10
Scheele Moves to Stockholm
In 1768, after 2 years in Malmö, Scheele, now aged 25, moved to Stockholm and
the Raven pharmacy (Apoteket Korpen; Fig. 10.1) [1]. The pharmacy had been
founded in 1674 by Georg Brandt, who sold it in 1692 to buy Hed iron works
outside Skinskatteberg together with his cousin. His son, also called Georg, became
a chemist (Chap. 9) and is best remembered for the discovery of cobalt. The
pharmacy was initially located at Södermalm and called The Eagle (Apoteket
Örnen), but after a few years, it was moved to Stortorget in Old Town. In 1721, the
pharmacy was bought by the German apothecary Ludwig Hindrich Dowe, who
renamed it The Raven (Apoteket Korpen) and later changed the name to The Gilded
Raven (Förgyllda Korpen). He also moved the pharmacy to an adjacent building,
where it remained until 1924. Since then, it has been located at nearby Väster
Långgatan. A large brass mortar from 1694 can be viewed in the store and was
probably used by Scheele.
During Scheele’s time at the Raven, it was run by apothecary Johan Scharenberg
(1714–1778). Scharenberg was born in Stockholm, but the family originated from
Germany and had emigrated from Lübeck in the mid-seventeenth century.
Scharenberg studied in Stockholm and in Germany before he took over the pharmacy in 1743. Not only did he run his pharmacy and grew medicinal plants but it is
also known that he invested 9,000 riksdaler specie in the Swedish East Indian
Company [2]. He also received warnings after involving himself with charlatans
and for illegally selling opium. There is no indication that Scharenberg had any
interest in chemistry, but his son studied under Bergman (Sect. 11.4).
Scheele made the journey to Stockholm by boat sometime between April 26 and
April 30, 1769. In the custom’s register, it has been found that shipper Jöns
Börgesson sailed from Malmö to Stockholm on April 26, carrying, for example,
apothecary equipment [3]. This may very well be Scheele’s belongings. Stockholm
had, at the time, 68,700 citizens, and Sweden’s population had just reached two
million.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
A. Lennartson, Carl Wilhelm Scheele and Torbern Bergman, Perspectives on the
History of Chemistry, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49194-9_10
153
Scheele Moves to Stockholm
In 1768, after 2 years in Malmö, Scheele, now aged 25, moved to Stockholm and
the Raven pharmacy (Apoteket Korpen; Fig. 10.1) [1]. The pharmacy had been
founded in 1674 by Georg Brandt, who sold it in 1692 to buy Hed iron works
outside Skinskatteberg together with his cousin. His son, also called Georg, became
a chemist (Chap. 9) and is best remembered for the discovery of cobalt. The
pharmacy was initially located at Södermalm and called The Eagle (Apoteket
Örnen), but after a few years, it was moved to Stortorget in Old Town. In 1721, the
pharmacy was bought by the German apothecary Ludwig Hindrich Dowe, who
renamed it The Raven (Apoteket Korpen) and later changed the name to The Gilded
Raven (Förgyllda Korpen). He also moved the pharmacy to an adjacent building,
where it remained until 1924. Since then, it has been located at nearby Väster
Långgatan. A large brass mortar from 1694 can be viewed in the store and was
probably used by Scheele.
During Scheele’s time at the Raven, it was run by apothecary Johan Scharenberg
(1714–1778). Scharenberg was born in Stockholm, but the family originated from
Germany and had emigrated from Lübeck in the mid-seventeenth century.
Scharenberg studied in Stockholm and in Germany before he took over the pharmacy in 1743. Not only did he run his pharmacy and grew medicinal plants but it is
also known that he invested 9,000 riksdaler specie in the Swedish East Indian
Company [2]. He also received warnings after involving himself with charlatans
and for illegally selling opium. There is no indication that Scharenberg had any
interest in chemistry, but his son studied under Bergman (Sect. 11.4).
Scheele made the journey to Stockholm by boat sometime between April 26 and
April 30, 1769. In the custom’s register, it has been found that shipper Jöns
Börgesson sailed from Malmö to Stockholm on April 26, carrying, for example,
apothecary equipment [3]. This may very well be Scheele’s belongings. Stockholm
had, at the time, 68,700 citizens, and Sweden’s population had just reached two
million.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
A. Lennartson, Carl Wilhelm Scheele and Torbern Bergman, Perspectives on the
History of Chemistry, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49194-9_10
153