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Kulturportal Lund

Guide to historical Lund and its cultural heritage

“Rymdfält av frid” (Space of Peace)

chillida

The sculpture “Rymdfält av frid” (Space of Peace) from 1972, was created by the Spanish artist Eduardo Chillida. It is a square block of granite situated on the city square, Stortorget, in front of the City Hall.    The artwork remains unfinished. Chillida’s intention with the black granite sculpture is to focus attention on all the […]

(Bjärredsbanan) The Bjärred Line – a railway line to the seaside

Bjerredsbanan

Running alongside the street Lokföraregatan (Locomotive Engine Driver Street) at the outer edge of the newly built district Sockerbruket lies a pedestrian and bicycle track with somewhat irregular cross-striped markings. These markings bear a close resemblance to railway sleepers and are intended to do so as a reminder of the former railway line – (Bjärredsbanan) […]

60 years with LTH, Lund University’s faculty of engineering and research

In 2021, LTH has been in existence for 60 years. Since 1969, LTH has been a faculty of Lund University. During this time, it has developed from faculty of one class of students to providing at least 43 different educational programs.After the second world war, discussions began concerning the introduction of new universities within the […]

A short history of Lund

Hogenberg

The archaeological excavations have made it possible to date the founding of Lund to around 990 A.D. during the reign of the Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard. A mint was established in 1019 by his son Canute the Great, thus confirming the importance of the new city. Archdiocese 1103 A.D. Already in 1060 an English chaplain, […]

All Saints Church (Allhelgonakyrkan)

RK allhelgonakyrkan

All Saints Church is a church belonging to the Faculty of All Saints Parish of the Lund diocese. It is located about 600 meters north of Lund Cathedral. It became a parish church in 1962.  The church was built in 1887 and inaugurated in 1891.  The person responsible for it being built was Bishop Johan […]

Battle of Lund

SVL battlefield

Background to the Battle of Lund Following the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658, Denmark was forced to surrender parts of its territory to Sweden, east of the Sound (Öresund), including the counties of Skåne, Halland, Blekinge and, for a period, the island of Bornholm. An opportunity presented itself in 1675, when Sweden, through its alliance […]

Botaniska trädgården (The Botanical Gardens)

MG 1989

The Botanical Gardens in Lund are an amazing oasis and popular attraction for the residents of Lund and tourists alike. The Botanical Gardens are owned and managed by Lund University. Botanical gardens have been in existence in Lund since the late 17th century. Originally they were located on the current university site. In the mid-18th […]

Carl von Linné and The Linné Statue

RK linne

Standing at Petriplatsen outside the city library is the statue of Carl von Linné (Carl Linnaeus), who studied in Lund from 1727 to 1728. The statue, by Ansgar Almqvist (1889-1973), was erected in 1938 to commemorate the hundred year anniversary of Linné’s studies in Lund. Carl von Linné was born in Råshult, Småland on May […]

Charles XII (also Carl of Sweden) residence

KUM karlXII01

The so-called Charles XII residence was probably built between 1586 and 1589 by CorfitzViffert in the building style of that in the Netherlands. The façade is characteristic of this style. It is quite likely that parts of a medieval building are incorporated in the current building. At the end of the 16th century, it had […]

Charles XII (sometimes Carl XII) (1682-1718) of Sweden

Karl XII

From September 1716, Sweden was ruled for almost two years from Lund. These were perhaps the most wretched years in the country’s history. The Great Northern War had raged since 1700. In the beginning, the Swedes had won several victories but after the defeat at Poltava and the capitulation at Perevolotjna, the country encountered a series […]

Crafoord, Holger (1908-1982), industrialist, patron

Entrepreneur, industrialist, financier…. The epithets are many for Holger Crafoord, one of Lund’s great industrialists. He saw opportunities and dared to invest. Gambro was one of Lund’s largest and most well-known companies. It was conceived following a random meeting between Holger Crafoord and Doctor Nils Alwall.Holger Crafoord was born in 1908 in Stockholm. His mother […]

Culture Night – a Lund invention

1985

Culture Night in Lund is an event held by the residents of Lund for the residents of Lund. Lund’s Cultural and Leisure Services Department are amongst the coordinators but Culture Night is arranged mainly by the residents of Lund themselves. Some eighty associations, cultural operators and private individuals contribute to the extensive range and great […]

