took part in a voting on self-government of the University is based on a translation
error by Schufle; no such voting took place and Bergman did not get a permanent
position.
7
4.2 Scheele’s Education in Gothenburg
Aged 15, Scheele arrived in Gothenburg in 1757, i.e. around the time when
Bergman was about to finish his studies in Uppsala. Gothenburg was the second
largest city of Sweden, having about 10, 000 citizens. It was still a young city,
founded only 100 years earlier at the strategic point where the river Göta älv meets
the sea. The city was built by Dutch experts, and during the seventeenth century the
majority of the citizens were Dutch. Linnaeus, who visited Gothenburg in 1746,
described a city of round layout surrounded by embankments. The streets were
straight with canals cutting through the city. Trees were planted along the canals
and most of the houses were wooden, built in two storeys, painted red or yellow,
with white or blue window frames and corners. The roofs were covered with clay
tiles [17]. Only a few seventeenth and eighteenth century buildings remain in
Gothenburg, and only fragments of the embankments have survived.
In Scheele’s time, Gothenburg was the home of the Swedish East Indian
Company, which has been described as the most successful company in Swedish
history. Founded in 1731, the company imported luxury items such as porcelain,
tea, medicinal plants, and spices from Guangzhou (Canton) in China. The headquarters were located just opposite the canal from where Scheele worked and lived.
The building of the East Indian Company still remains today and houses the City
Museum of Gothenburg. The director of the East Indian Company, the wealthy
merchant Niklas Sahlgen, lived in the adjacent building. Slightly further away was
the German Christinæ church, which had burned in 1746 and was under reconstruction when Scheele arrived.
The Unicorn pharmacy (Apoteket Enhörningen), established in 1641 by Kilian
Treutiger from East Frisia, was the fifth pharmacy in Sweden, and the first in
Gothenburg. The original pharmacy building at Södra Hamngatan burned down in
1721. Apothecary Ermersch, the third owner of the pharmacy and like his predecessors born in Germany, could not afford to rebuild it, but sold the lot to his
brother in law, Martin Andreas Bauch (1693–1766) who moved to Gothenburg
from Güstrow in Mecklenburg. In the eighteenth century, many Swedish pharmacies were run by German immigrants, so this was no coincidence. Bauch built a
two-storey building in wood, where the pharmacy reopened in 1724. This building,
where Scheele worked, burned down in 1803. It was now rebuilt in stone, and the
pharmacy remained there until 1915 (Fig. 4.7). Like so many other old buildings in
Swedish cities, it was demolished by city planners during a wave of destruction in
the 1960s and 1970s.
7
The voting that Schufle referred to was actually the voting of who would be the primus.
4.1 Bergman’s Education in Uppsala
53
error by Schufle; no such voting took place and Bergman did not get a permanent
position.
7
4.2 Scheele’s Education in Gothenburg
Aged 15, Scheele arrived in Gothenburg in 1757, i.e. around the time when
Bergman was about to finish his studies in Uppsala. Gothenburg was the second
largest city of Sweden, having about 10, 000 citizens. It was still a young city,
founded only 100 years earlier at the strategic point where the river Göta älv meets
the sea. The city was built by Dutch experts, and during the seventeenth century the
majority of the citizens were Dutch. Linnaeus, who visited Gothenburg in 1746,
described a city of round layout surrounded by embankments. The streets were
straight with canals cutting through the city. Trees were planted along the canals
and most of the houses were wooden, built in two storeys, painted red or yellow,
with white or blue window frames and corners. The roofs were covered with clay
tiles [17]. Only a few seventeenth and eighteenth century buildings remain in
Gothenburg, and only fragments of the embankments have survived.
In Scheele’s time, Gothenburg was the home of the Swedish East Indian
Company, which has been described as the most successful company in Swedish
history. Founded in 1731, the company imported luxury items such as porcelain,
tea, medicinal plants, and spices from Guangzhou (Canton) in China. The headquarters were located just opposite the canal from where Scheele worked and lived.
The building of the East Indian Company still remains today and houses the City
Museum of Gothenburg. The director of the East Indian Company, the wealthy
merchant Niklas Sahlgen, lived in the adjacent building. Slightly further away was
the German Christinæ church, which had burned in 1746 and was under reconstruction when Scheele arrived.
The Unicorn pharmacy (Apoteket Enhörningen), established in 1641 by Kilian
Treutiger from East Frisia, was the fifth pharmacy in Sweden, and the first in
Gothenburg. The original pharmacy building at Södra Hamngatan burned down in
1721. Apothecary Ermersch, the third owner of the pharmacy and like his predecessors born in Germany, could not afford to rebuild it, but sold the lot to his
brother in law, Martin Andreas Bauch (1693–1766) who moved to Gothenburg
from Güstrow in Mecklenburg. In the eighteenth century, many Swedish pharmacies were run by German immigrants, so this was no coincidence. Bauch built a
two-storey building in wood, where the pharmacy reopened in 1724. This building,
where Scheele worked, burned down in 1803. It was now rebuilt in stone, and the
pharmacy remained there until 1915 (Fig. 4.7). Like so many other old buildings in
Swedish cities, it was demolished by city planners during a wave of destruction in
the 1960s and 1970s.
7
The voting that Schufle referred to was actually the voting of who would be the primus.
4.1 Bergman’s Education in Uppsala
53