Börshuset Turns 250 – Stockholms Borgerskap Shaped Stockholm’s Business Life

This year marks 250 years since Börshuset was first put into use and the first assemblies were held in the building. Börshuset became an important meeting place for Stockholm’s trade and remains one of the clearest examples of the role the city’s burghers and merchants played in its development. Behind Börshuset was Stockholms Borgerskap, an organisation that still brings together business owners and entrepreneurs and uses its resources to contribute to the development of the city. 

Completed in 1778, Börshuset became a central meeting place for Stockholm’s trade and business community. The city’s burghers played a central role in financing, constructing and operating the building, while also contributing to Stockholm’s economy, infrastructure, education and social care over several centuries. 

Today, Stockholms Borgerskap is a non-profit and politically independent organisation bringing together around 3,000 business owners and entrepreneurs across industries and generations. Over the past ten years, approximately SEK 20 million has been distributed through scholarships, grants and contributions in areas including education, entrepreneurship, architecture, culture and elderly care.

“Börshuset is a tangible example of how Stockholm’s burghers once took responsibility for the city’s development. Today, the conditions are different, but people who dare to start and run businesses, invest and create jobs are still essential to a vibrant city,” says Pia Clark, CEO of Stockholms Borgerskap