Gamla kyrkogården
in Malmö

in Swedish

At the beginning of the 19th century, there was a great shortage of burial grounds in Malmö.

There were then only two churches in Malmö, the German Church, where Caroli kyrka (IDstory) is now, and S:t Petri. It was most prestigious to be buried inside the church, which did not make the air more healthy for the churchgoers, but even outside in the two cemeteries it was crowded and one could not count on being able to rest in peace for any long period of time. After a few years the bones were dug up to make room for new arrivals.

The old fortress walls, which had surrounded Malmö since the Middle Ages and had been expanded and built stronger during each period of unrest, were demolished at the beginning of the 19th century. The city was expanded by almost double its area. Two large squares were added, Drottningtorget (IDstory) and Gustav Adolfs Torg (IDstory) - map see below, and also a lot of streets, Stora och Lilla Nygatan, Norregatan, Stora Trädgårdsgatan etc.

For a long time these new areas stood more or less undeveloped, on Gustav Adolfs Torg the sheep grazed! Towards the end of the century, however, industry in Malmö was in full swing. Lots of people moved into the city from the surrounding villages and the plots were gradually developed.

A promenade had been planned to the west of the new square. This was where the city's fine families would stroll on Sundays. We don't know who came up with the idea of making the area a cemetery instead, but on 10 Nov. 1822 it was inaugurated with the burial of the alderman Isak Malmborg. He died of ”hectic” which sounds like a ”stress-related illness” to speak modern Swedish.

Seven blocks

The cemetery was originally divided into seven blocks. Four of these were set aside for burials, the fifth was set aside for the city's poor, and the sixth for the hospital's horses and staff. In the seventh block, suicides were buried!

Gradually, more blocks were added during several expansions during the 19th century.

Upset voices 1912

Prior to the Baltic Exhibition in 1914, it was decided that Slottsgatan would be drawn through the Old Cemetery and connect to a new bridge over the canal - today Fersen's bridge. It was deemed necessary to have a direct route from the railway station to the exhibition area at - – what is now Pildammarna.

Många upprörda röster hördes då ju en del gravar behövde grävas upp, men så blev det och 1914 skramlade spårvagnar med glada utställningsbesökare mellan gravarna. Detta förklarar varför en liten flik av begravningsplatsen idag ligger i Kungsparken vid ingången till Casino Cosmopol.

A green oasis

Today, no new graves are being built, but burials still occur. A memorial garden has also been created, but the Old Burial Ground is primarily a quiet park for Malmö residents and tourists to walk in..

A program was been drawn up a few years ago for the restoration of the graves. The trees will be inventoried, the fences restored, the stones cleaned and the text filled in so that the names of the old Malmö residents who rest here can once again be read.

Malmö discont

The company 'Malmö discont' that was formed to demolish the ramparts was to be financed by selling the newly acquired land. In 1811, 81,000 square meters around Södertull were sold for 21,000 riksdaler banco.

The land was still sunken and unusable and the new owners mortgaged parts of the land to Malmö Discont for a loan. Malmö Discont was one of only four banks in the country and was initially a brilliant business, however, they lent against poor securities and to hide the loss and in the hope of better times they lent more. Does that sound familiar?

Malmö Discont went bancrupt in 1817. It was a scandal that has not been equaled until perhaps the construction crash in the early 1990s. Malmö's big names in industry and trade were at that time - Frans Suell (IDstory) - was on the board but was saved from the scandal by dying of old age the year before.

After the crash, the mortgaged plots were sold. There were 40,000 square meters that were mortgaged for 19,000 Rd. The auction brought in 373 Rd. That's 1.4 öre per square meter! It is largely on this cheap land that the cemetery is located.

References

• About BiBB, an encyclopedia 4.0 and media company
• Text: Christian Kindblad | Photo: Jonas Andréasson

Published: 2004.06 Updated: 2025.05.30

Kategorier 20 Historiska personer 45

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