Prehistory and Origin of Stockholm - Emergence

Emergence

The first town in the Lake Mälaren region undoubtedly was Birka on Björkö island about 20 km west of present-day Stockholm. Founded in the late 8th century, it was described by Rimbert, Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen, who wrote about his predecessor Ansgar's missionary journeys c. 830 and 850. For unknown reasons, Birka was deserted around 975. Shortly thereafter, Sigtuna appeared on the northern shores of Mälaren. Located on the main navigable approach to Uppsala, Sigtuna is believed to have been designed as missionary outpost and a Christian trade centre rivalling the still pagan Uppsala. While Sigtuna saw its heyday during the 10th century, the Blackfriars decided to construct their first monastery in Sweden at Sigtuna in the 1230s (inaugurated 1247), which seem to indicate Sigtuna was still the city dominating the Mälaren region at that time.

Notwithstanding surviving records makes it difficult to see exactly when and in what order events took place, several causes for the development to occur in the 13th century can be distinguished:

Of the half dozen trade posts in Sweden described in 1120 as cathedral cities, or cities with a potential to become such, Sigtuna is believed to be the only one with the density and status of a city in the proper sense. This quickly changed as German merchants introduced developed forms of production and 'industrialised' Swedish mining, mostly during the second half of the 13th century. This rewrote the regional map and resulted in the gradual development of a Swedish urbanity. As trade routes moved westward in the Mälaren region, Sigtuna found itself left astern.

Birger jarl's elimination of the "true Folkungs" between 1247 (Battle of Sparrsätra) and 1251 (Battle of Herrevadsbro) lead to increased consolidation of the Swedish kingdom and the introduction of a continental feudal society. Additionally, the Swedish dominion expanded east as Birger jarl and Torgils Knutsson conquered Tavastland and Karelia (later Finland) which placed present-day Stockholm, until then an insignificant peripheral island, in the absolute centre of the small empire.

Lastly, navigation on Lake Mälaren changed dramatically as land elevation isolated it from the Baltic Sea during the 13th century and made the strait in what is today central Stockholm the only navigable passage into the Lake Mälaren region. It remains uncertain when this happened more precisely, but the development was further accelerated by the growth of international trade in the Baltic. The streams around Stadsholmen can't have been much of a problem for Viking longships or traditional knarrs, but as German merchants introduced the sea-going deep-draught cogs, the straits and streams at the mouth of Lake Mälaren became insurmountable obstacles which thus created a need for a trade post at the location.

While the oldest traces of human activities in present Stockholm are considerably older, the development as described above preceded the foundation of the city on its present location. However, Birka, Sigtuna, and Stockholm forms a series of urban structures which can be thought of as the capital of the Lake Mälaren region, at a few occasions relocated to fit into the socio-economic structure of the day.