What is the oldest building in Stockholm?
Architecture in Stockholm
The buildings that survive from this period are mostly churches and royal buildings, since these were built from more durable materials than most other buildings from that period. Birger Jarls torn ("The Tower Of Birger Jarl") was considered the oldest building in the entire city, however, it is now known to have been erected by Gustav Vasa in the 16th century. The Riddarholmen Church from the late 13th century is considered to be the oldest surviving building in Stockholm. While it came to serve as the church of choice for royal burials, another church, the Storkyrkan ("Great Church") came to be used for coronations. Both of the churches have been redesign several times since their erection.
Walls of Stockholm
Even the city wall construction differ in concepts. It may have been a granite-stone wall with an upper section of bricks. The west side, probably started as part of Åsbranten, while the eastern wall stood alone, both being approximately 7 meters high. Stockholm's oldest city walls may also have been a wooden construction, a type of palisade, which could well explain why it has not to date been found.
Stockholm Observatory
The Stockholm Observatory (, 050) is an astronomical observatory and institution in Stockholm, Sweden, founded in the 18th century and today part of Stockholm University. In 1931, the new Stockholm Observatory (, 052), nicknamed "Saltis", was inaugurated on the Karlsbaderberget at Saltsjöbaden, near Stockholm, and operated until 2001.
Söder Torn
Söder Torn (English: Söder Tower) is a highrise building at Fatburstrappan 18 by Fatbursparken on Södermalm in Stockholm. The building was originally designed to be 40 floors, but when it was finished in 1997 it was only 86 metres tall and contained 24 floors of flats. Söder Torn is, shared with Skatteskrapan, the tallest residential building in Stockholm.
Historical fires of Stockholm
The most famous factory fire was Eldkvarn in eastern Kungsholmen, which burned on October 31, 1878. The event gave rise to the phrase "not since Eldkvarn burned" in the sense of "a very long time ago". Eldkvarn was a steam-powered mill, hence the name. The fire, believed to have been caused by flour dust falling onto a gaslamp which ignited, started just before 17:01 two floors up in the northeast corner of the house no. 1 at Hantverkargatan. The mill could continue to grind after the fire and was used up to 1906. On the Eldkvarn plot, with the block name of Eldkvarn, the Stockholm City Hall was later built.
Vadstena Town Hall
The town hall is the oldest surviving town hall in Sweden. It was built during the 15th and 16th centuries. It is located on "Rådhustorget", the oldest square of Vadstena which derives its name from the town hall.
Architecture in Stockholm
Architecture in Stockholm has a history that dates back to the 13th century, possibly even earlier. The buildings in Stockholm are characterized by its unique location between Lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The Hanseatic League during the great period of industrialization saw a strong desire to modernize the city.
Gamla stan
Gamla stan (, "The Old Town"), until 1980 officially Staden mellan broarna ("The Town between the Bridges"), is the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Gamla stan consists primarily of the island Stadsholmen. Officially, but not colloquially, Gamla stan includes the surrounding islets Riddarholmen, Helgeandsholmen, and Strömsborg.
The Glaucus Block
The oldest mention of the buildings in the block is from the year 1420, where there was two stone houses along Österlånggatan. Between the houses, a now-abandoned alley went through the block. By the water lied a wooden keep, it was torn around the year 1430. Later during the 1400s, Sten Sture the Elder let the elderly begin the foundation work for a building, probably intended as a warehouse, in the southwest part of the block. The Construction project is mentioned in Stockholms tänkebok (a type of protocol book used in the medeival period) from the year 1492. Construction stalled in 1495 as the area was hit by a massive fire.
Stockholm
Stockholm's core, the present Old Town (Gamla Stan) was built on the central island next to Helgeandsholmen from the mid-13th century onward. The city originally rose to prominence as a result of the Baltic trade of the Hanseatic League. Stockholm developed strong economic and cultural linkages with Lübeck, Hamburg, Gdańsk, Visby, Reval, and Riga during this time. Between 1296 and 1478 Stockholm's City Council was made up of 24 members, half of whom were selected from the town's German-speaking burghers.
Gamla bankhuset
Gamla bankhuset in Umeå, Sweden is a listed yellow two-storey stone building in Neo-Renaissance style that was built in 1877. The building is located at Storgatan 34, by the north stronghold of the bridge Tegsbron. Because of the building's rounded corners it has been nicknamed Smörasken (the "Butter dish").
Stockholm Palace
In 1956 to 1958, Gustav III's Museum of Antiquities was restored. Architect and Chief Intendant Ivar Tengbom was appointed for the work. The Treasury was opened in 1970 and the Tre Kronor Museum in 1999. In 2018 600 solar panels were installed on the roof of the palace and are expected to generate an annual output of 170 MWh or at least twelve percent of the palace’s annual electricity consumption.
Swedish heraldry
Sigtuna (990), one of the oldest cities in Sweden, is known for its Viking Age history and rune stones. In medieval times, coins were minted at Sigtuna, and legend suggests it was the royal seat for a time, signified by the crown on its arms. The crown appeared in the city seal in 1311, and carried through to the municipal arms granted in 1971. Blazon: "Azure, a crown Or between three mullets argent."
Kalmar (1100) has the oldest known city arms in Sweden, depicting a fortified tower ("borgtorn") and dating to 1247. The two stars were added by the end of the 13th century, and the arms have remained virtually unchanged to date. Blazon: "Argent, a tower embattled gules, with door and windows Or, issuing from a wavy base azure, between two mullets of six points gules."
Arboga (13th century), settled in the 10th century, has been a city since 1480 and was the site of the first Riksdag of the Estates assembled in 1435. Arboga's city arms originated from a city seal dating from 1330. The original city seal showed an eagle with three roundels placed one on each wing and the tail, and a letter "A" between two stars. The "A" was omitted and the stars moved onto the eagle's wings in 1969, and the same arms granted to the municipality in 1974. Blazon: "Argent, an eagle sable, beaked langued and armed gules, each wing charged with a mullet of six points Or."
