Mosebacke Torg: A Rent in the Urban Fabric Becomes an Early Pocket Park

Looking through a series of historic maps from the 1600s to the mid 1800’s, one can see that there has always been a slight fissure or opening in the dense urban fabric of Katarina Parish at Mosebacke Square (torg = square).  

Maps from 1731, 1818 and 1805 show a small disruption in the urban fabric at Mosebacke.  The full-fledged square is visible on the map from 1861. *

The oddly shaped space resulted from the junction of two street systems: the right-angled grid following the Götgatan (map 1) artery leading from Gamla Stan (map 2) and the terraced streets following the cliff face along Södermalm’s edge at the Stadsgården harbor.    

Apparently the city already had plans to make this fissure into an official square when a large part of the parish burned down in 1857.  The fire made space for a much larger square than the original left-over wedge—now an entire city block is left unbuilt for this neighborhood oasis.  The square was planted with trees in a symmetrical arrangement and was from the beginning meant to be a green haven.  

Plan of the square drawn in 1897 **

The building stock directly around Mosebacke Square was for the most part built after the Katarina Fire cleared away the smaller-scaled, more rural landscape, but just a block away, a number of buildings from the 1700’s survived.

Buildings from the 1700's and 1800's

The neighborhood’s mostly poor residents certainly had use of a central green space, but I surmise that the city’s original motivation for creating a small park here had more to do with the large theater, Södra Teatern (map 4), which was built the same year that the square was first planned.  The original theater was damaged in the fire, but it was rebuilt by architect Johan Fredrik Åbom in 1859. 

Södra Teatern

Södra Teatern wasn’t just a theater but was an entertainment center with a main and several smaller stages, five bars including a champagne bar, a restaurant, a bowling alley, and in the summer, a very popular terrace with live music, dancing, and a bar.  The theater was frequented by a much more cultured and elite set than the local neighborhood residents who had a tough time affording enough to eat, much less theater tickets.  

Mosebacke Terrace and view

Mosebacke Torg wasn’t Stockholm’s first public green space—Strömparterren opened in 1832 and Berzelli Park was planted in 1852, but even so, Mosebacke was one of Stockholm’s earliest parks or planted squares.  If one accepts my conjecture that Mosebacke was planned in conjunction with the new theater, then all three of Stockholm’s earliest public parks were designed concurrently with the establishment of Stockholm’s  nightlife.  Strömparterren featured a café and music pavilion; Berzelli featured Bern’s Salon with its bar, café, and music pavilion; and Mosebacke featured the theater, bars, restaurant, bowling alley, and summer dance terrace.  These green spaces were built with public funding from the city, but they were made successful and popular due to the private entertainments associated with them.  I have no proof of their influence but I can’t help but wonder if the entertainment men also sat on the park planning committees or perhaps contributed funds in some legal or illegal way.

Four local streets circulate around the square, but a fifth street, Fiskargatan (Fisherman’s Street), dead-ends into the square with a terraced staircase (map 5).  The square itself has only a mild slope, but this staircase is evidence of the area’s extreme topography.  

The terraced stair leading down from Fiskargatan to Mosebacke Torg

At the top of the staircase looms a National Romantic water tower designed in 1895 by architect Ferdinand Broberg.

In 1945, the square’s landscape design was renewed.  The trees were kept  but a large section of square was covered in small paving stones.  

New plan for the square drawn u in 1941 **

Sculptures, a small splash pool, benches, and an artistic railing were installed.  The square remains much as it was in 1945, complete with the original telephone booth.

Like nearby Mariatorget, Mosebacke is an interesting blend between a square and a park.  It is too green and lush to be a city square in the traditional sense, but it is too small for leisurely summer picnics and kite flying.  It just might be a forerunner to today’s “pocket park.” Mosebacke Square provides just enough open space and just enough greenery to make the densely built-up neighborhood more livable and less claustrophobic.  

Sources
Bengt Edlund, Vårt gröna Stockholm Parker, parklekar, promenader och konst (2018).
Bertil Asker, Stockholms parker innerstaden (1986).

Images

All images are my own except for
*  Nils-Erik Landell, Stockholmskartor (2000).

** Bertil Asker, Stockholms parker innerstaden (1986).

P.S. My winter photos don't do the square justice--Mosebacke Torg really is a lovely and well-used space in the summer!