IDstory

Mäster Johansgatan 11
i Malmö

A house with food traditions

Mäster Johan, who gave this street its name was a military doctor and barber and lived in the early 18th century. Every time has its crossovers. Coffee was served here already in the 18th century, although in a now demolished house.

Owner information

Space to let
Contact Tel. 040 - 611 34 00
Owner: Fastighets AB Trianon

Malmö Spritförsäljning AB was also once located here and our own Systembolaget for a period sold both spirits and fermented grapes and later only wine. More about the history of the house ↓

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Mäster Johansgatan

The plot at Mäster Johansgatan 11 is located centrally in Malmö. There has been settlement here since the early Middle Ages. The northern part of the Liljan block has been the subject of major excavations in recent years and several courtyards have been traced through the centuries.

The house of today was built in 1900 and rebuilt in 1982

The "Mäster" himself

The street is named after the militar doctor and barber Johan Meinicke, who had a house built here for himself and his wife Christin Jacobsdotter in 1709. The street has had many other names over the years, such as Bernt Skyens gata (1525), Peder Hansen Byfogits stræde (1681) and Jens Skolemesters gränd (1688). The street was named Mäster Johansgatan in 1864. Source: Einar Bager (IDstory).

Coffee house

Serving coffee has a long tradition at this location. This is where coffee was probably served publicly for the first time in Malmö! It was the "retired" military lieutenant Nostwitz who received permission from the magistrate to set up a coffee house on a trial basis for four months from August 18, 1725. Nostwitz lived in house no. 536, which today corresponds to the house at Mäster Johansgatan 11 and we can assume that this is where he set up his coffee house. It probably did not turn out to the satisfaction of the lieutenant - he has not been heard from in Malmö since. He was simply ahead of his time.

Coffee was a novelty that the Swedes came into contact with in Turkey. Charles XII had fled here with the remnants of his army after the Battle of Poltava in 1709. When the soldiers returned home after the war, they, or rather their officers, had developed a taste for the exotic coffee and the drink gradually became popular. In Stockholm, there were already about fifteen coffee houses in the 1720s.

Restaurant

At the end of the 19th century, the premises were rebuilt and there was a restaurant on the ground floor for a while. However, it was not in the same building as we see today. A simpler two-story house was demolished to make way for today's beautiful house. There were also drawings for a larger house, but it was never built.

System

Malmö Spritförsäljnings (liquor sales) AB moved in in 1899. It was reorganized in 1937 as System AB in Malmö and was the predecessor to today's national Systembolag. The company had both an office and a dispensing point (=shop) in this building until the early 1970s.

The sale of hard liquor ended in 1958. Systembolaget had rebuilt two stores in Stockholm and this one in Malmö, to only sell wine and strong beer. It is our hope that with this expanded wine list we can make it easier for our customers to find exactly the type of wine they are looking for. It was not a very impressive wine list and the prices were pleasantly low by today's standards. Forget inflation and increased alcohol taxes. Château Mouton-Rotschild cost 32:50! And that was considered expensive. A Spanish red wine could be had for 3.75.

End of the alcohol period

However, the alcohol stopped flowing and it became a health institute under the management of physiotherapist Olle Carlsson. For a few years, the building also housed Hotel Bristol.

Photo studio

In 1977, the premises were rebuilt to house Film Foto AV Laboratorium, which turned the ground floor into a photo studio.

In 1990 it was time for a major renovation again. Now the house became a restaurant again. This time with a theme from the American southern states: Louisiana. The kitchen was placed in the middle of the premises with the chefs visible to the guests and an outdoor seating area for 90 guests was placed in the lush courtyard during the summer. There was a lot of Jambalaya, BBQ and cheesecake. The bar counter was longer than most others.