Malmö (1250) is the third largest city in Sweden. Malmö's arms, granted by royal decree of Eric of Pomerania in 1437, survive virtually unchanged today and, together with Halmstad, are unique in having a helmet and crest included in the achievement of arms. Malmö's City Archives still preserve the letter written April 23, 1437 by Eric, granting his own griffin head arms to the city. Blazon: "Argent, a griffin head [erased] gules crowned Or; the same upon the helmet, issuing from the crown a bundle of ostrich feathers argent and gules."
Stockholm (1250) is the largest city and present-day capital of Sweden. The original city seal depicted a city, but in 1376, the head of Saint Erik was introduced and remains in the city's seal to present day. In the 1920s, the city arms were revised, based upon a church icon said to represent Saint Olaf, although the blazon clearly indicates Saint Erik as the intended subject, and these arms were officially granted in 1934. Blazon: "Azure, a crowned head of Saint Erik [couped] Or."
Storkyrkan
Storkyrkan was first mentioned in a written source dated 1279 and according to tradition was originally built by Birger Jarl, the founder of the city itself. For nearly four hundred years it was the only parish church in the city, the other churches of comparable antiquity originally being built to serve the spiritual needs of religious communities (e.g., Riddarholm Church). It became a Lutheran Protestant church in 1527. The parish church since the Middle Ages of the Nikolai parish, covering the whole island on which the Old Town stands, it has also been the cathedral of Stockholm since the Diocese of Stockholm was created out of the Archdiocese of Uppsala and the Diocese of Strängnäs in 1942. Because of its convenient size and its proximity to the earlier royal castle and the present royal palace it has frequently been the site of major events in Swedish history, such as coronations, royal wedding and royal funerals. The last Swedish king to be crowned here was Oscar II in 1873. Crown Princess Victoria, oldest daughter of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, was married to Daniel Westling on 19 June 2010 at the Storkyrkan, the anniversary of her parents' marriage in Storkyrkan in 1976.
Södra Bankohuset
During the second half of the 15th century, Stockholm was being transformed into a city built in stone and the Scales House present in Vädersolstavlan, a painting depicting an event in 1535 and the oldest known colour image of the city, was probably built in the 1460s, an assumption confirmed both by historical records and dendrochronological samples. It is depicted as a one-storey brick building with a stepped gable and white blind windows, a crane hanging over the round arched portal facing the square. A clock was added in the mid-16th century together with a shed for foreign merchants to keep their goods. As two stories were added to the Scales House in 1596-1603, the shed was enlarged into a warehouse and the entire structure transformed into a Renaissance building furnished with an elaborated stone portal, horizontal sandstone fillets, volutes and finials, and a ridge turret covered in copper. Stone tables on the front gable were painted in blue and furnished with gilded crowns and the inscription "1603". One of these can still be found in the entrance facing Skeppsbron.
History of Stockholm
While this demand for housing was mostly dealt with by private entrepreneurs who built on pure speculation, street width and building heights were strictly regulated by the new city plans which ensured the city that evolved was given a uniform design. A trend initiated by the Bünsow House at Strandvägen, the 1880s saw many monumental brick buildings evolve, including Gamla Riksarkivet and the Norstedt Building on Riddarholmen. Before the end of the decade most new buildings were equipped with electricity and telephones were increasingly common. During the 1890, the Neo-Renaissance plaster architecture was replaced by structures in brick and natural stone, largely inspired by French Renaissance architecture. Around what still was factories outside the customs of Stockholm, shacks whose sanitary conditions defied all description evolved. Before the end of the century, however, these were transformed into municipal societies, which facilitated regulation of health and construction, and by the turn of the century the expansion had continued far beyond the city limits, with villa suburbs initiated by individuals adding a mix of purely speculative structures and more qualitative ambitions. The new century saw the introduction of Art Nouveau with the Central Post Office Building by Boberg (1898–1904) and Neo-Baroque with the Riksdag (1894–1906). Throughout the 1910s, trams were electrified and cars were rolling on the streets of Stockholm.
Stortorget
Stortorget (. "The Big Square") is a small public square in Gamla Stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. It is the oldest square in Stockholm, the historical centre on which the medieval urban conglomeration gradually came into being. Today, the square is frequented by tens of thousands of tourists annually, and is occasionally the scene for demonstrations and performances. It is traditionally renowned for its annual Christmas market offering traditional handicrafts and food.
Museum of Medieval Stockholm
The museum enables visitors to experience medieval Stockholm, with its brick houses and booths, workshops, harbour and gallows. It relates the medieval history of the city from the 1250s to the 1520s. In 2010, to celebrate 800 years since the birth of Birger Jarl, the founder of Stockholm, the museum opened an exhibition with a reconstruction of his face.
Stortorget
Today, Stortorget is the location of the Stock Exchange Building ("Börshuset"), which houses the Swedish Academy, the Nobel Museum, and the Nobel Library. Designed by Erik Palmstedt and built 1773–1776, it replaced the town hall that had occupied the lot for several hundreds years before and subsequently been relocated first to the Bonde Palace and then to the present Court House in 1915. The plan of the building, French Rococo in style, is a trapezium, the rounded corner of which greatly widened the flanking alleys. While the building is generally designed much like a private palace, the central pediment and the lantern-style cupola crowning the building underline its public status. The closed first floor, accommodating the Swedish Academy, contrasts the openness of the ground floor - a contrast enhanced during the restoration in the 1980s.
American Swedish Historical Museum
The American Swedish Historical Museum is the oldest Swedish-American museum in the United States. It is located in Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park in South Philadelphia, on part of a historic 17th-century land grant originally provided by Queen Christina of Sweden to settlers of New Sweden.
Riddarhustorget
Riddarhustorget (, "Square of the House of Knights") is a public square in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden, named after its location in front of the House of Knights ("Riddarhuset").