Ekska House

EkskaHuset

Ekska House is situated on Sankt Petri Kyrkogata. It is a half-timbered structure, the western part being built in 1823 and the eastern part in 1826. It is believed that the house originally had a plaster façade, as was the style of the time, and the half-timbers exposed sometime around the 1920’ies. The merchant Jacob […]

Esaias Tegnér and The Tegnér Statue

tegnerstaty

Esaias Tegnér was to change the Lund literary scene. He came to Lund in 1799 and was appointed professor of Greek in 1812. In a letter to Esaias written by his brother Elof, there is evidence that the poetry of Skåne was not afforded particularly high value: “I know that you dislike displaying your poetic […]

Harald Bluetooth, died 986 or 987, Danish king

Harald Blåtand

Harald Bluetooth was the father of Sven Forkbeard, the founder of Lund. Harald was the son of the Danish king Gorm the Elder, who, in the year c.900, created a kingdom around Jelling in central Jutland. According to the runestone, which Harald himself erected at Jelling, he was the conqueror “of all Denmark and Norway and […]

Henrik Schartau and The Henrik Schartau Statue

Schartau

The statue to the south of the Cathedral is that of Henric Schartau (1757-1825), by Peter Linde. It was presented as a gift to the church council and unveiled on October 31st, 2003 by K G Hammar. Henric Schartau was a priest and preacher in Lund who, in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, […]

Hill, Carl Fredrik (1849-1911), artist

Hill Carl Fredrik

Driven by an endless desire to paint and draw, 24-year-old Carl Fredrik Hill moved to Paris where he pursued a productive artistic life. However, he did so with a strong, guilt-ridden father complex and sadness due to not having the time to demonstrate to his father what he was capable of. Suffering from chronic schizophrenia […]

Klint, Hilma af (1862 – 1944), artist

Born in 1862 at Karlberg Castle in Stockholm. Due to her artistic talents, she enrolled at the Technical School, today’s Art College, and then continued to the Swedish Royal Academy of Arts, which she left in 1887. She became a competent portrait and landscape painter and, in this category, could have had a mediocre career […]

Krafts torg (Krafts Square)

Kraft 01

The name Kraft comes from the word crypt. Part of the site that occupies the square today was, during the Middle Ages, the cemetery of the Kraft Church, i.e. the crypt of the cathedral. The cemetery remained here until 1816 but was converted to an open site in 1832. In later times one of the […]

Kristallen (The Crystal) – an environmentally smart building

Kristallen

The municipal building, Kristallen, situated on the west side of the railway, north of Lund Central Station, was inaugurated in April 2014. Parts of the social administration as well as the city planning office, technical administration and environmental administration now occupy the building. With 11,000 square metres of office space, the new building can accommodate […]

Kulturen – The Museum of Cultural History in Lund

Kulturen

It started at Midsummer 1882, when some students in Lund decided to found the Association for the Cultural History of Southern Sweden. The central figure in this group of enthusiasts, whose first interest was rural dialects, was Georg J:son Karlin, the son of a clergyman from Huaröd, in the middle of Skåne (Scania). In the […]

Levan, Albert (1905-1997), Professor of Genetics

albertlevan

 He should have received the Nobel Prize. This is a statement commonly heard whenever the research work of Albert Levan is being discussed. He chose Lund as his place of work because here was the only department in the country specialising in heredity research Albert Levan worked as a plant geneticist at Svalöv from 1933 to […]

Liberiet

Liberiet

Liberiet was built during the 15th century and served as the cathedral library during the Middle Ages. Its name comes from the Danish word “liberi”, meaning collection of books or library, which in turn can be traced to the Latin word for book, “liber”. This is the only building that still remains today out of […]

Locus Peccatorum

Locus Peccatorum

This building was originally designed as a normal dwelling-house but very soon became the living quarters for students. Student quarters in Lund once played an equally important role in student life as the nation houses today and were given humorous names. When the cultural museum Kulturen acquired the building in 1898, there was a cigar […]

Lund – a medieval ecclesiastical centre

Domkyrkan

The cathedral and its predecessorsDuring the Middle Ages, Lund held a special position in the Nordic countries as the city of churches, mainly represented by Lund Cathedral, which was the central sanctuary for the Danish archdiocese. This had been established by the pope in Rome in 1103 and included Norway in 1152 and Sweden in […]

