Kungshuset (the King's
House) is located in Lundagård – just few meters north from the Cathedral. It is
one of the buildings in Lund with a great history behind.
It was built by
the Danish king Frederick II between 1578 and 1584 for the royal administration
in Lund. Frederick II lived here for a few weeks in 1584 when his son Christian
should be honoured as the next successor by the Scanian Council.
1655 – The Danish
king donated Lundagård and Kungshuset to national historiographer Vitus Bering.
1660 – Peder
Winstrup, the bishop of Lund, bought Kungshuset and Lundagård from Vitus
Bering. So it became the residence for the bishop of Lund.
1676, December, the
4th, the Swedish king Charles XI spent the night in Kungshuset as
the winner of the bloodiest battle in the history – The Battle of Lund. Peder
Winstrup arranged the dinner and room for the winner.
1688 Charles XI
donated the building to the Lund University (founded 1668). For a long period
of time Kungshuset served as a main University building with an administration
offices, teaching rooms and library.
There is a local
legend about the Swedish king Charles XII, who resided in Lund 1716-1718, that he
rode up the wide wooden stairs of the Kungshuset tower. Never mind that the
tower was added to the building in the end of 18th century. But
still beautiful legend and same with stairs.
We have to admit that
Charles XII have been visited Kungshuset several times during his life in Lund,
because of the University library located there.
Until the
beginning of 19th century all the University was located in
Kungshuset, together with a library, anatomical theatre and even observatory. Among
the others the first University’s astronomer, Anders Spole, worked here.
1846 – Historical Museum
moved in Kungshuset to the ground floor.
The King’s house
held the University library till the middle of 19th century.
Building was in a bad shape and in need of renovation. In 1907 library moved to
the newly built location on the Helgonabacken, where it still remains.
Until the 2014
Kungshuset was used as an office and classrooms of the Philosophical faculty of
Lund University.
The 31st
of October 2016 Pope Franciskus visited Lund and choose Kungshuset as a place to
meet the current Swedish kind Carl XVI Gustav.
During the autumn
2017 Kungshuset was open for visitors
Now the University
administration is planning to move to the Kungshuset from the main University
building where the tourists centre is planed to be open after a few years.
That is just a
short story about the unique building in Lund with a great history and respect.
Welcome to Lund!
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