Accurate Carte der Uplandischen Scheren mid der Situation und Gegend umb die Konigl. Schwedische Haupt und Residentz Stadt Stockholm is Johann Baptist Homann’s 1730 celebration of Stockholm’s maritime capital, staged as both a navigational drama and a civic portrait. Homann sets the city within the Uppland skerries, emphasizing the approach from the sea with carefully articulated channels and coastal undulations, then rewards arrival with two commanding urban views of Sydermalm and Nordermalm. A richly carved cartouche and a confident palette frame a composition where political boundaries, shorelines, and city quarters cohere. As a city map it is notable for how vividly it fuses orientation, ceremony, and topography—showing not merely where Stockholm sits, but how one experiences it from the helm and on the street.

At the core, the map honors Gamla Stan’s island citadel, bracketed by Riddarholmen and the mercantile façade of Skeppsbron, whose long quay signals Sweden’s global trade. The urban weave is teased out in lanes like Västerlånggatan, Östra Långgatan, Bredgränd, and the waters of Norrström and Söderström uniting Lake Mälaren with the Baltic. Across the harbor, Hamngatan leads toward Kungsträdgården, the royal promenade that pairs courtly ritual with the city’s maritime stage. Squares such as Hötorget and Brunkebergstorg broadcast the rhythms of market and civic life. Homann’s harbor-facing perspective turns quays, bridges, and channels into narrative devices, making this an unusually kinetic city map—one that explains Stockholm by tracing the energy that moves goods, ships, and people.

North of the old town, the cartography captures the assertive planning of Nordermalm and its neighboring districts. Straight axes—Drottninggatan, Kungsgatan, and Sveavägen—carve through the rising quarter, while Hamngatan stitches commercial frontage to the water. Eastward, Östermalm gathers stature along Storgatan and Riddargatan, with boulevards like Birger Jarlsgatan, Karlavägen, Valhallavägen, and Lidingövägen extending the city’s ambitions toward the archipelago. The map’s labels make clear a civic program of order and reach, setting streets, markets, and public spaces in dialogue with the surrounding regions. By plotting these corridors alongside the shoreline, Homann turns urban planning into cartographic rhetoric, illustrating how Stockholm’s future growth rests on the spine of its thoroughfares and the lure of its harbor.

Sydermalm, spread across rugged slopes and heights, is given a starring role in one of the large views, with Götgatan and Torkel Knutssonsgatan scaling the island from quays to crest. Sjötullsgatan, tellingly named for the sea toll, nods to customs, ship-chandlers, and the fiscal lifeblood of a maritime state. From here, the eye crosses to Gamla Stan and Riddarholmen, reading the city as a chain of islands lashed by bridges and ferries. Beyond, the “Uplandischen Scheren” unfurls—skerries and narrow sounds that funnel vessels toward Skeppsbron—so that every cove and headland participates in the story of arrival. It is a quintessential city map because it binds street, market, and parish to the choreography of channels, pilots, and prevailing winds.

Homann’s hand is unmistakable. The Nuremberg master—named Imperial Geographer in 1715—melds scientific exactitude with pageantry, using carved cartouches, heraldry, and oriented prospects to elevate geography into statecraft. Here, political and physical geographies interlock: regions around Stockholm are crisply identified, while the capital’s districts—Norrmalm, Östermalm, Västermalm, and Gamla Stan—radiate authority. Produced in the early decades after the Great Northern War, the map registers Sweden’s recalibrated power with a capital doubling down on commerce and administration. Homann’s decorative program is never mere garnish; it reinforces the narrative of a royal residence city whose waterways and boulevards structure both movement and meaning. As document and artwork, it is a lucid witness to Stockholm’s eighteenth-century urban and maritime imagination.

Streets and roads on this map

• Borgargatan
• Drottninggatan
• Hamngatan
• Kungsgatan
• Läroverksgatan
• Norrmalm
• Riddargatan
• Skeppsbron
• Sundbybergsvägen
• Sveavägen
• Torkel Knutssonsgatan
• Västerlånggatan
• Västermalm
• Östra Långgatan
• Östermalm
• Gamla Stan
• Storgatan
• Götgatan
• Röda Bergen
• Sjötullsgatan
• Karlavägen
• Birger Jarlsgatan
• Hötorget
• Riddarholmen
• Vikingagatan
• Valhallavägen
• Lidingövägen
• Hälsingegatan
• Brunkebergstorg
• Bredgränd
• Kungsträdgården

Notable Features & Landmarks

• Coastal features: Specific areas where land meets water.
• Urban views: Depictions of Sydermalm and Nordermalm.
• Carved cartouches: Ornate designs framing the map's information.
• Waterways: Significant channels and passages surrounding Stockholm.
• Regions displayed: Labeling of additional surrounding regions.

Historical and design context

• Decorative map featuring views focusing on Stockholm and its surroundings.
• Highlights the approach to the city from the sea.
• Includes two major views of Stockholm, namely Sydermalm and Nordermalm.
• Date Created: 1730
• Mapmaker/Publisher: Johann Baptist Homann
• Notable for his contributions to cartography in the 18th century, known for producing intricately designed maps featuring decorative elements and oriented views.
• The map features a rich color palette with decorative embellishments, indicating the affluent design style of the period.
• The cartographer's use of an ornate cartouche is a hallmark of his later works, showcasing his range in stylistic elements.
• Reflects the evolving political landscape and urban development of Stockholm in the early 18th century.
• Serves as an important historical document for understanding the geography and politics of Sweden during this period.

Please double check the images to make sure that a specific town or place is shown on this map. You can also get in touch and ask us to check the map for you.

This map looks great at every size, but I always recommend going for a larger size if you have space. That way you can easily make out all of the details.

This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 90in (230cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.

The model in the listing images is holding the 16x20in (40x50cm) version of this map.

The fifth listing image shows an example of my map personalisation service.

If you’re looking for something slightly different, check out my collection of the best old maps to see if something else catches your eye.

Please contact me to check if a certain location, landmark or feature is shown on this map.

This would make a wonderful birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, work leaving, anniversary or housewarming gift for someone from the areas covered by this map.

This map is available as a giclée print on acid free archival matte paper, or you can buy it framed. The frame is a nice, simple black frame that suits most aesthetics. Please get in touch if you'd like a different frame colour or material. My frames are glazed with super-clear museum-grade acrylic (perspex/acrylite), which is significantly less reflective than glass, safer, and will always arrive in perfect condition.

This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.

For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.