Lund and refugees

Nödenjudar

During the period 1851 – 1930, almost 1.2 million people emigrated from Sweden to the United States and other transoceanic countries. The emigration numbers from southwest Skåne, however, were relatively small but, according to a comprehensive Emigration Inquiry conducted between 1907-13, a proportionally large number emigrated from Genarp, a village in the current Lund municipality.Immigration […]

Lund Cathedral

Domkyrkan

Lund Cathedral is the largest and most beautiful example of Romanesque style architecture in Scandinavia. It has been awarded three stars by the Michelin Guide and nominated as one of the seven wonders of Sweden by the national radio. Each year, the cathedral, which is open daily, is visited by over half a million people. […]

Lund Cathedral clock

Dom Ur1

Horologium Mirabile Lundense The wonderful clock in Lund – Horologium Mirabile Lundense – is an astronomical clock dating from about 1420. The clock plays twice a day with the Three Wise Men from the East moving forwards to pay homage to the new born baby Jesus, sitting on Mary’s lap at the clock’s centre. The […]

Lund City Hall

Stadshallen

Lund City Hall is situated in the main square, Stortorget, in the centre of Lund. It was designed by architect Klas Anshelm and built in 1968. The building is internationally acclaimed for its design and visited annually by architectural students from all over the world. Lund City Hall is the venue for concerts, lectures, seminars, […]

Lund University throughout the ages

universitet

Medieval Lund was a city of churches and the needs of the cathedral led to Lund becoming the foremost centre of education within the Nordic region. As early as 1438, the Franciscan order had already established a centre for general studies. Located in the current Klostergatan, it provided a university level of education.Much of the […]

Lundagård

Lundagård is the oldest park in the city and surrounded by the most important buildings. To the south stands the Cathedral; to the north-west the University Hall; to the north-east the Academic Society building; to the south-east the Historical Museum and in its centre, the old Lundagårdshuset building, dating from the Middle Ages. Lundagård represents […]

Monument Park

Monumentparken

In actual fact, Monument Park is as important a place in the history of Lund as the cathedral. In the northern part of the park lies an ancient mound, where newly crowned Danish kings were once received. This is also where one of the bloodiest battles in Swedish history took place, and here too stands the […]

Palaestra et Odeum

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Palaestra et Odeum is located on Universitetsplatsen (University Square) and owned by Lund University. The building was designed by Helgo Zettervall and built in 1883. Previously, the botanical gardens were situated on this site and behind the façade lie the remains of the Orangery that once stood here dating from the mid-18th century. Originally, the […]

Rausing, Ruben (1895 – 1983), industrial magnate, founder of Tetra Pak

Rausing Ruben

Ruben Rausing was born in Råå and the son of master painter August Andersson. In connection with his graduation (1915) at Nicolai School in Helsingborg, then Gossläroverket “Gossis”, he adopted the name Rausing after his home parish Raus. His studies, paid for by an aunt, took him to the Stockholm School of Economics. It started […]

Saluhallen (Market Hall)

RK saluhallen

Market Hall is not only located in the centre of town, it also enjoys a central position in many people’s perception of Lund. Market Hall is a great asset  within the old city culture. Trade in meat and fish had traditionally been conducted from covered wagons on the main square, Stortorget. Following increasing demands on […]

Sinner’s Pond

Syndernas damm

In the south-eastern part of the Botanical Gardens “Botan”, lies a small pond which, during the first half of the 20th century, fulfilled a very special and symbolic function. On the first day of the Jewish New Year, is the time when families from Nöden went to cast their sins into the water. The custom […]

Skrylle – a popular oasis for nature-poor Lund

Skrylle3

One million visits are made each year to the recreation area Skrylle, situated between Dalby and Södra Sandby. Skrylle today is an oasis for exercise, walking, meetings and socialising in a scenic environment for the inhabitants of Lund. The word Skrylle (previously spelt Skrulle and Skrölle) simply means large forest area and at the end […]

Stadsvallen, The City Wall

Stadsvallen1

At the intersection of Ö Vallgatan and S Esplanaden, lies a bronze tablet on a granite stone slab. Its purpose is to commemorate the old city wall and medieval street that once ran along this part of the city. The tablet was placed here following reconstruction work on the intersection in 1990. After a heated […]

