Essingen Islands

Map of Stora and Lilla Hessingen in 1829

The Essingen Islands are a group of two islands—Stora Essingen and Lilla Essingen—in the Swedish lake of Mälaren, located southwest of Kungsholmen in Stockholm. On older maps, the islands are called Stora Hessingen and Lilla Hessingen.

The islands were a part of the administrative Bromma Parish until 1916, when they were incorporated with the parish into Stockholm Municipality. They remained a part of Bromma ecclesiastical parish until 1955, when they received their own parish within the Church of Sweden. A bridge was built between the islands and Kungsholmen in 1907, and between the islands themselves in 1917. In 1966, the Essingeleden motorway opened across the islands. The Alviksbron bridge (for pedestrians, bicycles, and trams) opened in 2000.