Stockholm City Museum
The Stockholm City Museum () is a museum documenting, preserving and exhibiting the history of Stockholm. The museum is housed in Södra Stadshuset at Slussen on Södermalm. The building was completed in 1685. In the 1930s the museum moved in and opened to the public in 1942.
The museum is the largest municipal museum in Sweden, and houses collections which include 300,000 items of historical interest; 20,000 works of art and 3 million photographs. The City Museum closed for renovation January 12, 2015 and will open again in 2019.
Björngårdsteatern
Björngårdsteatern ('Bear's Yard Theater'), also called Christian Thums Commedi-huus ('Christian Thum's Comedy-house') and Theums Spelehus ('Theum's Play-house'), was a theatre in Stockholm in Sweden, active between 1640 and 1655. It was possibly the oldest theatre in Scandinavia, but the information is scarce and it is unconfirmed if the theater permit was in fact used. It was in any event a popular tavern managed by Christian Thum.
Vadstena
The buildings in the city centre date mainly from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. The old town is well preserved and the streets have not changed much over the centuries. The Town Hall is Sweden's oldest, dating back to the early 15th century. Notable is the main street ("Storgatan") where all the shops are gathered, as they would have been during the Middle Ages.
Hedemora gammelgård
Hedemora gammelgård is a local museum in Hedemora, Dalarna County, Sweden. The museum was established June 12, 1915, which is one year before the national association for farmstead museums, Sveriges hembygdsförbund was established. Hedemora gammelgård is located at the Badelundaåsen slope towards lake Hönsan The museum consists of buildings from the surrounding area and resembles a typical farmstead in Dalarna of the 18th century. The oldest building is a threshing barn built in 1679 and moved to Hedemora gammelgård in 1920. The first building moved to the museum, in 1908, was a residential building called "Storstugan". Altogether the museum consists of twelve buildings, excluding the restrooms, of which eight were present at the opening 1915.
History of Stockholm
The history of Stockholm, capital of Sweden, for many centuries coincided with the development of what is today known as Gamla stan, the Stockholm Old Town. Stockholm's "raison d'être" always was to be the Swedish capital and by far the largest city in the country.
Stockholm Synagogue
The Great Synagogue of Stockholm (, "Bet ha-Knesset ha-Gadol shel Stokholm") is located on a small street called Wahrendorffsgatan, close to the park Kungsträdgården on Norrmalm, Stockholm. It was built 1867-1870 according to designs made in 1862 by the architect Fredrik Wilhelm Scholander. The building has been called a "paraphrase over Oriental motifs" ("Nordisk familjebok" 26, col. 1470 ), and it is listed in the Swedish registry of national historical buildings. It was preceded by an earlier synagogue at Tyska Brunnsplan in the Stockholm Old Town (now the Jewish Museum on 19, Själagårdsgatan), used 1790-1870, and services were held in an even earlier location on Köpmanbrinken near Köpmantorget in the Old town 1787-1790.
Salviigränd
Salviigränd () is an alley in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching from Västerlånggatan to Myntgatan, it is the northern-most alley of the former street.
Architecture in Stockholm
The oldest part of Stockholm is Gamla Stan ("The Old Town"), which contains some of the city's oldest buildings and ruins. One example is the ruins of the Castle Of Three Crowns, which was erected in the 13th century by the Swedish king Birger Jarl.
Mynttorget
On N.4 Stockholms Stads Brandförsäkringskontor ("The Stockholm Fire Insurance Office"), in short Brandkontoret, was established in 1746 as a result of the devastating fire at the Royal Palace in 1697. It is thus the oldest insurance company in Sweden, a company owned by its insured customers. In 1806 the building was acquired and the office of Brandkontoret has since then been located here. The building was earlier known as the Rosendal Palace ("Rosendalska palatset"), designed by C F Adelcrantz (1716–1796) and Erik Palmstedt (1741–1803) in a transitional style bridging Rococo and Gustavian Classicism, in 1773–1780 the location of the Royal Academy of the Arts.
Architecture in Stockholm
Stockholm is first mentioned as the capital of Sweden in the 1430s, though it existed for over 200 years prior to that and had become a typical Hansa port. During this period, German craftsmen were often employed to construct buildings, resulting in a wide use of German architecture. Among the buildings constructed in this period is the "German Merchants Guild", which was later transformed into the German Church.
Stortorget
The square started as a junction in which the tracks that criss-crossed the island converged. The dawning street system gradually developed into the current narrow streets Köpmangatan, Svartmangatan, Skomakargatan, Kåkbrinken, Trångsund and Källargränd. By 1400, the city had some 6,000 inhabitants, and stone buildings started to be built around the square. Its merchants and the well on the square made it a natural meeting place. The present name first appears in historical records as "stora torghit" in 1420 and as "stoor tårgeett" in 1646.
The decrees proclaimed twice per year from the town hall, called Rådstugan ("Council Homestead"), once north of the square, together with recurrent manifestations, such as that of Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson leader of the Engelbrekt Rebellion (1434–1436), made the square a politically-vital location. As the Germans long had a very important presence in Stockholm, the city council was composed by an equal number of Swedish citizens and German immigrants. Merchants, all burghers, dominated the assembly; craftsmen were occasionally entrusted minor commissions. The remaining citizens were entirely excluded from any influence. Stockholm was a one-horse town, compared to splendid Continental European cities. The city hall was rebuilt following a fire in 1419 and gradually expanded over 500 years until it was relocated to the Bonde Palace in 1732. It was thus a four-storey coherent complex. On the third floor were custodies known as "Siskeburen" ("The Siskin Cage"), "Loppan" ("The Flea"), and "Vita märren" ("The Mare"), "Vita hästen" ("The White Horse"), "Gamla Rådstugan" ("Old Council Homestead"), "Skottkammaren" ("Scottish Chamber"), and "Nya kölden" ("The New Cold"). In the basement was the city wine store, next to the memorable tavern "Storkällaren" (named because of it proximity to Storkyrkan).