Sven Forkbeard, (960 – 1014), Danish king, founder of Lund

Sven Tveskägg

King of DenmarkSven was the son of the Danish king Harald Bluetooth and the father of Knut the Great.In the 10th century, the loosely allied small kingdoms of the Old Norse world began moving towards Christianity, as was happening on the continent. Harald Bluetooth had increased his power as Danish king by creating a sovereignty […]

The Battle of Lund – The Monument

Monumentet, Lund

The monument commemorating the Battle of Lund was inaugurated in 1883 at Lerbäckshög at the initiative of the Regional Historical and Archaeological Society. Designed by Helgo Zettervall, it was originally built of cement but replaced in granite in 1930. The message of the Monument is reconciliation between Denmark and Sweden and not a victory for […]

The Battle of Lund, December 4, 1676

slaget 02

The advance, vanguard battle 01.30 the Swedish army breaks camp at Lilla Harrie. 04.00 the Swedish army begins to cross the ice over the river Kävlingeån at Rinnebäcksmölla. 07.00 the Swedish vanguard reaches Stångby church. At about this time, the Danish outposts are alerted and the Danish army goes into full combat readiness. Meanwhile, the […]

The Botanical Gardens ”Botan”

The Botanical Gardens in Lund are a fantastic oasis and popular destination for the residents of Lund and tourists alike. The botanical gardens are owned and managed by Lund UniversityThere have been academy gardens in Lund ever since the end of the 17th century. Initially located on the site of the present-day university. In the […]

The Cathedral Chapter House (Domkapitelhuset)

domkap01

On this site, at the corner of Kiliansgatan and Krafts Torg, a one-storey building once stood until 1928 housing both the parish registrar’s office and the restaurant Malmen. The Chapter House that stands here today functions as the premises for the chapter house administration and parish administration. From the Middle  Ages up until the Reformation, […]

The City Council House (Rådhuset)

radhus10

The City Council House, completed in 1837, was originally the Town Hall. Located inside the building was a celebrated restaurant, refreshments room and storage room for the city’s accounts. On the top floor was the large banquet hall, Knutssalen. Here hung the mirrors and chandeliers from 1824 designed by Professor G. Fr. Hetsch from the […]

The City Library

Stadsbiblioteket

The library building on S:t Petri Kyrkogata, is a glass structure that allows the greenery from the old park behind the library to become an integral part of the library environment. The building was completed in 1970 and designed by Danish architect, Flemming Lassen, who was also responsible for designing several libraries in Denmark. The […]

The City Park (Stadsparken)

MG 2361

The City Park is Lund’s most popular park attracting visitors of all ages and interests. On sunny days during the summer the park becomes almost crowded with sunbathers, joggers, prams, children, boule players, café guests, lakeside bird watchers and more besides. The City Park began developing around the medieval city rampart that once encircled the […]

The City Rampart (Stadsvallen)

Stadsvallen

Lund was once surrounded by an earthen rampart and moat. To make the system even more effective, a stockade ran along the top. Brick masonry gate towers and bridges were positioned at the southern, western, northern and eastern exits. The rampart was approx. three thousand seven hundred metres in length. Today, little remains of this […]

The Drotten Church ruin museum

The church ruin of Saint Drotten probably dates from 1050. It was an odd shaped 50 m. long building and probably the church of the bishop. The remains of the medieval stone church were found during excavation work in the 1970s and 80s. During excavations, traces of an old wooden church were also found. It […]

The Drotten church ruins

Drotten

The Drotten church ruins date from approximately 1050. The church was a 50 m long structure of unusual shape, probably indicating that it was intended for a bishop. The remains of the medieval stone church were found during archaeological excavations in 1970 -1980. Traces of an older wooden stave church were also found during the […]

The elevation difference in the city of Lund

Höjdskillnad

It is quite remarkable that, within only a distance 7 km as the bird flies, Lund rises from about 9 metres above sea level by the river Höje å in the south to 90 metres above sea level at Klosterängshöjden, (where the black bulls are located), next to E22 motorway in the north of the […]

The Hill Monument

Hillfontanen

Opposite ”Folkets Hus” stands a sculpture dedicated to Lund’s greatest artist, Carl Fredrik Hill (1849 – 1911). His childhood home was on Skomarkaregatan. After many years studying art in Paris, where he suffered bouts of insanity, he returned to his family home in Lund, where he remained until his death, looked after by his sisters. […]

The Historical Museum

Histmus

For 100 years, the Historical Museum has been located at Krafts torg (Kraft Square). However, situated behind the cathedral’s apse, the building was considered not particularly accessible. That is until the start of the new century. The museum is now newly renovated and ready to relate some eleven million stories. On entering through the new […]

