Kungsportsplatsen
i Göteborg

Göteborg’s Heart

Two men on their way home after a successful night at Gamle Port sit on the impressive pedestal of the city’s famous bronze statue to rest their legs before the long walk home. One looks up at the armored warrior above them.

“Who’s the old guy sitting on the ‘Kopparmärra’?” he asks his friend.
“No idea,” his friend replies. “But if we topple it, I bet it’ll be in the papers tomorrow.”

Whether the two fellows succeeded in their attempt, history doesn’t say. But the story is retold whenever tourists and passers-by ask who sits atop the horse. “Kopparmärra”—the nickname the people of Gothenburg use for the equestrian statue of Karl IX—is the most striking symbol of Kungsportsplatsen. Despite its familiar name, the statue is actually cast in bronze and depicts a stallion—but that hasn’t stopped such a nickname from becoming standard.

Since 1904, Karl IX has watched over the square, gazing out across one of Gothenburg’s best-known meeting places—where trams rumble past, tour boats called “Paddan” delight tourists in the moat, and a steady stream of people flows across the square all day long.

Communication and Entertainment

Buses and trams make Kungsportsplatsen the perfect meeting spot—a true heart at the end of Avenyn. Easy to find and easy to leave, it’s an obvious location for one of Gothenburg’s two official tourist bureaus.

Cafés, restaurants, a cinema, and one of the city’s most storied party venues line this triangular square, making it the ideal place to start a night out in Gothenburg.

Gamle Port

Named in memory of the original Kungsport (“Royal Gate”), which guarded the moat before being demolished in 1836–39, Gamle Port is one of the city’s oldest restaurants. It opened way back in 1918, and today stretches across all three floors of its building, offering everything from pub to nightclub and banquet rooms.

The Gateway to Gothenburg

Just five minutes from Central Station, centrally situated, with excellent connections and the old city within reach—Kungsportsplatsen offers nearly everything you could want from a city square and is the perfect place to begin a visit to Gothenburg.

Let the wings of history—or modern shopping streets—lead you from this old Royal Gate to the rest of Sweden’s second largest city. Discover what the man on “Kopparmärra” began, but his son Gustav II Adolf built: a city full of opportunity and friendly locals.

Kopparmärra

John Börjeson was born in 1835 in Tölö, Halland. He started life as a sailor but, after studies in Rome and Paris, became a sculptor so renowned he was named Royal Statuary Sculptor. He was professor at the Academy of Fine Arts from 1886–1907, and created statues of Karl X Gustav in Malmö (1895) and Karl XI in Karlskrona (1896).

Thanks to his reputation, Börjeson was chosen by Lieutenant Colonel Albert Fredrik Jacobsson for a statue project to honor Karl IX, founder of Gothenburg. Börjeson accepted and promised to submit designs. Some months later, he presented two versions of King Karl—one on foot, one on horseback—both of which were praised by local artists when Jacobsson exhibited them at Valand. Unfortunately, the city’s leaders put the project on hold, judging it wasn’t the right time for such a monument. Undeterred, Jacobsson sought support elsewhere, but the project lacked approval for funding.

Finding no support from city officials, Jacobsson reached out to the citizens themselves—on May 18, 1900, he asked Gothenburgers to contribute, starting a fundraising campaign. In just three months, the statue was funded. Jacobsson contracted Börjeson, who contacted Otto Meyers’ foundry in Stockholm. Soon, the casting began; in November 1903, the magnificent equestrian statue was completed at Meyers’ workshop. By July 1904, the finishing touches were done and the statue arrived in Gothenburg, prepared for unveiling.

On September 7 of that year, the statue was revealed in a grand ceremony on Östra Hamngatan, attended by Oskar II, Börjeson, and thousands of enthusiastic Gothenburgers. Thirty-one years later, in 1935, it was decided to move the statue due to increasing traffic on Östra Hamngatan. The pt-30 year, it was relocated to its present spot at Kungsportsplatsen.

Today, Kopparmärra is the city’s best-known and most-used meeting place. The statue is hard to miss, and its proximity to shopping centers Femman and Arkaden means people of all ages walk past daily. In summer, students and families crowd the pedestal to soak up the sun with Karl IX; in winter, it shields shivering passers-by waiting for transport or friends in the square.

Many, out of curiosity or boredom, take a moment to read the old Swedish inscription on the pedestal, where Karl IX’s words from the city’s founding charter 400 years ago are carved: “Year 1607, August 21, I undersigned the privileges of Gothenburg. May Almighty God allow what is done be to His honor and praise, and to the benefit and good of this land and kingdom. Amen.”

If he saw his city today, Karl IX might suffer an anachronistic shock—but he would surely admit it had fared well in his absence. And if Gothenburgers saw him, they’d probably think he looked like the old fellow on the “Kopparmärra.”

References

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Text: Gustaf Lénberg

Published: 2005.06 Updated: 2025.09.12

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