Ivar Tengbom
In the 1920s he made the design for the building of the Stockholm School of Economics (1925) and the Stockholm Concert Hall (1923–1926) at Hötorget Square. The home of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and known as the place where the Nobel Prize ceremony takes place, the Hall, a light-blue building with a portico with tall, slender polygonal columns with corinthian capitals. The concert hall is probably Tengbom's best-known building and, together with Gunnar Asplund's Stockholm Public Library, the most widely recognized example of the neo-classical architecture of the Swedish 1920s, in English referred to as "Swedish Grace".
Järntorget (Stockholm)
On Number 84 ("Pluto") is Södra Bankohuset, the oldest national bank building in the world. The western façade facing the square, built in 1675–1685 to the design of Nicodemus Tessin the Elder, is inspired by Italian Renaissance, the strict style meant to emphasise the motto of the bank: , "Hence Stability and Reliability". The portal is a direct quotation of Vignola's portal at Villa Farnese in Caprarola. The original design was repeated around the building by later architects.
Walls of Stockholm
An approximately 55-meter long piece of the northern mound was dug up from 1978 to 1981 for the renovation of the Riksdag building, which now is one of the main attractions of the Museum of Medieval Stockholm. The original height was most probably six feet. Near the eastern end of the wall there was a great port with an outer door of iron. Gustav Vasa had a fortress built of bricks, including those from .
Järntorget (Stockholm)
During the 18th and 19th century, the square was used as a greengrocer's market place and the buildings around it became known as distinguished addresses. "Sundbergs konditori", the oldest confectioner's shop in town, on Number 83, was founded in 1785.
The numbers of the buildings surrounding the square are continuous with those on Västerlånggatan, and are therefore listed here counter clockwise from the southern end of Västerlånggatan:
Den Gyldene Freden
Den gyldene freden () is a restaurant in the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. One of Sweden's most well-known restaurants, it is the oldest restaurant in the world to have the same surroundings, according to the Guinness World Records. Its surroundings and environment are more or less unchanged since the day the restaurant opened in 1722, making it a unique example of an 18th-century tavern.
Old Stockholm telephone tower
The Old Stockholm telephone tower (Swedish: "Telefontornet ") was a metallic structure built to connect approximately 5,500 telephone lines in the Swedish capital of Stockholm. Constructed in 1887, the tower was damaged by a fire in 1952 and demolished the following year.
Österlånggatan
Österlånggatan () is a street in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching southward from Slottsbacken to Järntorget, it forms a parallel street to Baggensgatan and Skeppsbron. Major sights include the statue of Saint George and the Dragon on Köpmanbrinken and the restaurant Den Gyldene Freden on number 51, established in 1722 and mentioned in Guinness Book of Records as one of the oldest with an unaltered interior.
Like Västerlånggatan, Österlånggatan used to pass outside of the city walls and was for many centuries one of the city's major streets. (See Västerlånggatan for more details.) When Skeppsbron, the broad street and quay running to the east of Österlånggatan, was created during the 17th century, Österlånggatan lost much of the importance it used to have. Compared to Västerlånggatan, Österlånggatan is today a relatively quiet street notwithstanding the many restaurants and shops, in sharp contrast to the neighbourhood when the street formed the backyard of the dock district, crowded with sailors, taverns, travellers, and traders.
Storkyrkan
Storkyrkan (, "The Great Church"), officially named Sankt Nikolai kyrka (Church of St. Nicholas) and informally called Stockholms domkyrka (Stockholm Cathedral), is the oldest church in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Originally the main parish church of Stockholm, it currently also serves as the seat of the Lutheran Bishop of Stockholm within the Church of Sweden since the creation of the Diocese of Stockholm in 1942. It is an important example of Swedish Brick Gothic. Situated next to the Royal Palace, it forms the western end of Slottsbacken, the major approach to the Royal Palace, while the streets Storkyrkobrinken, Högvaktsterrassen, and Trångsund passes north and west of it respectively. South of the church is the Stockholm Stock Exchange Building facing Stortorget and containing the Swedish Academy, Nobel Library, and Nobel Museum.
History of Stockholm
The name Stockholm first appears in historical records in letters written by Birger Jarl and King Valdemar dated 1252. However, the two letters give no information about the appearance of the city and events during the following decades remain diffuse. While the absence of a perpendicular city plan in medieval Stockholm seems to indicate a spontaneous growth, it is known German merchants invited by Birger jarl played an important role in the foundation of the city. Under any circumstance, during the end of the 13th century, Stockholm quickly grew to become not only the largest city in Sweden, but also the "de facto" Swedish political centre and royal residence. So, from its foundation, Stockholm has been the largest and most important Swedish city, inseparable from and dependent on the Swedish government. However, as late as the 16th century reigns of Kings Eric XIV and John III, whose Swedish government often travelled with them elsewhere (see below), the city was still not what could be called a national capital in modern terms.
During the Kalmar Union (1397–1523), controlling Stockholm was crucial to anyone aspiring to control the kingdom, and the city was consequently repeatedly besieged by various Swedish-Danish factions. In 1471, Sten Sture the Elder defeated Christian I of Denmark at the Battle of Brunkeberg only to lose the city to Hans of Denmark in 1497. Sten Sture managed to seize power again in 1501 which resulted in a Danish blockade lasting 1502–1509 and eventually a short peace. Hans' son Christian II of Denmark finally conquered it in 1520 and had many leading nobles and burghers of Stockholm beheaded in the so-called Stockholm Bloodbath. When King Gustav Vasa finally besieged and conquered the city three years later, an event which ended the Kalmar Union and the Swedish Middle Ages, he noted every second building in the city was abandoned.
Gamla Riksarkivet
Gamla Riksarkivet (Old National Archives) is a building at Arkivgatan 3 on Riddarholmen in Stockholm, Sweden. Riksarkivet, the Swedish National Archives, were located in the building until 1968.
