Stockholm During The Early Vasa Era - Population

Population

Around 1560-80, most of the citizens, some 8.000 people, still lived on Stadsholmen. This central island was at this time densely settled and the city was now expanding on the surrounding ridges. Wooden buildings were prohibited on the island, but as this regulation was announced at countless occasions it was apparently often ignored. By the early 1580s two third of the 731 residential buildings on the island were built in stone, and of these about four fifth were small one-family residences − narrow buildings two or three stories tall. There were no private palaces at this time and the only larger buildings were the castle, the church, and the former Greyfriars monastery on Riddarholmen. This urbanity could hardly have made a lasting impression on any visitor, but the structures on the surrounding ridges failed to meet even these standards as Gustav Vasa, who, for defensive purposes, required any structures outside the city to be easily burnt down, had made sure the ridges couldn't even present a single timber framed building. So instead, the ridges were primarily used for activities that either required a lot of space, produced odours, or could cause fire. Even though some burgher had secondary residences outside the city, the population living on the ridges, perhaps a quarter of the city's population, were mostly poor, including the royal personnel occupying the northern ridges.

The city island no longer offered enough space, and in 1529 Södermalm and Norrmalm were incorporated into the city.