Samfundet S:t Erik is a Swedish

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....

 non-profit organisation with the stated mission to promote knowledge of the history of Stockholm

History of Stockholm

The history of Stockholm, capital of Sweden, for many centuries coincided with the development of what is today known as Gamla stan, the Stockholm Old Town...

 and support the preservation and development of the city's culture and aesthetics. Named after St. Eric

Eric IX of Sweden

Eric "IX" of Sweden, , also called Eric the Lawgiver, Erik the Saint, Eric the Holy and in Sweden Sankt Erik meaning Saint Eric was a Swedish king c.1155 – 1160...

, patron saint of 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...

, the headquarters of the association is found on 5, Köpmangatan

Köpmangatan

Köpmangatan is a street in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. A parallel street to Trädgårdsgatan, it is stretching from the central square Stortorget to Köpmantorget, intercepted by Trädgårdstvärgränd, Skeppar Olofs Gränd, Peder Fredags Gränd, Själagårdsgatan, Staffan Sasses Gränd,...

 in Stockholm Old Town

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...

 where a small boutique offers books and merchandise related to the history of the city. The association is a friend organisation of the Stockholm City Museum

Stockholm City Museum

The Stockholm City Museum is a museum documenting and exhibiting the history of Stockholm. The museum is housed in Södra Stadshuset at Slussen on Södermalm. The building was completed in 1685...

 and the Museum of Medieval Stockholm

Museum of Medieval Stockholm

The Museum of Medieval Stockholm , centrally located north of the Royal Palace, was constructed around old monuments excavated in an extensive archaeological dig in the late 1970s...

.

Activities

The association offers lectures and debates attended by prominent Stockholm-connoisseurs and it organises visits and excursions to addresses and locations normally unavailable to the general public. Besides regular lobbying, the association supports research and literature related to Stockholm.

Since 1903 it annually publishes St Eriks årsbok ("Yearbook of St. Eric") and since 1993 it has added blue signs to dozens of cultural heritage structures in Stockholm detailing the historical significance of these structures.

The organisation is receiving no state or municipal funding and is dependent of donations.

Award

Since 1963, the association annually gives an award to a person who, in the association's spirit, has performed praiseworthy achievements in science, art, journalism or culture. Previous recipients include among others Municipal commissioner

Municipal Commissioner

Municipal Commissioner is an office and political title in the municipalities of Sweden for councillors with executive responsibilities. The Commissioners are the only full-time employed office-holders outside the municipal civil service...

 (Borgarråd) Yngve Larsson

Yngve Larsson

Gustaf Richard Yngve Larsson was a Swedish Ph. D., Municipal commissioner , Member of Parliament and statesman....

 (1966), architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

 Ivar Tengbom

Ivar Tengbom

Ivar Justus Tengbom was a Swedish architect and one of the best-known representatives of the Swedish neo-classical architecture of the 1910s and 1920s....

 (1967), and writer

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

s Per Anders Fogelström

Per Anders Fogelström

Per Anders Fogelström was among the leading figures in modern Swedish literature. He spent his whole life in Stockholm, and the most famous of his many works is a series of novels set in the city he dearly loved....

 (1969), Stig Claesson

Stig Claesson

John Stig Claesson , also known under his signature Slas, was a Swedish writer, visual artist, and illustrator. Claesson was born on 2 June 1928 in Huddinge, south of Stockholm. He attended the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts between 1947 and 1952, during which time he began to illustrate Swedish...

 (1986), Lars Gyllensten

Lars Gyllensten

Lars Johan Wictor Gyllensten was a Swedish author and physician, and a member of the Swedish Academy, which has the aim of furthering the "purity, vigour and majesty" of the Swedish language and selects the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature each year.Gyllensten was born and grew up in a...

 (1995) and Per Wästberg

Per Wästberg

Per Wästberg is a Swedish writer and a member of the Swedish Academy since 1997.Wästberg was born in Stockholm, son of Erik Wästberg and his wife Greta née Hirsch, and holds a degree in literature from Uppsala University...

 (2001).

History

Itself founded in 1901, the association is the oldest organisation to promote the preservation of historical structures in 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...

. It co-founded the Stockholm Beauty Council

Stockholm Beauty Council

The Stockholm Beauty Council , colloquially the Beauty Council , and officially Council for the Protection of the Beauty of Stockholm is an advisory council of the Stockholm Municipality which inspects city plans and requests for construction permits remitted by various municipal departments...

 (Stockholms skönhetsråd) in 1918 and the Stockholm City Museum

Stockholm City Museum

The Stockholm City Museum is a museum documenting and exhibiting the history of Stockholm. The museum is housed in Södra Stadshuset at Slussen on Södermalm. The building was completed in 1685...

 in 1937.

From 1934 and onwards, the association has restored several properties in the block named Cepheus in Stockholm Old Town. It founded the public housing

Public housing

Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the...

 company AB Stadsholmen ("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....

 Ltd") in 1936, controlled by the city. It bought a property named Vindragarlagets härbärge ("Hostel of the Wine Puller Team") in 1923 — a building featuring a medieval stepped gable — and donated it to the city in 2006. In 1992 it acquired Stuckatörens hus ("House of the Plasterer"), a well-preserved upper class flat from the 1880s on 10, David Bagares Gata, a property donated to the city.