Establishment Franciscan friars from the
Grey Friar's Abbey, Stockholm, began living on the island in the 15th century. Because of this, the island was named
Munklägret (the Monks' encampment). The monks subsisted on cattle-breeding and fishing. They also managed the
brickyard Själakoret at
Rålambshov. As a result of the
Swedish Reformation, which was concluded at the parliament in
Västerås 1527, the monks were expelled and the area became property of the crown. At the end of the 16th century,
Johan III (son of
Gustav Vasa) established an additional brickyard on the northern bank of the island. In 1635 the first bridge to Munklägret was built. A few years later
Queen Kristina donated large areas of land in the western part of the island to some of the generals from the
Thirty Years War. They built magnificent
entails and laid out great gardens. 1644 the crown donated the eastern part of Munklägret to the authorities of the city of Stockholm, which then received its first city plan. Three years later the remainder of the island was donated. In order to facilitate migration to Munklägret, privileges were given to artisans and manufacturers. For example, they were allowed to set up operations there without having to belong to the
guilds and they were
exempted from tax for ten years. In 1672 Munklägret became a separate
parish (Kungsholmen) and the whole island was renamed Kungsholmen, meaning King's Island in Swedish.
Industrialization When the
Swedish Empire collapsed in the beginning of the 18th century the crown embarked on a generous economic policy to develop Kungsholmen, which was then largely empty of buildings. The entails were turned into
factories and
hospitals. In Hornsberg a cotton mill was established, at Marieberg a
porcelain factory. In the early 19th century the military began to settle in Kungsholmen, which at the time was still a sparsely populated idyll. When
Samuel Owen settled in Kungsholmen, it had begun developing into a marked district of factories and workers. This development was accentuated when the Bolinder brothers started building up their business at Klara Sjö, west of the
Kungsbron, (King's Bridge) in the mid-19th century. The company
AB Separator was established at the end of the 19th century. AB Separator would soon become a worldwide group of companies and at the beginning of the 20th century had more than 2,000 employees. The industrial breakthrough led to a huge
population explosion. The population grew from just over 4,000 people in 1860 to 26,000 in 1890. During the 1880s several apartment blocks were built to remedy the housing shortage.
Modern Kungsholmen In the early 20th century a radical structural change took place on Kungsholmen. The remnants of the old industrial district were swept away and replaced by housing and public institutions. St. Görans church was designed by architect
Gustaf Améen (1864–1949) and built in 1910. At the division of the Kungsholmen parish in 1925, the new parish was named after the church. The residential areas in Fredhäll and in Kristineberg were built in the 1930s after a functionalist city plan. The bridges Västerbron and Tranebergsbron were also built the same decade, and Sankt Eriksbron received its current dimensions. The
Stockholm metro was drawn through Kungsholmen in the 1950s, first out to
Vällingby and later also another line to
Solna,
Sundbyberg and
Järvafältet. At this time the military moved out and the large hospital
Serafen was supplanted (on another location) by the more modern
Saint Göran Hospital. ==Prominent buildings and structures==