The legend of Finn the giant

Finn 1-2

The story of Finn the giant was first written down in 1654 by Jens Lauritzen Wolf, however, before this, it had been passed on by word of mouth from generation to generation. The two pillars in the crypt which incorporate the stone statue of the giant have been interpreted in a number of ways. It […]

The Lindfors House (Lindforska huset)

Lindforska

The house is situated in its original position and named after Professor Anders Otto Lindfors who was the owner from 1818 to 1841. The house has been modified and adapted many times by the cultural museum (Kulturen). The last time for the University Museum, which opened in 1997, when the ground floor rooms from the […]

The Lund Carneval (Lundakarnevalen)

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Every fourth year, thousands of students today are involved with arranging the carnival procession and various amusements in the carnival area.  The Lund carnival, organized by the students of Lund University, takes place each fourth year. The carnival centre is the park Lundagård, situated between the Academic Society, the university building and the Cathedral. The […]

The Lundagård Stone

Lundagardsstenen

The Lundagård Stone, at 4.6 m, is Denmark’s tallest runestone and was probably erected at the end of the 10th century. It was discovered in the ruins of the former All Saints monastery in 1682. Within this former monastery area, the then newly built University Library was inaugurated in 1907.The runestone was probably moved to […]

The man who broke out from the rock

mannen som 1

In the south-eastern corner of Universitetsplatsen (University Square) stands the sculpture “The man who broke out from the rock”. The rock in the sculpture symbolises the darkness of ignorance. The artwork was created in granite by Axel Ebbe and donated by the City of Lund in honour of the university’s 250th anniversary in 1918.

The mystery of the Sphinx

Sfinxen

Since 1978, in the northeast corner of the Botanical Gardens stands a remnant of the university building’s original ornamentation. In 1882, Helgo Zettervall had decorated his university creation with cement sculptures. At the main entrance stood four huge female figures intended to symbolise the different faculties of the university. These so-called faculty ladies were deemed “good […]

The Rune Stone Mound

Runhogen

In conjunction with the 200th anniversary of the Association of Skåne Antiquities in 1868, six rune stones were donated to the University. The stones originate from various sites in Skåne: Gårdstånga, Nöbblöv, Skivarp, Vallberg and Vallkärra. The rune stones are located on a small mound in front of the Palaestra et Odeum building. All are […]

The Råby spring

Råby källa

The trees stand as sentinels posted around a shallow depression marking the site of the now dried-up Råby spring. A furtive imagination is required for the visitor to picture the round pavilion with thatched roof over a spring, a dance floor and a red-painted wooden building with a skittle alley that once stood here. The […]

The Stave Church in Kattesund

Why are some paving stones white and laid out in a pattern? This question is perhaps asked by many Lund residents when cycling or walking by Kattesund. The simple answer is that they mark where the walls and columns of a large stave church was once located in the eleventh century. Stave churches were built of […]

The University Hall

Universitetshuset

The University Hall was built in 1878-82 and designed by architect Helgo Zettervall for the university management and rector magnificus. The main façade faces University Square formed by Palaestra et Odeum and the old academy building Kungshuset.   With symbolic decoration, the architecture is classical. Entering through the gates, the visitor is led into the atrium […]

The University Square / (Universitetsplatsen)

Universitetsplatsen1

Where the current University Square broadens out was, in the late 17th century, the site of the former botanical gardens. In the mid-18th century plans were adopted by Carl Hårleman for new botanical gardens on the same site where they remained up until the 1860s. Best known was the cultivation of 50,000 mulberry trees for […]

Tufsen – the timeless play sculpture

Tufsen

 “It’s based on a child’s desire to hide, slide and climb up high to feel that sense of danger.” This is how, at the end of the 1940’s, the Danish sculptor and architect Egon Möller-Nielsen explained the thinking that lay behind his play sculptures.One result has been that Tufsen gives the residents of Lund of […]

Winstrup, Peder (1605 – 1679), bishop, initiator of Lund University

Winstrup Peder

Peder Winstrup was the last Dane and the first bishop in the diocese of Lund. He was born in Copenhagen and the son of the bishop of the diocese of Sjaelland. He went to school in Sorø, the Danish equivalent of Eton at that time and later made a several-year educational tour of the continent […]