<p>The purpose of this thesis has been to describe and explain why wholesalers in Stockholm during the eighteenth century acted as they did. This analysis is built on the idea that peoples’ possibilities to act depends on the context in which they live and the person’s network. The starting-point for the analysis is an old discussion if the merchants made any difference in the transformation of society; were they a dynamic element or not? </p><p>In this thesis wholesalers’ social and economic relations are studied from different viewpoints: how they married, how their credit network was built up, and what they consumed. The wholesalers are divided into groups depending on their income. The materials used are inventories, parish registers, registers of tax-payments and biographical books.</p><p>The research shows that the differences in behaviour were small between the income groups. Most of the wholesalers married daughters of other merchants, they lent money to their own family, and they consumed more or less in the same way. There was a big economic gap between the wealthiest wholesalers and the less wealthy. Why their behaviour was nonethless so homogenous depended on their need of a network. The importance of this made them act the same.</p><p>However, the study shows one group that acted a bit differently, wholesalers who belonged to the German congregation. In several ways they were an association in themselves. And the way they act can described as dynamic. Because they did not have an obligation to the Swedish network, they could act differently. </p>

The purpose of this thesis has been to describe and explain why wholesalers in Stockholm during the eighteenth century acted as they did. This analysis is built on the idea that peoples’ possibilities to act depends on the context in which they live and the person’s network. The starting-point for the analysis is an old discussion if the merchants made any difference in the transformation of society; were they a dynamic element or not? In this thesis wholesalers’ social and economic relations are studied from different viewpoints: how they married, how their credit network was built up, and what they consumed. The wholesalers are divided into groups depending on their income. The materials used are inventories, parish registers, registers of tax-payments and biographical books. The research shows that the differences in behaviour were small between the income groups. Most of the wholesalers married daughters of other merchants, they lent money to their own family, and they consumed more or less in the same way. There was a big economic gap between the wealthiest wholesalers and the less wealthy. Why their behaviour was nonethless so homogenous depended on their need of a network. The importance of this made them act the same. However, the study shows one group that acted a bit differently, wholesalers who belonged to the German congregation. In several ways they were an association in themselves. And the way they act can described as dynamic. Because they did not have an obligation to the Swedish network, they could act differently.

Här är norr, här är Stockholm simmande palats och ruckel. Tomas Tranströmer: Inomhuset är oändligt ur För levande och döda (1989) Skeppsbron i Stockholm är ett stadsrum i förändring. I och med att Slussens ombyggnad står för dörren väntar en ny framtid platsen. Den äger en stor potential men upplevs idag som bortglömd och själlös. Trots sin historia som Sveriges främsta hamn och marknadsplats är det få som avsiktligen kommer hit. I mitt projekt har jag försökt att, med hjälp av Tranströmers poesi och tecknande av rummet, försökt finna platsens karaktär och själ, samt utifrån vad jag funnit addera nya program och rumssamband till platsen. Förslaget är en sekvens som gradvis behåller, skalar av och skippar befintliga tullhus. Mina huvudsyften har varit att tillgängliggöra, koppla samman samt inte minst att bereda plats för människan. Jag kommer för sällan fram till vattnet. Men nu är jag här, bland stora stenar med fridfulla ryggar. Stenar som långsamt vandrat baklänges upp ur vågorna Tomas Tranströmer: Långsam musik ur Klanger och spår (1966) / Here is the north, here is Stockholm swimming palaces and hovels. Tomas Tranströmer: Indoors is endless from For the Living and the Dead (1989) Skeppsbron is a Stockholm cityscape going through changes. With the refurbishment of Slussen in the works, a whole new future awaits the site. It is a place full of potential, but at the moment neglected and lacking character. The small number of people deliberately visiting Skeppsbron belies its historical importance as the main port and marketplace of Sweden. My project is an attempt to find the soul and essence of the place, using Tranströmers poetry and my own drawings as a starting point. Building on my findings I have added new programs and spatial connections to the site. The proposal includes a sequence gradually moving from conserving, to stripping down to altogether removing existing pavilions. My main aspirations have been improving accessibility, interconnecting and last but not least making way for people. I come down to the water too seldom. But here I am now, among large stones with peaceful backs. Stones which slowly migrated backwards up out of the waves. Tomas Tranströmer: Slow Music from Bells and Tracks (1966)