Långholmen
| Långholmen | ||
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| Waters | Mälaren | |
| Geographical location | 59 ° 19 '16 " N , 18 ° 1' 40" E | |
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| length | 1.38 km | |
| width | 405 m | |
| surface | 36 ha | |
| Residents | 139 (1997) 386 inhabitants / km² |
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Långholmen is an island and a district in central Stockholm , located between Kungsholmen in the north and Södermalm in the south.
The district Långholmen was formed in 1906, the land area is 36 hectares, in 1997 there were 139 inhabitants. The island of Långholmen (literally translated: long island) is 1380 meters long and 405 meters wide. A huge steel arch bridge, the Västerbron from 1935, stretches across the island . The Långholmsbron leads to the island from Södemalm .
Långholmen had a very bad reputation for a long time, as it had housed the Långholmen central prison since 1880 . Here on November 23, 1910, Alfred Ander was the last person to be executed in Sweden . In 1975 the prison was closed forever. But the expression “skaka galler på Långholmen” (roughly: shaking the bars on Långholmen) still exists today.
Parts of the old prison have been torn down, and the remaining buildings are home to a community college, restaurants, a youth hostel and a hotel. There is a café in the prisoners' former, fenced-in rest area. A hiking trail leads around the island, which on its east side offers a wonderful view over Riddarfjärden on Stockholm. On mild summer days, Stockholmers like to picnic and swim here.
On August 8, 1993, the prototype of the Saab JAS 39 Gripen crashed during a flight demonstration in front of thousands of spectators next to the Västerbron bridge on Långholmen . The pilot was able to save himself with the ejection seat and nobody was seriously harmed.
The sculpture of a falling paper swallow made of stainless steel by the artist Thomas Qvarsebo was erected at the place of the crash in 1994 .
