Stockholm City Hall (, ''Stadshuset'' locally) is the seat of

Stockholm Municipality Stockholm Municipality () or the City of Stockholm () is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. It has the largest population of the 290 municipalities of the country, but one of the smallest areas, making it the second most ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. It stands on the eastern tip of Kungsholmen island, next to Riddarfjärden's northern shore and facing the islands of Riddarholmen and

Södermalm Södermalm, often shortened to just Söder, is the southern district of Stockholm City Centre. Overview The Södermalm district covers the island of the same name (formerly called ''Åsön''), which, however, is not fully separated from th ...

. It houses offices and conference rooms as well as ceremonial halls. It is the venue of the Nobel Prize banquet and is one of Stockholm's major tourist attractions.

Site and construction

In 1907, the city council decided to build a new city hall at the former site of Eldkvarn. An architectural design competition was held, which first resulted in the selection of drafts by Ragnar Östberg, Carl Westman, Ivar Tengbom jointly with Ernst Torulf, and Carl Bergsten. After a further competition between Westman and Östberg, the latter was assigned the construction of the City Hall, while the former was asked to build Stockholm Court House. Östberg modified his original draft using elements of Westman's design, including the tower. During construction, Östberg constantly reworked his plans, resulting in the addition of the lantern on top of the tower, and the abandonment of the blue glazed tiles in the Blue Hall. Oskar Asker was employed as construction leader and Paul Toll, of builders Kreuger & Toll, designed the foundations. Georg Greve also assisted in preparing the plans. Construction took twelve years, from 1911 to 1923. Nearly eight million red

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

s were used. The dark red bricks, called "munktegel" (monks's brick) because of their traditional use in the construction of monasteries and churches, were provided by Lina brickworks of

Södertälje Södertälje ( , ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in Stockholm County, Sweden and seat of Södertälje Municipality. It is also a part of Stockholm urban area, Greater Stockholm Metropolitan Area. As of 2020, it has 73,872 inhabitants. Södert� ...

. The building was inaugurated on Saturday 23 June 1923, which was believed to be the 400th anniversary of Gustav Vasa's entrance into Stockholm in 1523. However, the anniversary was actually on 4 July, because it occurred on 24 June 1523 in the

Julian calendar The Julian calendar is a solar calendar of 365 days in every year with an additional leap day every fourth year (without exception). The Julian calendar is still used as a religious calendar in parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church and in parts ...

, which would be 4 July 1523 in the Gregorian. Verner von Heidenstam and

Hjalmar Branting Karl Hjalmar Branting (; 23 November 1860 – 24 February 1925) was a Swedish politician who was the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party (SAP) from 1907 until his death in 1925, and three times Prime Minister of Sweden. When Branting c ...

delivered the inaugurational speeches.

Architecture and style

Stockholm City Hall is an example of National Romantic style. The site, overlooking Riddarfjärden, inspired a central motif, namely the juxtaposition of city architecture and water that represents a central feature of Stockholm's cityscape as a whole. The hall's style is one of refined eclecticism, blending massive, austere, Northern European brick construction with whimsical elements reminiscent of Venetian Gothic architecture, such as turrets adorned with golden starlets, decorated balconies, wooden masts, and statues. The Blue Hall, with its straight walls and arcades, incorporates elements of a formal courtyard. Its walls are in fact without blue decorations; the name derives from Östberg's first draft, and is notable as the dining hall where banquets are held after the annual

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

award ceremony. The organ in the Blue Hall, with its 10,270 pipes, is the largest in Scandinavia. Above the Blue Hall lies the Golden Hall (''Gyllene Salen''), named after the decorative

mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

s made of more than 18 million tiles. The mosaics make use of motifs from Swedish history. They were executed by the Berlin, Germany, firm of Puhl & Wagner (Gottfried Heinersdorff), after nine years of negotiations by Gottfried Heinersdorff (1883–1941) for the commission. The southeast corner of the building, immediately adjacent to the shore, is dominated by a monumental tower topped with the Three Crowns, the Swedish

national symbol A national symbol is a manifestation of a nation or community, serving as a representation of their National identity, identity and values. National symbols may be not only applied to sovereign states but also nations and countries in a state of ...

. The tower is 106 metres high and is accessible by lift or a 365 step staircase. The eastern side of its base is decorated with the gold-plated cenotaph of 13th century Swedish statesman Birger Jarl. Stockholm City Hall has been the location of a number of cultural productions, including the 1991 music video Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave) by Swedish pop duo Roxette.

Stadshusparken

The small park between the building and Lake Mälaren's shore is adorned with several sculptures, among them Carl Eldh's ensemble representing the artists August Strindberg, Gustaf Fröding and

Ernst Josephson Ernst Abraham Josephson (1851–1906) was a Swedish painter and poet. He specialized in portraits, Genre art, genre scenes of folklife and folklore. Background He was born to a middle-class family of merchants of Jewish ancestry. His uncle Lud ...

, as well as Eldh's

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

sculptures "Sången" and "Dansen" ("The Song" and "The Dance"). To the south-east of the city hall, facing Riddarholmen, is a pillar topped with a statue of Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson.

Gallery

File:Stadshuset mot nordost 2012.jpg, Stockholms City Hall Tower File:Stockholm-city-hall.jpg, Stockholm City Hall at night. File:Stadshuset Hof 1.jpg, Stockholm City Hall, inneryard File:Inner courtyard of city hall, Stockholm.jpg, Inner courtyard of Stockholm City Hall File:Gyllene salen 2009.jpg, Golden room with "Mälardrottning". File:Blå hallen 2009.jpg, "Blå hallen" (Blue Hall) File:Rådsalen 2009a.jpg, "Rådsalen" (Red Room) File:Stockholm City hall.jpg, Stockholm City Hall on a summer evening. File:Stadshuset vinter 2006.jpg, Stockholm City Hall on a winter day. File:Stadshustornet 2009a.jpg, The bells File:Stadshustornet 2009c.jpg, Sankt Erik in tower museum File:Stadshustornet 2009d.jpg, The towermuseum File:Stadshustornet 2009g.jpg, View to north-east File:Stockholm Stadshuset sept2010.jpg, Stockholm City Hall at dusk File:Stockholm City Hall ilummniated by night.jpg, alt=A city building with a space picture projected on the side, Stockholm City Hall lit up in a 2020 art project during Nobel Week

References

External links