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 Kungsholmen is an island in Lake Mälaren in Sweden, part of central Stockholm, Sweden. It is situated north of Riddarfjärden and considered part of the historical province Uppland. Its area is with a perimeter of . The highest point is at ...

island, next to

Riddarfjärden Riddarfjärden (, "The Knight Firth") is the easternmost bay of Mälaren, Lake Mälaren in central Stockholm. Stockholm was founded in 1252 on an island in the stream where Lake Mälaren (from the west) drains into the Baltic Sea (to the east); to ...

's northern shore and facing the islands of

Riddarholmen Riddarholmen (, "The Knights' Islet") is a small islet in central Stockholm, Sweden. The island forms part of Gamla Stan, the old town, and houses a number of private palaces dating back to the 17th century. The main landmark is the church Riddarh ...

and

Södermalm Södermalm, often shortened to just Söder, is a district and island in central Stockholm. Overview The district covers the large island of the same name (formerly called ''Åsön''). Although Södermalm usually is considered an island, wat ...

. 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 An architectural design competition is a type of design competition in which an organization that intends on constructing a new building invites architects to submit design proposals. The winning design is usually chosen by an independent panel ...

was held, which first resulted in the selection of drafts by

Ragnar Östberg Ragnar Östberg (14 July 1866 – 5 February 1945) was a Swedish architect who is best known for designing Stockholm City Hall. Biography Östberg was born in Stockholm, Sweden. His parents were Carl Östberg and Erika Kindahl. Between 1884 a ...

Carl Westman Ernst Carl Westman (20 February 1866 – 23 January 1936) was a Swedish architect and interior designer. He was an early adopter of the National Romantic Style, but turned later to the neo-classical style of the 1920s. Biography Carl Westman ...

Ivar Tengbom Ivar Justus Tengbom (April 7, 1878 – August 6, 1968) was a Swedish architect and one of the best-known representatives of the Swedish neo-classical architecture of the 1910s and 1920s. Tengbom was born in Vireda in Jönköping County, stu ...

jointly with

Ernst Torulf Ernst is both a surname and a given name, the German, Dutch, and Scandinavian form of Ernest. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Adolf Ernst (1832–1899) German botanist known by the author abbreviation "Ernst" * Anton Ernst (1975-) ...

, and

Carl Bergsten Carl Gustaf Bergsten (10 May 1879 in Norrköping - 22 April 1935 in Stockholm) was a Swedish architect. He graduated in 1901 from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology and three years later from the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts in Stock ...

. 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 Georg C. F. Greve (born 10 March 1973 in Helgoland, Germany) is a software developer, physicist, author and currently co-founder and president at Vereign. He has been working on technology politics since he founded the Free Software Foundation ...

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 Södertälje ( , ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in Södermanland and Stockholm County, Sweden and seat of Södertälje Municipality. As of 2017, it has 72,704 inhabitants. Södertälje is located at Mälarens confluence in to the Baltic Sea ...

. The building was inaugurated on 23 June 1923, exactly 400 years after

Gustav Vasa Gustav I, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known as Gustav Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560, previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm ('' Riksföre ...

's arrival in Stockholm.

Verner von Heidenstam Carl Gustaf Verner von Heidenstam (6 July 1859 – 20 May 1940) was a Swedish poet, novelist and laureate of the 1916 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1912. His poems and prose work are filled with a great joy ...

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 cam ...

delivered the inaugurational speeches.

Architecture and style

Stockholm City Hall is an example of

National Romantic style The National Romantic style was a Nordic architectural style that was part of the National Romantic movement during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is often considered to be a form of Art Nouveau. The National Romantic style spread ...

. 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 Venetian Gothic is the particular form of Italian Gothic architecture typical of Venice, originating in local building requirements, with some influence from Byzantine architecture, and some from Islamic architecture, reflecting Venice's trading ...

, 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 ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

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 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 in ...

(''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, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

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 Puhl & Wagner was the largest German company for the production of glass mosaics and stained glass. Based in Berlin and headquartered in Neukölln, the company traded from 1889 to 1969. From 1914 to 1933, the firm was known as Puhl & Wagner Gottfri ...

(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 Three Crowns ( sv, tre kronor, links=no) is the national emblem of Sweden, present in the coat of arms of Sweden, and composed of three yellow or Gilding, gilded coronets ordered two above and one below, placed on a blue background. Similar de ...

, the Swedish

national symbol A national symbol is a symbol of any entity considering and manifesting itself to the world as a national community: the sovereign states but also nations and countries in a state of colonial or other dependence, federal integration, or even an ...

. 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 A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...

of 13th century Swedish statesman

Birger Jarl Birger Jarl, also known as ''Birger Magnusson'' (21 October 1266), was a Swedish statesman, ''jarl'', and a member of the House of Bjelbo, who played a pivotal role in the consolidation of Sweden. Birger also led the Second Swedish Crusade, w ...

. 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) "Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave)" is a song by Swedish pop rock duo Roxette from their third studio album, '' Joyride'' (1991). Written by Per Gessle and produced by Clarence Öfwerman, the song was released as the second single from ' ...

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's ensemble representing the artists

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...

Gustaf Fröding Gustaf Fröding (; 22 August 1860 – 8 February 1911) was a Swedish poet and writer, born in Alster outside Karlstad in Värmland. The family moved to Kristinehamn in the year 1867. He later studied at Uppsala University and worked as a journali ...

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

, is a pillar topped with a statue of

Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson (1390s – 27 April/4 May 1436) was a Swedish nobleman, rebel leader and military boss of German ancestry. He was the leader of the Engelbrekt rebellion in 1434 against Eric of Pomerania, king of the Kalmar Union. En ...

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