A lot happens here in the city. During Christmas, the big Christmas tree is in place and sometimes there are food trucks on site and sometimes there is a market. From here it is also not far to Gothenburg's oldest house that is not a residence, Kronhuset.
History
Until 18 November 1854, the square was called Stora Torget or Stortorget. In 1854, the Gustav II Adolf statue was erected in the middle of the square. The sculptor Bengt E. Fogelberg made the statue. After that, they started calling the square Gustav Adolfs Torg instead. The official name of the square was decided as late as 1959. On the square was also one of the well houses where Gothenburgers went to get their drinking water. The house was located by the Eastern Harbor Canal. The water was led there from Kallebäck's source in hollowed-out oak logs.
Cobblestones
Stora Torget was paved with cobblestones in 1629. The open spaces around the city gates were also paved at that time. When Stora Torget was converted from salutorg to the city's "Fintorg", the cobblestones were replaced with large paving stones, this happened in 1852.
What buildings surround the Square?
Since the 17th century, Stora Torget has been the center of the city's administration. Today, the square is surrounded by the Town Hall, the Stock Exchange and the City Hall.
What happened here in the past?
Various goods were traded in the square. The farm carts were crowded in the square and along the canal the boats were moored with goods of all kinds.
The statue Gustav II Adolf
The statue is made according to the legend of the founding of Gothenburg. The king is said to have ridden up the mountain Stora Otterhällan and with a grandiose gesture pointed over Gullberg's meadows by the river's edge and said: "This is where the city will be!" It is thus the king's pointing that is depicted on the statue. The king was 24 years old at the time of the foundation of Gothenburg, we can think that the face on the statue does not immediately look like a 24-year-old.
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The sculpture
The statue that stands in the square today is just a copy. In 1845 Gothenburg commissioned a Gustav Adolf statue by B.E Fogelberg. The first statue (cast) was made in Rome but unfortunately the commission failed as the bronze was poor.
After this failure, a wax model was sent to Munich where a statue was completed in 1851. When the statue was to travel by boat back to Sweden, the ship sank in the North Sea. The statue was salvaged, but those who salvaged the sculpture requested such a large sum that it actually became cheaper to order a whole new one.
It is this third version that stands on the square today. The statue that was salvaged was eventually melted down in Germany.