page_title: History of Stockholm
section_title: Great Power era
hierarchical_section_title: History of Stockholm / Great Power era
caption_attribution_description: Façade of the Oxenstierna Palace at w:Storkyrkobrinken in Gamla stan, Stockholm.
context_page_description: The history of Stockholm, capital of Sweden, for many centuries coincided with the development of what is today known as Gamla stan, the Stockholm Old Town. Stockholm's raison d'être always was to be the Swedish capital and by far the largest city in the country.
context_section_description: Following the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), Sweden was determined never to repeat the embarrassment experienced following the death of Gustavus II Adolphus (1594–1632) when Stockholm, still medieval in character, caused hesitation on whether to invite foreign statesmen for fear the lamentable appearance might undermine the nation's authority.  Therefore, Stockholm saw many ambitious city plans during the era, of which those for the ridges surrounding today's old town still stands.  In accordance to the mercantilism of the era, trade and industry was concentrated to cities where it was easier to control, and Stockholm was of central importance.  In a letter in 1636, Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna (1583–1654) wrote that evolving the Swedish capital was a prerequisite for the nation's power and strength and that this would bring all the other cities on their feet.  Increased state intervention on city level was not unique to Sweden at this time, but it was probably more prominent in the case of Stockholm than anywhere else in Europe.  To this end, the government of the city was reformed and the former volunteered magistrates gradually replaced by professionals with a theoretical education.
caption: One of the finest surviving examples of the ambitions of the era is undoubtedly Axel Oxenstierna's own palace built from 1653 to the design of Jean de la Vallée (1620–1696).
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