Stockholm.

Title

Stockholm.

Description

View of the city of Stockholm.

ca. 1820

Artist

Schwabe (1714-1784)

An edited by Johann Joachim Schwabe (1714-1784), the most extensive and important German-language collection of travel descriptions of the 18th century, published by Arkstee and Merkus in Leipzig in 21 volumes from 1747 to 1774. The collection was based on the English New general collection of voyages and travels (4 volumes, 1745-1747) and the French Histoire générale des voyages (20 volumes, 1746-1791), but complemented the works selected by the English and French editors Thomas Astley and Antoine-François Prévost and translated more faithfully than the French edition. Abbé Prevost had worked on it from 1746 to 1759 (volume 15). Immanuel Kant drew some ethnological knowledge from it. Johann Joachim Schwabe (1714 -1784) was a German scholar, librarian, philosopher and translator. Schwabe taught in Leipzig and was a member of the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences. An enthusiastic pupil of Johann Christoph Gottsched, he translated Jonathan Swift to German conditions on Gottsched's advice (1734). He edited the Belustigungen des Verstandes und des Witzes, one of the important critical and fine arts journals of the Enlightenment, which appeared from 1741 to 1745. He published the second edition of Benjamin Hederich's book Gründliches mythologisches Lexicon in 1770. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Schiller and Heinrich von Kleist still drew their mythological knowledge from it, and individual articles were included in Zedler's Universal-Lexicon (1732-1754).

Historical Description

Stockholm is the capital of Sweden and the most populous city in the Nordic countries. The city stretches across fourteen islands where Lake Mälaren flows into the Baltic Sea. Just outside the city and along the coast is the island chain of the Stockholm archipelago. The area has been settled since the Stone Age, in the 6th millennium BC, and was founded as a city in 1252 by Swedish statesman Birger Jarl. It is also the capital of Stockholm County. Stockholm's location appears in Norse sagas as Agnafit, and in Heimskringla in connection with the legendary king Agne. The earliest written mention of the name Stockholm dates from 1252, by which time the mines in Bergslagen made it an important site in the iron trade. The first part of the name (stock) means log in Swedish, although it may also be connected to an old German word (Stock) meaning fortification. The second part of the name (holm) means islet, and is thought to refer to the islet Helgeandsholmen in central Stockholm. According to Eric Chronicles the city is said to have been founded by Birger Jarl to protect Sweden from sea invasions made by Karelians after the pillage of Sigtuna on Lake Mälaren in 1187. The strategic and economic importance of the city made Stockholm an important factor in relations between the Danish Kings of the Kalmar Union and the national independence movement in the 15th century. The 17th century saw Sweden grow into a major European power, reflected in the development of the city of Stockholm. After the end of the Great Northern War the city stagnated. Population growth halted and economic growth slowed. The city was in shock after having lost its place as the capital of a Great power. However Stockholm maintained its role as the political centre of Sweden and continued to develop culturally under Gustav III.By the second half of the 19th century, Stockholm had regained its leading economic role. New industries emerged and Stockholm was transformed into an important trade and service centre as well as a key gateway point within Sweden. After the Ice Age, at around 8,000 BC, there had already been vast migrations towards the present-day Stockholm area, but as temperatures dropped, inhabitants moved away towards the South. Thousands of years later, as the ground thawed, the climate became tolerable, and the lands became fertile, some life moved back to the North. At the intersection of the Baltic Sea and lake Mälaren is an archipelago site where the Old Town of Stockholm was first occupied in about 1000 AD by Vikings. Vikings had a positive trade impact on the land because of the trade routes they created.