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

Stockholm Municipality Stockholm Municipality or the City of Stockholm ( sv, Stockholms kommun or ) 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, maki ...

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 ...

. It stands on the eastern tip of Kungsholmen island, next to Riddarfjärden's northern shore and facing the islands of Riddarholmen and Södermalm. 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 Eldkvarn was a grand gristmill in central Stockholm that burned in 1878 — an event which was known as "the fire of the century". It was located where today the Stockholm City Hall stands. The mill was built in 1805 for Abraham Niclas Edel ...

. 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 The Stockholm Court House ( sv, Stockholms rådhus) is situated on Kungsholmen in Central Stockholm, Sweden. The building is connected to the Stockholm Police House through an underground pedestrian walkway. The Stockholm City Court was situate ...

. 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 block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

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. The building was inaugurated on 23 June 1923, exactly 400 years after Gustav Vasa's arrival in Stockholm. Verner von Heidenstam and Hjalmar Branting 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 award ceremony. The

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

in the Blue Hall, with its 10,270 pipes, is the largest in Scandinavia. Above the Blue Hall lies the

Golden Hall The Golden Hall (''Jindian'' or ''Jinding''), situated at the top of Tianzhu Peak (1612m), is one of the most distinctive landmarks in Wudangshan. It was built in 1416 during the Ming dynasty. According to local histories, the hall was forged ...

(''Gyllene Salen''), named after the decorative mosaics 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. 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 Roxette was a Swedish pop rock duo, consisting of Marie Fredriksson (vocals and keyboards) and Per Gessle (vocals and guitar). Formed in 1986, the duo became an international act in the late 1980s, when they released their breakthrough second a ...

Stadshusparken

The small park between the building and Lake Mälaren's shore is adorned with several sculptures, among them

Carl Eldh Carl Eldh (10 May 1873 – 26 January 1954) was a Swedish artist and sculptor. Full name: Carl Johan Eldh (signs on artwork as "''C.J. ELDH''"). Older brother to Albert Eldh. Biography Eldh was born in Östhammar Municipality, Uppland, the s ...

'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 scenes of folklife and folklore. Background He was born to a middle-class family of merchants of Jewish ancestry. His uncle, Ludvig Josephso ...

, 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 metalloids such ...

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:Cityhallplanet.jpg, Stockholm City Hall in HDR stereographic projection 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" File:Rådsalen 2009a.jpg, "Rådsalen" 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