Gamla stan
The restaurant Den gyldene freden is located on Österlånggatan. It has been in business, continuously, since 1722 and according to the Guinness Book of Records is the longest operated restaurant with an unchanged environment and is one of the oldest restaurants in the world. It is now owned by the Swedish Nobel Academy that have their "Thursday luncheons" there every week. A statue of St. George and the Dragon (sculpted by Bernt Notke) can be found in the Stockholm Cathedral, while Riddarholmskyrkan is the royal burial church. Bollhustäppan, a small courtyard at Slottsbacken behind the "Finnish Church", just south of the main approach to the Royal Palace, is home to one of the smallest statues in Sweden, a little boy in wrought iron. The plaque just below the statue says its name ""Järnpojken"" ("The Iron Boy"). It was created by Liss Eriksson in 1967.
Tyghuset
Tyghuset (Swedish: "The Arsenal") is a building on the islet Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, Sweden, today housing the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities.
Carl Westman
Carl Westman's Swedish General Medical Association building in Stockholm (1904-1906) was the first building built in the National Romantic Style, with the Röhss Museum in Gothenburg (1910-1914) and Stockholm Court House (1911-1915), providing another two prominent examples. The Stockholm Courthouse has striking similarities with the medieval Vadstena Castle, and provides a dazzling sight in downtown Stockholm, though the building proves quite inflexible for its purposes.
Stumholmen
Stumholmen is a small island to the east of Trossö in Karlskrona, Sweden. It is connected to the center of Karlskrona by the Bastionsgatan bridge. Formerly the property of the Navy, today it houses the National Naval Museum (Marinmuseum), one of Sweden's oldest founded in 1752, the Hyper Island educational complex, and several other historic buildings. The unusual "Slup- och barkass- skjulet" (Sloop and Longboat Shed) is noted for its remarkable roof while buildings on Laboratorieholmen once served as an isolation hospital when the town was struck with disease. Comprehensive restoration and renovation work has been undertaken since the 1990s, providing a variety of interesting sights for tourists as well as residential accommodation for senior citizens. Since 1998, the Naval City of Karlskrona, of which Stumholmen is a key component, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Geography of Stockholm
One of the oldest bridges was located where today Stallbron is found, immediately south of the Riksdag Building. The first stone bridge, Norrbro, was built in front of the Royal Palace under Gustav III.
Birger Jarls torn
The building has been named for Birger Jarl who traditionally is attributed as the founder of Stockholm, but it was built several hundred years later and the name is mostly the product of a 17th-century myth. Stockholm literally translates to "Log-Islet", and according to that myth the city was founded where a log drifting ashore from Lake Mälar.
Historical fires of Stockholm
The 19th century began with a fierce fire, the Riddarholm fire, which ravaged Riddarholmen on November 15, 1802. The fire started early in the morning in the Administrative Court's old house (Cruuska palace) and was caused by a guard master's negligent use of fuel. The fire quickly spread to the southern side of the house and lit the roof of the old King's House (Wrangel Palace), destroying many antiques, including the nearly 300-year-old woodcut Blood Carlsbad painting that was stored in the Administrative Services Archives of Wrangel palace.
Stortorget
Built by the merchant Hans Bremer in the 1640s and originally featuring pointed cairns, Number 3, on the right side of Köpmangatan still features the original cross vaults and a German inscription in the entrance hall. However, the building is today called "Grillska huset" ("The Grill House") after the goldsmith Antoni Grill, who immigrated from Augsburg to Sweden in the 1680s during the era of Gustavus Adolphus to found the Grill Dynasty, said to descend from the Grillo family in Genoa. He bought the building which came to remain in the family's possession for more than a century. The cloverleaf-shaped gables were added in 1718 together with the blue livid colour and the Rococo portal. The Dynasty's most prominent member was the merchant Claës Grill (1705–1767), leader of the East India Company, owner of several banks and many mining industries and shipping companies, and a great art collector. The building is today the headquarters of the Stockholm´s City Mission, an independent Christian charity devoted to support homeless and exposed citizens with food, accommodation, and education, also running advisory bureaus and others elsewhere in the old town.
Fredrik August Lidströmer
Fredrik August Lidströmer (1787–1856), son of Jonas Lidströmer. Swedish architect, artist and marine officer and Stockholm's City architect. Grown up in the naval city of Karlskrona and came to Stockholm to help his father with construction of the Obelisk at Slottsbacken adjacent to the royal palace, and then continued with the construction of the quays surrounding the waters of the capital and he is the architect of Stockholm's oldest official park, the Strömparterren, between the Royal Palace in Stockholm and the Opera House, just opposite today's Parliament building (Riksdagen)
Prehistory and origin of Stockholm
A modern story dated back to the mid 17th century, tells how the population of Birka, a historical city on Lake Mälaren, grew too rapidly, and the Gods then consulted urged parts of the population to emigrate to a new site. To determine where to build the new city, it was decided a log bound with gold should point out where to settle by sailing ashore on the site, and, occasionally, it landed on an islet in what is today central Stockholm. According to a 17th-century myth, the tower Birger Jarls torn, often and erroneously said to be the oldest building in Stockholm, was built on this location.
Södra Bankohuset
Södra Bankohuset (Swedish: "The Southern [National] Bank Building") or Gamla Riksbanken ("The Old National Bank") is a building in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden, together with Norra Bankohuset the location of the Bank of Sweden until 1906. It is facing the square Järntorget on its west side and Skeppsbron on its east, while two alleys passes north and south of it, Norra Bankogränd and Södra Bankogränd.
Architecture of Sweden
While about 1,500 of Sweden's 4,000 churches date to the Middle Ages, very few secular buildings survive from this period. There are however a few Burgher's houses in Stockholm and Visby, some castles, fortresses, and fortifications. The 13th century city walls around Visby are some of the best-preserved medieval city walls in Europe. The street layout of Stockholm's Old City is still medieval. In other Swedish cities secular buildings from the Middle Ages are very rare and often heavily rebuilt during the following centuries. One example of that is Skytteanum in Uppsala.
