Page:EB1911 - Volume 25.djvu/960

 is the national museum (1866), a Renaissance building, containing historical, numismatic and art-industrial collections, with ancient and modern sculptures, picture-gallery and engravings. The numismatic collection is notable for its series of Anglo-Saxon coins. About 11,000 pieces came from the island of Gotland, some dating from 901-924, but the majority are later. In front of the museum is a bronze cast of the famous group of J. P. Molin (1859), the Bältespännare (belt-bucklers), representing an early form of duel in Scandinavia, in which the combatants were bound together by their belts. On Skeppsholm are naval and military depots, and on Kastellholm a small citadel. East of Skeppsholm an inlet, Ladugårdslandsviken, so named from the proximity of the former royal farm-yard (ladugård), and bordered on the mainland by a quay with handsome houses called Strandvägen, throws off a narrow branch (Djurgårdsbrunnsviken) and separates from the mainland an island about 2 m. in length by ¾ m. broad. This is mainly occupied by Djurgården (the deer-park), a beautiful park containing the buildings of the northern museum, a collection of Scandinavian costumes and domestic and agricultural utensils, and a biological museum housed in a wooden building imitating the early Norwegian timber churches (stavekirke). Here also is Skansen, an ingenious reproduction in miniature of the salient physical features of Sweden with its flora, fauna, and characteristic dwellings inhabited by peasants in the picturesque costumes of the various districts. Both the northern museum and Skansen were founded by Dr Arthur Hazelius (1853-1901). There is a bust of the poet K. M. Bellman, whose festival is held on the 26th of July. Södermalm, the southern quarter, is principally residential. Rocky heights rise to 120 ft. above the water, and two steam lifts, Katarina-Hissen and Maria-Hissen, surmount them.

Environs.—The beautiful environment of sea and lake is fully appreciated by the inhabitants. To the north of the city, accessible by rail and water, are the residential suburbs of Haga and Ulriksdal, with royal chateaux, and Djursholm. Saltsjöbaden. 9 m. east of Stockholm, on Baggensfjörd, is the nearest and most favoured seaside resort, but Dalarö (20 m. south-east) and Nynäshamn (39 m. south) are much frequented. Vaxholm, 12 m. north-east by water, is a pleasant fishing-village where numerous villas have been built. A fortification on one of the islands here was erected by Gustavus Vasa, but has been modernized and is maintained.

Government.—Stockholm is the centre of government and the usual residence of the king; in summer he generally occupies one of the neighbouring country palaces. The city is the seat of the high court of justice (Högsta Domstolen) and of the court of appeal for the northern and midland districts (Svea Hofrätt). It is one of the two Swedish naval stations (Karlskrona being the principal one), and the headquarters of the fourth and fifth army divisions. As regards local government, Stockholm is a län (administrative district) in itself, distinct from the rural län of the same name, under a high governor (öfverstäthållare) and deputy, with departments for secretarial work, taxation and police. The city is in the diocese of Upsala, but has a separate consistory, composed of the rectors of the city parishes, the president of which is the rector of St Nicholas (Storkyrka).

Population.—The population of Stockholm in 1900 was 300,624. In 1751 it was 61,040; in 1850, 93,070; and in 1880, 176,875.

History.—Before the rise of Stockholm, Björkö, Sigtuna and Upsala were places of great importance. Björkö (“the isle of bitches”), by foreign authors called Birka, was a kind of capital where the king lived occasionally at least; history speaks of its relations with Dorestad in the Netherlands, and the extensive refuse heaps of the old city, as well as the numerous sepulchral monuments, show that the population must have been large. But though situated at a central point on Lake Mälar, it was destroyed, apparently before the beginning of the 11th century (exactly when or by whom is uncertain); and it never recovered. Sigtuna, lying on the shore of a far-reaching northern arm of Lake Mälar, also a royal residence and the seat of the first mint in Sweden, where English workmen were employed by King Olaf at the beginning of the 11th century, was destroyed in the 12th century. Stockholm was founded by Birger Jarl, it is said, in or about 1255, at a time when pirate fleets were less common than they had been, and the government was anxious to establish commercial relations with the towns which were now beginning to flourish on the southern coast of the Baltic. The city was originally founded as a fortress on the island of Stadholm. The castle was erected at the north-eastern corner, and the city was surrounded with walls having fortified towers on the north and south. It came to be called Stockholm (“the isle of the log,” Latin Holmia, German Holm); the true explanation of the name is not known. During the middle ages the city developed steadily, and grew to command all the foreign commerce of the midlands and north, but it was not until modern times that Stockholm became the capital of Sweden. The medieval kings visited year by year different parts of the kingdom.