Sibirien – a cold name for a hot neighborhood

Hardly any other place in Stockholm bears as frosty a nickname as Sibirien. But despite associations with ice, cold and wilderness, here beats a neighborhood full of life, stories – and the struggle for better housing.

The Sibirien area, located in the borderland between Norrmalm and Vasastan, was known in the 17th century for its health spring – Surbrunnen. The iron-containing spring was said to help against both stomach ailments and "women's diseases", and attracted both locals and nobility to come and drink themselves healthy. Neighborhood names such as Surbrunnsgatan still remind us of the old well today.

But when the well dried up and industrialization took off, Sibirien became something completely different: a place for workers, maids and overcrowding.

The name came about in the latter part of the 19th century, when the area north of Odengatan was sparsely populated and lacked modern standards. In the vernacular, it began to be called "Sibirien" – not only because of the cold in winter, but because it was far from the city center, like a kind of urban exile area.

New neighborhoods were quickly built here – often without proper infrastructure. It was noisy, poor and lively. But also the beginning of something new.

In the 20th century, Sibirien became a center for both housing struggles and culture. Several of the houses here are the result of cooperative building and association life. It was here that Stockholms Arbetarebostadsförening made the dream of healthy and affordable homes for working-class families a reality.

Today, neighborhoods such as Tulegatan, Claes på Hörnet and Roslagsgatan are filled with cafes, shops, galleries and restaurants with narrow music or wide wine lists. History whispers from the walls, but the pulse is modern.

Sibirien is still not like other neighborhoods in the inner city. It is a little rougher, a little greener, a little freer. Cultural workers, officials and students live here side by side. Both Bellman, punks and housing activists have left their mark here.

And that is perhaps why so many love it.

🔍 Would you like to discover the neighborhood with new eyes? Join my city walk through Sibirien – from well water to housing struggles. We visit places where history lives on and where every street corner carries a story.

💡 Don't miss Claes på Hörnet – once an inn, military hospital and cholera hospital – today a restaurant where you can feel the wings of history for dinner.

📍Starting point: Surbrunnsgatan 6–8 / Monika Zetterlund-parken
⏳ Time: Approx. 90 minutes
🍂 Book your place directly at www.dengronaguiden.se