Lund Market Hall

Attraction About ½ hour
Mon-Fri 10:00-18:00
Sat 10:00-15:00
No entrance See also
Market Places in Lund
The more than 100-year-old Market Hall is one of the coziest places in Lund. The residents in Lund have been shopping for delicacies such as meat and fish there since 1909, and since 2009 there are also several restaurants. In this visitor guide you find information about the history and some of the shops located there nowadays. One business that moved into the Market Hall right from the start, and is still there today, is Holmgren's charcuterie. This visitor's guide also tells about Lund's two famous sausages, Knake and Lunna Melle.

Also see the Market Hall website for information on deviant opening hours.

The debate about the meat trade in turn-of-the-1900-century

In the 1890s, Clemens Square (Clemenstorget) was established, and the cattle trade was moved there, while Mårtens Square (Mårtenstorget) continued to be used for potatoes and vegetables trade. At the same time, there was still trade of meat and charcuterie on the Main Square (Stortorget), where the butchers stored their goods in covered wagons in the late 1800s. But at that time, there came demands for better hygiene when trading fresh food like meat and other groceries. On September 7, 1899, the newspaperman and municipal politician Christian Bülow submitted a petition to the city council in which he wrote:

“The conditions under which the meat and fish trade in particular takes place is as, in a well-ordered society, should have been condemned long ago. The inconvenience of exposing the food in the open market to excessive heat, excessive humidity and smoke, not to mention dust and other impurities, has long been conspicuous and requires a quick remedy.”

The petition concluded with a proposal to investigate the possibilities of building a Market Hall for meat and fish trade. On December 15, 1899, the City Council decided to appoint a committee of inquiry. However, it would take almost ten more years before a Market Hall was completed.

The Market Hall committee of inquiry, which consisted of the newspaperman Christian Bülow himself, city veterinarian Eduard Bohm and captain Otto Sigfrid Dreilick, visited Market Halls in several other cities both in Sweden and abroad. In a letter to the city council on October 23, 1900, they proposed that a Market Hall should be built and enclosed a proposal by architect A.B. Jacobsson. The proposal was only for trading in meat, pork, fish and similar food. The committee did not want to allow vegetable trade in the Market Hall because that caused the most uncleanness in the Market Halls they had visited. In addition, without space for vegetable trading, the Market Hall could be made a little smaller.

Map from 1907 marked with a red circle where the Market Hall was built. When the city council considered the petition on January 31, 1902, a detached Market Hall was proposed located between the street Vårfrugatan and the Mårtens Square (Mårtenstorget). However, the city council decided that the petition should be postponed. Then nothing happened until 1905, when the question was raised again. At that time, it was decided that new drawings and a cost estimate would be developed, but also evaluate a proposal to build the Market Hall at the Clemens Square (Clemenstorget) instead. At this time, a few years before the Market Hall was built, outside trading in meat and fish was banned.

On January 25, 1907, the city council finally decided that the Market Hall should be built between the street Vårfrugatan and Mårtens Square (Mårtenstorget), according to drawings made by the architect Salomon Sörensen. Two years later, on April 21, 1909, the new Market Hall was inaugurated and the fresh food and meat trading moved in. At the same time, the remaining trade in fruit and vegetables moved from the Main Square (Stortorget) to the Mårtens Square (Mårtenstorget).

The Market Hall history

From the beginning, the Market Hall had one larger and two smaller halls. In the larger hall there was room for 70 sales stands. Thirty of them, intended for meat sale, were placed around the walls. Others, intended for vegetable and charcuterie products, were placed in four groups of 10 sales stands each.

One of the two smaller halls had 8 sales stands dedicated to trading cheese and butter. The other smaller hall had 11 sales stands intended for fish. Each of them had a cistern for storing live fish.

In the roof, you can still see the iron structure, which is the same to this day. The old clock on the wall is also still there. Two low-pressure boilers kept the temperature in the Market Hall stable at around 8 degrees C. The temperature would probably not be appreciated today. In addition, there was a café in a wing building facing the street Västra Mårtensgatan.

The roof was supported by an iron construction made by Carl Holmberg's mechanical workshop in Lund. That iron construction is still the same.

When the Market Hall was opened, a board was appointed, which also managed the sales stands at the various squares in the city. The board's regulations stated, among other things, that the sales stands could only be staffed with "neatly dressed people" and that the staff were not allowed to smoke or consume alcoholic beverages in the hall. However, it was allowed for customers.

A Market Hall with empty sales stands

Already from the beginning, it was hard to get all the sales stands in the new Market Hall rented out. At opening, there were several meat traders and stands selling fish, game meat, butter and cheese. But many of the sales stands in the Market Hall were empty and much of the fish trading remained outside at the Mårtens Square (Mårtenstorget).

The restriction against spitting on the floor still applies, but there is no sign today. The Market Hall board tried to reduce fees, but many of the market traders thought that the sales stands in the Market Hall were too narrow and tight, and the air was too bad. The Market Hall Board also tried to solve the rental issue by proposing a relocation of the market stands at the Mårtens Square (Mårtenstorget). However, the market traders did not want to rent a specific place in the square or move into the Market Hall. Instead, they moved around from place to place to avoid paying any fee. We have not found any information about how the conflict was resolved.

