Where did Emanuel Swedenborg grow up and live?

📍Gamla Stan, Stockholm, Sweden

1688 – 1772

“I was born Emanuel Swedenborg on the 29th of January 1688 in Stockholm, the son of Jesper Swedenborg, a Lutheran bishop. I was a scientist, engineer, and polymath for the first half of my life — I wrote on metallurgy, astronomy, anatomy, and mathematics, and contributed to the Swedish Board of Mines for decades. At fifty-six I underwent a spiritual crisis and began experiencing visions of the spiritual world. I spent the remaining twenty-seven years of my life writing eighteen volumes describing what I had seen — the nature of heaven and hell, the structure of the afterlife, the spiritual meaning of scripture. I never founded a church during my lifetime but the New Jerusalem Church was established after my death to spread my teachings. Stockholm's Lutheran intellectual tradition and my father's ministry were the foundation.”

👍 LovedThe scientific training that gave my spiritual writings an unusual empirical quality. My father's Lutheran faith that provided the framework. The visions themselves — whatever their source.

👎 DislikedThe scholarly community's dismissal of the spiritual writings. The loneliness of a life that moved from recognised scientific achievement to contested spiritual vision. The question of sanity that the visions raised.

Map showing where Emanuel Swedenborg lived — Gamla Stan, Stockholm, Sweden

🗺️ Approximate location today

Street view of Emanuel Swedenborg's home at Gamla Stan, Stockholm, Sweden

📍 Street view today

Sources: Jonsson, I. Emanuel Swedenborg (1971, translated Catherine Djurklou), Twayne; Swedenborg, E. Heaven and Hell (1758, translated George Dole 2000)