Kindstugatan

Kindstugatan is a street in Gamla stan, the old town in central , Sweden. Stretching west from Brända Tomten to become Tyska Brinken in its western end, it is crossed by Svartmangatan and Skomakargatan.

The oldest version of the name — kindhæstagatan (1449), Kindhästegatan (1544) — contains the old Swedish word kindhäst (literally "cheek horse", meaning "box on the ear") but was gradually corrupted to the present name — Kinnestugatun (1667), Kinstugugatan (1709), Kimstagatan (1740), Kimstugatan (1814), Kindstugatan (1847). While the origin of this name is not known, it most likely refers to either a single renowned fight or notorious fights giving the area a reputation. As Medieval records knows to tell, curious and striking nicknames was far from unusual, and it possible the street was named after a mansion owned by a man with this name.

During medieval times, the street was known as tverru gatu ("Cross Street") as it passed between the eastern city gate (where today is Köpmantorget) and one of the western gates once located where the street changes name to Tyska Brinken.

The grey building on Number 4, Törnska huset (The Törne House) has two portals; the lintel of the left is from the 17th century while the lower parts are from the 19th century, while the right one, today transformed into a window, used to be the entrance to the backyard. The cartouche on the building is carrying the message Then Gudh wil hielpa kan ingen stielpa, Anno 1674, Olof Hansson Törne, Margareta Andersen. ("The one God wants to help nothing can overturn", e.g. "God helps those who let him"). The proprietor Törne made a fortune from scratch, became a city mayor, and was finally raised to peerage as Törnflycht. His thirteen children further extended his success story; his sons relieved him as a mayor, became county governors, and even governor general, while his daughter Christina (1673–1752) became the wife of Carl Piper (1647–1716).

The wall anchors on Number 8 reveals the building is from the 1657 which makes it slightly older than the doctor Johan von Hoorn (1662–1724) who lived here. He introduced obstetrics in Sweden, was a member of the collegium medicum (the physicians organization), and the physician in ordinary to Ulrika Eleonora the Elder (1656–1693). He published the book The Well-Trained Swedish Midwife (Den Swenska wäl-öfwade JordGumman) in 1697 where he argued against the use of wet nurses (because they caused infections) and propagated for educating midwives (something he did free of charge and which to his suggestion was regulated in 1711). He began the development which by the early 20th century had made maternal mortality in Sweden a third that in the US.

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