island were subsequently widened, the southernmost in 1738 and the northern in 1751.

Stone bridge

These wooden bridges were both replaced by a more impressive stone arch bridge

Arch bridge

An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side...

 designed by the architect Erik Palmstedt

Erik Palmstedt

Erik Palmstedt was an outstanding Swedish architect working for the court circle of Gustav III, where he was in the forefront of Neoclassical style and at the heart of a social and intellectual circle that formed round him...

 in 1784 and given his name (Palmstedtska bron) upon its inauguration in 1789. The bridge was furnished with a memorial slate carrying an inscription in Latin:

When Gustav III

Gustav III of Sweden

Gustav III was King of Sweden from 1771 until his death. He was the eldest son of King Adolph Frederick and Queen Louise Ulrica of Sweden, she a sister of Frederick the Great of Prussia....

, the best among kings, in good health returned from Italy to the fatherland, this bridge in stone was built as a memorial over Sweden's restored felicity and general delight by the burghers of Stockholm on August 3, 1784.

The stone bridge was, however, demolished in 1867 to give room to the junction track of the new rail road, but in 1958 intentions was to reuse the slate on the present bridge, plans accomplished 22 years later. The architect Ragnar Östberg

Ragnar Östberg

Ragnar Östberg was a Swedish architect who is most famous for designing Stockholm City Hall. He is the most famous architect within the so-called "national romanticist" movement in Sweden...

 (1866–1945) found use for the bridge's vault for what is today called Palmstedts grotta ("Cave of Palmstedt") in the gardens of the Stockholm City Hall

Stockholm City Hall

Stockholm City Hall is the building of the Municipal Council for the City of Stockholm in Sweden. It stands on the eastern tip of Kungsholmen island, next to Riddarfjärden's northern shore and facing the islands of Riddarholmen and Södermalm. It houses offices and conference rooms as well as...

.

Cast iron bridge

Due to the clear height demanded by the locomotives, the four spans of the new cast iron

Cast iron

Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...

 bridge built in 1867 had to be made both steeper and longer than those of its predecessors.

Concrete bridge

The increasing post-war traffic in Stockholm coupled with the introduction of the metro system

Stockholm Metro

The Stockholm Metro is a metro system in Stockholm, Sweden. The first line opened in 1950, and today the system has 100 stations in use, of which 47 are underground and 53 above ground. There are seven lines numbered from 10 to 19, in three groups identified by a color: the Green, Red and Blue lines...

 in the 1950s, resulted the demolition of the cast iron bridge followed by six years of provisional bridges succeeding each other. In 1958 the present 13,4 metres wide closed frame concrete

Concrete

Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...

 bridge crossing Centralbron

Centralbron

Centralbron is one of the major traffic routes in central Stockholm, Sweden, connecting the northern district Norrmalm to the southern Södermalm....

, one of the major motorways in Stockholm, over two intermediate supports was finally built.

External links

• Stockholmskällan - historical images of Riddarholmsbron.