Prehistory and origin of Stockholm
While the oldest traces of human activities in present Stockholm are considerably older, the development as described above preceded the foundation of the city on its present location. However, Birka, Sigtuna, and Stockholm forms a series of urban structures which can be thought of as the capital of the Lake Mälaren region, at a few occasions relocated to fit into the socio-economic structure of the day.
Kungstornen
Kungstornen ("King's Towers") are twin tower skyscrapers, individually named Norra Kungstornet ("Northern King's Tower") and Södra Kungstornet ("Southern King's Tower"), in Norrmalm, Stockholm. The 16-storey Norra Kungstornet is and was built between 1919 and 1924; and the taller 17-storey, Södra Kungstornet was built between 1924 and 1925. Together, they are considered the first modern skyscrapers in Europe.
Österlånggatan
On Number 51 is the restaurant Den Gyldene Freden ("The Golden Peace"), named after the Treaty of Nystad in 1721 and in opened in 1722, it remains the oldest and most famous restaurant in Sweden. Carl Michael Bellman used to work in the Custom House on the opposite side and while he is likely to have visited the place occasionally, he is not likely to have been a regular there. He is however associated with the establishment, and he actually saved it from being closed down more than a hundred years after his death. The society preserving his memory, "Bellmans minne" ("Memory of Bellman"), meet regularly in the restaurant and when the painter Anders Zorn at one of their sessions in February 1919, was told the old restaurateur was about to retire and would discontinue the business, Zorn bought for SEK 150,000, had it restored for SEK 250,000, and later bequeathed it to the Swedish Academy together with a requirement the latter should appoint the members of a foundation which should manage the property and use the annual yield to award a prominent poet the prize "Bellmanpriset".
Högvaktsterrassen
Högvaktsterrassen (, "Main Guard Terrace") is a street in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden passing west of Yttre Borgården, the outer court of the Stockholm Palace.
Johan Eberhard Carlberg
Carlberg took office on April 27, 1727 as a city architect in Stockholm, where he was responsible for the rebuilding of Slussen 1744-1753, the customs pavilions at Norrtull, the rebuilding of Alstavik on Långholmen, reconstruction of Danviken hospital, the church tower of Stockholm's Great Church, the reconstruction of the Bonde Palace and the Stora Sjötullen in Blockhusudden) in 1729. The Army's commissariat warehouse (1728-32 ) at Skeppsholmen is Carlberg's only fully preserved monumental building in Stockholm. As city architect, he issued regulations intended to promote harmonious appearance of neighboring buildings and also established a "school" to train young architects. His critics, while praising Carlberg's "force and vigor" warned that "If you put more iron into the fire than you have time to watch over, many will get burned." Erik Palmstedt was one of the students in Carlstadt's "school," which he entered when only 14 years old.
Riddarholm Church
Riddarholm Church is located on the island of Riddarholmen, close to the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden. The congregation was dissolved in 1807 and today the church is used only for burial and commemorative purposes. Swedish monarchs from Gustavus Adolphus (d. 1632 AD) to Gustaf V (d. 1950) are entombed here (with only one exception: Queen Christina who is buried within St. Peter's Basilica in Rome), as well as the earlier monarchs Magnus III (d. 1290) and Charles VIII (d. 1470). It has been discontinued as a royal burial site in favor of the Royal Cemetery and today is run by departments of the Swedish Government and Royal Court.
It is one of the oldest buildings in Stockholm, parts of it dating to the late-13th century, when it was built as a greyfriars monastery. After the Protestant Reformation, the monastery was closed and the building transformed into a Protestant church. A spire designed by Flemish architect Willem Boy (1520–1592) was added during the reign of John III, but it was destroyed by a lightning strike on July 28, 1835 after which it was replaced with the present cast iron spire.
Coats of arms of knights of the Royal Order of the Seraphim are on the walls of the church. When a knight of the Order dies, his coat of arms is hung in the church and when the funeral takes place the church's bells are rung without pause from 12:00 to 13:00.
Stockholm City Hall
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.
Strängnäs Cathedral
Strängnäs Cathedral Library is one of the oldest surviving and working libraries in Sweden. It dates its origin to the year 1316 when Strängnäs Dominican monastery (according to a record kept by a will) received a widow's donation of books. The library was then built consciously by the bishops Kort Rogge and John Matthiæ. During the 1600s, it was expanded by Christina, Queen of Sweden, through the addition of the spoils of war, especially from the cities of Prague, Olmutz and Nikolsburg. During the 1700s the library expanded through gifts and bequests from learned diocesan clergy. During the 1800s it was kept in the former school building's main hall, and is now in the special Library chancel in the cathedral's northwestern corner. Dr Henrik Aminson (1814-1885) published in 1863 a comprehensive printed directory "Bibliotheca Templi Cathedralis Stregnensis, quae maximam partem ex Germania Capta est circa finem belli triginta annorum, descripta, 1-2", of over 600 pages. Most of the printed books are listed in Libris , the Swedish libraries search service. A printed catalogue in two volumes was published in 2017 (Ragnhild Lundgren, "Strängnäs domkyrkobibliotek. Systematisk katalog över tryckta böcker").
Stockholm Public Library
Stockholm Public Library (Swedish: "Stockholms stadsbibliotek" or "Stadsbiblioteket") is a library building in Stockholm, Sweden, designed by Swedish architect Gunnar Asplund, and one of the city's most notable structures. The name is today used for both the main library itself as well as the municipal library system of Stockholm.
Haga trädgård
In 1917 the department store NK took over the gardens to grow fresh vegetables for Stockholm's inhabitants. It was at the tail end of the first World War and fresh vegetables were quite scarce. In 1917, NK built a splendid conservatory which now is Stockholms oldest conservatory. In 1933 the town council of Stockholm took over the gardens and produced flowers for official use and for embellishment of squares and gardens.
