Gunilla Bell

Updated June 11, 2025

Städtetrip Schweden: Die 20 schönsten Uppsala Sehenswürdigkeiten und Aktivitäten – Familien …

## Gunilla Bell (Gunillaklockan) in Uppsala: the watch bell that still rings at 06:00 and 21:00

Gunilla Bell—Gunillaklockan in Swedish—is a historic watch/curfew bell positioned on Bastion Styrbiskop just outside Uppsala Castle (Uppsala slott). It’s one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks, and it still marks time in a very literal way: it rings every morning at 06:00 and every evening at 21:00. Uppsala

### Quick facts (from your place data + official sources)
– Place name: Gunilla Bell (Gunillaklockan) Uppsala
– Type: Historical landmark (your dataset)
– Address: Slottet, 752 37 Uppsala, Sweden Uppsala
– Coordinates (your dataset): 59.854151, 17.6341143
– Listed rating (your dataset): 4.4/5
– Daily ringing times: 06:00 and 21:00 Uppsala

## Where it is and why you’ll notice it fast

The bell sits in an open belfry on Bastion Styrbiskop, right by Uppsala Castle, and it’s repeatedly described as a landmark that stands out in Uppsala’s cityscape. Uppsala
The bastion area itself is presented as a place for walking paths and city views, which helps explain why “beautiful scenery” shows up in your source description.

## The purpose: a bell that controlled the city’s daily rhythm

Gunillaklockan is described as a watch bell used historically to mark the beginning and end of the day. Uppsala
A separate local-history page goes further on function and meaning: the evening ringing signaled that townspeople should head home and close up for the night, while the morning ringing marked the start of a new day and the end of the night watch. Uppsala

This is one of those details that turns a quick photo stop into something more grounded: you’re not looking at a decorative object. You’re looking at a piece of timekeeping infrastructure that shaped behavior in the city.

## A short, sourced timeline of the bell

Here’s what the most direct sources agree on:

– 1588: The bell was donated/financed by Queen Gunilla Bielke, the second wife of King John III (Johan III). Uppsala
– Original placement (castle context): It was intended for (or associated with) the castle church, but instead became part of the castle’s timekeeping—hanging from a beam in the southeastern tower. Uppsala
– 1702: A major castle fire is consistently referenced as the turning point after which the bell’s role as a daily town bell continued. Uppsala
– 18th-century recasting / “renewal”:
– Two official-style sources state it was recast in 1752 and then hung in the current belfry on Bastion Styrbiskop. Uppsala
– A separate Uppsala history page quotes an inscription that ends with Anno 1759, describing a “renewal” under King Adolf Fredrik. Uppsala

Because these sources don’t give the same single year, the only fully safe way to state it is: the bell was recast/renewed in the 1750s after the 1702 fire, with 1752 and 1759 both specifically documented depending on the source and framing.

## The setting: Bastion Styrbiskop and Uppsala’s fortress engineering

The bell isn’t isolated—it’s part of a broader defensive landscape at the castle. The bastion front is described as a component of Uppsala Castle’s fortifications, with earthworks and bastions representing early modern military engineering.
The same site also explains that the castle complex and bastion system traces back to the mid-1500s, with Gustav Vasa commissioning modern fortifications, and mentions that the bastion design drew inspiration from Italian models.

If you’re writing this up for readers, that’s the connective tissue: Gunillaklockan is memorable because it sits where timekeeping, royal power, and defensive architecture overlap.

## On-site practicals that are actually documented

I’m not going to guess opening hours or access rules that aren’t clearly stated, but a few visitor-relevant details are explicitly listed:

– Facilities nearby (as published):
– Café: at the Uppsala Art Museum
– Restrooms: in the Uppsala Castle History Exhibition and Uppsala Art Museum Uppsala

– Public visiting (castle context):
Sweden’s National Property Board notes that since 2004 there has been the possibility for the public to visit parts of the original Vasaborgen (the early Vasa-era castle/ruins) as part of experiencing the older castle atmosphere.

## What you can responsibly say about “the view”

It’s common for travel content to oversell views. Here, you don’t need to. One official description of the bastion front explicitly frames it as a place with promenades/walking paths and views over the city.
That’s enough to support a factual “scenic” claim without inventing specifics about what’s visible on a given day.

## Notes on data freshness and what I’m not claiming

– The ringing times (06:00 / 21:00) are stated directly in multiple sources I accessed. Uppsala
– I did not find a single, unambiguous, authoritative statement for current opening hours for the broader site area in the sources above, so I’m not including them.
– Your rating (4.4) is treated here strictly as “the rating in your dataset,” not as a verified platform rating.

## Internal links
You asked for two contextual internal links, but I can’t add factual internal URLs without access to your RealJourneyTravels.com structure (and I won’t invent links). If you already have them, the two most contextually relevant internal destinations for this piece are:
– a Uppsala travel guide / city overview
– a Uppsala Castle (Uppsala slott) guide or history article

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