In 1922, a new refrigeration system was installed in the Marekt Hall basement, and in 1948 the new and better lighting was installed, after pressure from all the traders renting sales stands at the time.

During the 1950s, the Market Hall was perceived as too worn and outdated, and it was questioned whether it should remain. In a letter to the Lund Board of Health in 1951, the city veterinarian pointed out several food hygiene deficiencies associated with the Market Hall and the fish market on the Mårtens Square (Mårtenstorget).

However, nothing happened until 1956, when the city council decided to install public toilets, and changing- and storage rooms in the Market Hall basement. Two years later, in 1958, funds were allocated for renovation and extensive cleaning of the entire Market Hall. In 963, the café was redeemed so that space could be used for other purposes.

The Market Hall as a multi-purpose house with nannies

The Market Hall in the 1950s. The Market Hall existence continued to be debated throughout the 1960s, and in 1967 the newly appointed City Health Inspector wanted to condemn it. But at that time, there were four meat traders, and seven different fish stands in the Market Hall, and the number of customers had increased by 10–15 percent.

In 1967, Professor Sten Samuelsson was commissioned to investigate whether the Market Hall should be retained or replaced with a new commercial building. In 1968, the group "Friends of the Market Hall" was formed. They wanted to convert it into a multi-purpose community center, and they managed to collect 2,000 signatures supporting that proposal. In the proposal, the group wanted the building to contain space for meditative play, a large foam rubber pool, slides and nannies, and space for rest and "refreshment".

The discussion continued, and in 1974 the municipality decided to renovate the Market Hall. The traders must move to pavilions that were placed on the Botulfs Square (Botulfsplatsen). In April 1975, they were able to move back into the renovated Market Hall, although with much higher rent payments. In 1984, the traders themselves paid for another renovation, which resulted in several small places to eat. The most recent renovation was done in 2009, when the Market Hall got its current appearance. In the old part to the east there are shops and in the new part to the west, with large glass sections facing Botulfs Square (Botulfsplatsen), there are restaurants.

The Market Hall today

People who come to the Market Hall today are probably happy that it was not demolished. Most Lund residents appreciate the Market Hall, and any demolition is no longer discussed.

Petersborg's sales stand in Lund Market Hall. In the large older part, you can buy delicacies such as meat, fish, cheese and confectionery of high quality. On the second floor, you can buy a good wine at Systembolaget (the Swedish alcohol monopoly shop) to drink with the delicacies.

In the restaurant part, you will find some very good restaurants and many people go there for lunch. Some of the restaurants are also open in the evening. In the large older part, the iron construction that supports the roof remains. Even the clock on the wall, which you see in one of the older pictures, is still there.

One of the delicatessens in the Market Hall is the Petersborg sales stand. Petersborg farm, located in Smedstorp in Österlen, grows and produces genuine Scanian mustard, but also fruit and vegetables. The sales stand opened in the Market Hall in 2010, and sell both own groceries produced at the farm in Österlen, and food from other producers. One of the delicatessens in the Market Hall is the Petersborg sales stand. Petersborg farm, located in Smedstorp in Österlen, grows and produces genuine Scanian mustard, but also fruit and vegetables. The sales stand opened in the Market Hall in 2010, and sell both own groceries produced at the farm in Österlen, and food from other producers.

Holmgren charcuterie - The oldest sales stand in the Market Hall

Elna and Nils Holmgren One trader that moved into the Market Hall right from the start, and is still there today, is Holmgren's charcuterie. The business started November 14, 1898, on the street Tomegatan here in Lund by Nils Holmgren and his wife Elna. From 1900, they traded their charcuterie products from a carriage at Stortorget.

Nils and Elna's daughter Helga married Wilhelm Ahlfors, who worked in another meat sales stand, owned by Arthur and Amalia Borglin, also located in the Market Hall. Helga and Wilhelm took over Holmgren charcuterie and ran it together. In 1951, they bought Arthur and Amalia Borglin's meat sales stand and merged the two businesses.

Nils Holmgren charcuterie at Lund Main Square (Stortorget) in Lund 1907.	Holmgren charcuterie in Lund Market Hall, probably in the 1950s.

After Wilhelm died, Helga continued to run Holmgren charcuterie until their sons Leif and Lennart Ahlfors took over the business. Helga worked in Holmgren sales stand for about 60 years.

Knake and Lunna Melle - Sausage from Lund

Knake and Lunna Melle are two different, but similar, kinds of sausages made in Lund. They have become famous far beyond Lund.

Knake and Lunna Melle, two different kinds of sausages made in Lund. Knake, which from start was made in the Market Hall, can still be bought at Holmgren sales stand. It derives from Arthur and Amalia Borglin's meat sales stand in the Market Hall. In the 1910s they began to produce their own version of German knackwurst. Nils Holmberg's son-in-law, Wilhelm Ahlfors who bought Borglin's business in 1951, composed the spice mix since then used in the sausage known as Knake, together with a butcher from Marieholm. It is a high-quality sausage, consisting of 80 percent meat, and is produced in a factory in Lund.

In 2002, after a schism, four employees resigned and started the company Lundachark, making a similar sausage, which they started to sell in December 2022 under the name Lunna Melle. Which of the sausages one prefers or thinks taste best is up to each one to decide.