Stockholm
In the 20th century, a nationalistic push spurred a new architectural style inspired by medieval and renaissance ancestry as well as influences of the Jugend/Art Nouveau style. A key landmark of Stockholm, the Stockholm City Hall, was erected 1911–1923 by architect Ragnar Östberg. Other notable works of these times are the Stockholm Public Library and the World Heritage Site Skogskyrkogården.
In the 1930s modernism characterized the development of the city as it grew. New residential areas sprang up such as the development on Gärdet while industrial development added to the growth, such as the KF manufacturing industries on Kvarnholmen located in the Nacka Municipality. In the 1950s, suburban development entered a new phase with the introduction of the Stockholm metro. The modernist developments of Vällingby and Farsta were internationally praised. In the 1960s this suburban development continued but with the aesthetic of the times, the industrialized and mass-produced blocks of flats received a large amount of criticism.
Svartmangatan
Mentioned as early as 1437 and thus one of the oldest streets of Stockholm, Svartmangatan was once also one of its main streets, leading from the central square to the abbey of the Blackfriars. Until the 17th century it was called "Svartmunka -" or "Svartbrödra -" ("black monks/brothers"), and, because there are no records of the Dominican friars being referred to as "black men", the only reasonable explanation for the present name of the street is an attempt to create an analogy to Köpmangatan ("The Merchant's Street", or literally "buyer-man-street"), a street also leading from Stortorget.
List of tallest buildings in Sweden
This is a list of the tallest buildings in Sweden. The history of skyscrapers in Sweden began with the completion of Kungstornen on Kungsgatan in Stockholm. The twin towers are each 60 m (197 ft) high and were completed in 1924 and 1925 respectively. In 1927 Thor Thörnblad proposed an American inspired skyscraper on Blasieholmen in Stockholm, the proposal was 40 floors and 150 meters high. This would have made it the tallest skyscraper in Europe by a large margin at the time. In the Post-World War II era construction of several high-rise buildings began, such as Wenner-Gren Center, Skatteskrapan, Hötorgsskraporna, Folksamhuset, and Kronprinsen. Entering the 21st century a new wave of high-rise buildings has reached Sweden, since 2005 Turning Torso in Malmö stands as the tallest building in Sweden and Scandinavia.
Vätö
Vätö's red granite, which is over 1.7 billion years old, is renowned as a building material. It was extensively quarried from the late 19th century to provide stone for a number of monuments, including the Stockholm Opera House and the Riksdag building. The last of the old quarries was shut down in the 1970s. Limited quarrying resumed in the 1980s in Vätö Stenhuggeri quarry, which was first opened in 1905 and can be visited by tourists. Another quarry, Vätöberg, has been designated as a national monument.
Stockholm
Historically, the city was the host of the 1912 Summer Olympics. From those days stem the Stockholms Olympiastadion which has since hosted numerous sports events, notably football and athletics. Other major sport arenas are Friends Arena the new national football stadium, Stockholm Globe Arena, a multi-sport arena and one of the largest spherical buildings in the world and the nearby indoor arena Hovet.
History of Stockholm
During the Middle Ages, export was administered mostly by German merchants living by the squares Kornhamnstorg ("Grain Harbour Square") and Järntorget ("Iron Square") on the southern corner of the city. Regional peasantry supplied the city with food and raw materials, while the craftsmen in the city produced handicrafts, most of whom lived by the central square Stortorget or by the oldest two streets in Stockholm, the names of which still reflects their trade: Köpmangatan ("Merchant Street") and Skomakargatan ("Shoemaker Street") in the central part of the city. Other groups lived by the eastern or western thoroughfares, Västerlånggatan and Österlånggatan.
Culture in Stockholm
Historically, the city was the host of the 1912 Summer Olympics. From those days stem the Stockholms Olympiastadion which has since hosted numerous sports events, notably football and athletics. Stadion is the previous home arena of AIK and is the current home arena of Djurgårdens IF. For Sweden men's national ice hockey team, the home arena is Ericsson Globe, one of the largest spherical building in the world, but it is also hosting concerts and other events.
Scheffler Palace
The Scheffler Palace (), commonly known as the Haunted Mansion ("Spökslottet"), is a mansion located at Drottninggatan 116 in Stockholm, Sweden. The mansion, which was built in the 1690s by the merchant Hans Petter Scheffler, is the most famous, so called "haunted house" in Stockholm. Since the 1920s, the estate is owned by Stockholm University and mostly used for storage of art and to occasionally hold conferences.
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 Riddarholmskyrkan, used as Sweden's royal burial church from the 17th century to 1950, and where a number of earlier Swedish monarchs also lie buried.
Stockholm Music Museum
Since 1979 the Stockholm Music Museum is located in the splendid former Crown Bakery, in the same quarter as the Court Stables, beside the Royal Dramatic Theatre, in central Stockholm. The Crown Bakery dates from the 17th century, and is Stockholm’s oldest industrial building.
This building has a long and eventful history and has through the centuries performed a number of functions: bakery, weapon depot, spirits store. Yet almost all the time—from the 1640s to 1958—it has been a bakery for the armed forces in Stockholm. It even boasted mobile ovens which could be used during field exercises. In 1945 the building was ravaged by a fire which destroyed its upper floors in the northern part–where the Concert Hall is now located.
Helgeandsholmen
Helgeandsholmen () is a small island in central Stockholm, Sweden. It is located north of Stadsholmen, and east of Strömsborg, with which, together with Riddarholmen, it forms Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm. Helgeandsholmen contains the Riksdag Building and the Museum of Medieval Stockholm, and is connected to neighbouring islands through three bridges: Riksbron, Stallbron, and Norrbro.
Riksgatan
Riksgatan (Swedish: "National Street") is a street in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Located on Helgeandsholmen, and passing between the eastern and the western buildings of the Swedish Parliament House, makes it the official address of the Parliament.
