The Hotel Skeppsholmen is a hotel on the islet of

Skeppsholmen Skeppsholmen is one of the islands of Stockholm. It is connected with Blasieholmen and Kastellholmen by bridges. It is accessible by foot from Kungsträdgården, past the Grand Hôtel and Nationalmuseum, by bus number 65, or by boat from Slussen ...

in central

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. The hotel comprises two early buildings, individually known as ''Västra/Östra boställshuset'' ("The Western/Eastern Residence House"), located along the ''Långa raden'' ("The long row"). The two buildings were built in 1699-1702 to accommodate the 200 Drabant guards of

King Charles XII Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII ( sv, Karl XII) or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 O.S.), was King of Sweden (including current Finland) from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of t ...

. They were built to the design of

Nicodemus Tessin the Younger Count Nicodemus Tessin the Younger (May 23, 1654 – April 10, 1728) was a Swedish Baroque architect, city planner, and administrator. The son of Nicodemus Tessin the Elder and the father of Carl Gustaf Tessin, Tessin the Younger was the middle ...

using bricks from several palaces, in Ekolsund,

Gripsholm Gripsholm Castle ( sv, Gripsholms slott) is a castle in Mariefred, Södermanland, Sweden. It is located by lake Mälaren in south central Sweden, in the municipality of Strängnäs, about 60 km west of Stockholm. Since Gustav Vasa, Gripshol ...

Nyköping Nyköping () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Nyköping Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 32,759 inhabitants as of 2017. The city is also the capital of Södermanland County. Including Arnö, the locality on the ...

Eskilstuna Eskilstuna () is a city and the seat of Eskilstuna Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden. The city of Eskilstuna had 67,359 inhabitants in 2015, with a total population of 100,092 inhabitants in Eskilstuna municipality (2014). Eskilstuna has ...

, and

Svartsjö Svartsjö is a smaller locality in Ekerö Municipality, Stockholm County, southeastern Sweden. See also *Svartsjö Palace Svartsjö Palace ( sv, Svartsjö slott, "Black Lake Castle") is a Rococo palace situated in Svartsjö on the island of F� ...

. As Charles spent most of his reign on the battlefields, however, neither building was used for the original purpose, serving instead to house the poor and homeless. Poor and homeless people of Stockholm emerged in great numbers following Sweden's defeat at the

Battle of Poltava The Battle of Poltava; russian: Полта́вская би́тва; uk, Полта́вська би́тва (8 July 1709) was the decisive and largest battle of the Great Northern War. A Russian army under the command of Tsar Peter I defeate ...

in 1709, but were considerably decimated by the

Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...

, which hit the city the following year. As Sweden started to create its fleet of

galley A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be used ...

s in 1715, these two buildings were gradually transformed from hospitals into offices and workshops for the fleet. By the 1770s, when the commissioner's office was relocated to a separate building, the two buildings were exclusively used by the officers and officials on the island as spacious residences, each disposing up to 17 rooms. In the mid 19th century a canteen for clerks and officials was built in the western building, and both buildings together began to be known as the ''Långa raden''. The buildings were refurbished in 1958-1959 to serve the

Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy ( sv, Svenska marinen) is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet () – as well as marine units, the Amphibious Corps (). In Swedish, vessels o ...

administration and the Naval Officers Society (''Sjöofficerssällskapet''). The Naval Officers Society started using the buildings from the mid 19th century onward. In 2009 the two buildings were converted into the Hotel Skeppsholmen, a 79-room hotel. The hotel's reception and restaurant are located in the ''Östra boställshuset'' along with some of the rooms. The ''Västra boställshuset'' contains the remaining rooms. The conversion was led by Stockholm-based architects

Claesson Koivisto Rune Claesson Koivisto Rune is a Swedish architectural partnership, founded in 1995 by Mårten Claesson, Eero Koivisto and Ola Rune. It started as an architectural firm, but has since become a multi-disciplinary office with an equal emphasis on bot ...

. The buildings have been government listed buildings since 1935.

References

External links

*
Hotel website
(in English)

Listed buildings in Sweden {{Sweden-struct-stub