Edsbacka krog
The restaurant was founded in 1626 by Henrik Olofsson, who got permission from King Gustav II Adolf to build an inn at Edsbacka, next to the road that runs between Stockholm and Uppsala. The inn closed in 1872, and the buildings stood abandoned for many years. After having located it as the oldest existing inn building in Sweden, chef Christer Lingström reopened Edsbacka krog after renovations in 1983. In 1985 he won the Swedish award "chef of the year", and was awarded one star in the Michelin Guide in 1992, and two stars in 2000. Edsbacka was the first Swedish restaurant ever to receive a second star, and until 2009 was the only restaurant with this distinction. On November 1, 2008 Lingström retired from Edsbacka, which was taken over by the staff under then-head chef Fredrik Pettersson.
Stumholmen
A guardhouse stands at the end of the bridge over to the island. Built in 1821–1826 in the Neoclassical style, the well-preserved stone building with a deeply pitched roof is probably the oldest guardhouse in Sweden. It is the only building in the Naval Base which faces towards the town itself. A description from 1781 details the interior as consisting of an entrance hall, a prison cell, a non-commissioned officers' room, a guard room and a room for fire equipment. The guardhouse was used to protect the naval base from unauthorised entry.
Swedish Museum of Natural History
The present buildings for the museum in Frescati, Stockholm, was designed by the architect Axel Anderberg and completed in 1916, topped with a dome. it is the largest museum building in Sweden. The main campus of Stockholm University was later built next to the museum.
The museum has an IMAX cinema called Cosmonova. The cinema is also the largest planetarium in Sweden.
Västerlånggatan
The current building on Number 54 was, according to an inscription on the portal, completed in 1662, but parts of the building are considerably older, the first owner, a Diedrik Skekerman from Lübeck, appearing in historical records as a lodger and innkeeper in 1589-1597. The portal is made of red limestone and possibly designed by Nicodemus Tessin the Elder. In the basement of the building, five metres under street level, a sealed round arched tunnel have been found, thought to have led under Västerlånggatan to Prästgatan and to have been built as an escape route in case the Danes would take the city. One of the oldest second-hand bookshops in Sweden, Aspingtons Antikvariat, was located here 1978–2001. The building is today owned by the trade union for the employees of the Customs and Coastguard ("Tull-Kust").
Number 63, including its Neo-Rococo ornaments and green shutters, is the family heirloom of the Torndahls. The building was bought by the goldsmith Per Gustaf Torndahl in the mid 19th century and his shop was continued by his widow, Ida Tekla Sabina Cunigunda who also added the ornaments. The grandchildren of Gustaf and Ida are still carefully minding the building and operating the handicraft shop still present on the address.
Barely visible in the red sandstone cartouche of the portal of Number 65 is a Christogram, IHS, the maxim ("To God alone the glory"), and the initials of the Holstein cloth trader Peter Hanssen and his wife Anna Steker:
Gamla stan
Stockholm derives its mythological origin from a dwelling place called "Agnefit". As the second element "fit" means 'moist meadow', this place was supposedly located on the western shore of today's Stadsholmen (arguably the only possible location for a meadow at the time). The first element of this name is, explains the historian Snorri Sturluson (1178–1241), derived from King Agne, a presumably mythological king who, in a dim and distant past (around 400 A.D. according to some historians), encamped here after having successfully raided Finland. His intentions were to marry "Skjalf", the daughter of the defeated Finnish chieftain. The young woman, however, tricked him to arrange a celebration including prominent guests which eventually turned into a boozing party, and, while Agne slept in a drunken stupor, Skjalf had him hanged in his gold necklace before escaping.
While the reliability of this story remains disputed, dendrochronological examinations of logs found on Helgeandsholmen just north of Stadsholmen in 1978-1980, concluded these trees were cut down during the period 970-1020, most of them from the later part of that period, and these logs presumably gave the entire city its present name, "Stock-holm", "Log-Islet".
History of Stockholm
The process of reshaping Stockholm was initiated by a major fire in 1625 which destroyed the south-western part of today's old town. As a result, two new boulevard-like streets were created — Stora Nygatan and Lilla Nygatan — and along the eastern waterfront the medieval wall was replaced by a row of prestigious palaces — Skeppsbron.
Stockholm
At the same time that this suburban development was taking place, the most central areas of the inner city were being redesigned, known as "Norrmalmsregleringen". Sergels Torg, with its five high-rise office towers was created in the 1960s, followed by the total clearance of large areas to make room for new development projects. The most notable buildings from this period include the ensemble of the House of Culture, City Theatre and the Riksbank at Sergels Torg, designed by architect Peter Celsing.
Architecture of Sweden
At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century a new generation of architects emerged who turned away from historicism and classicism. On the one hand they absorbed influences from abroad, e.g. the Jugendstil execution of the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, on the other hand they looked for precedents in Swedish cultural history and Swedish building traditions. From this search they developed the National Romantic Style, which took the cultural and building precedents and merged them with ideas from the English Arts and Crafts Movement to create a very distinct Swedish architecture often in brick and wood. Carl Westman's Swedish General Medical Association building in Stockholm was one of the first buildings built in the style, with the Röhss Museum in Gothenburg and Stockholm Court House providing two further examples. The crowning achievement of the National Romantic Style is however Stockholm City Hall, designed by Ragnar Östberg and built between 1903 and 1923.
Gustaf Wickman dedicated himself to a task of a different nature, he built the entire city of Kiruna within 3 decades in an uninhabited wilderness. Although the city of Kiruna caused many problems for the indigenous Sami people, disrupting reindeer herding routes and polluting the area. After a rich source of iron ore was found and a railway line built, Witman was charged with the design of the city. Within a few years he had completed the design and construction of the directors and engineers Villas, the worker's housing, offices, schools, a hospital, a fire station, the post office and bank, and a swimming pool. Amongst his best work is the Kiruna Church designed in the National Romantic style. Its timber construction demonstrates and connects the influences of Norwegian Stave churches and American architectural traditions.
Historical fires of Stockholm
Throughout its history, Stockholm has been struck by many large fires, one of the oldest documented fires ravaging the city on April 14, 1297. The years 1330, 1344, 1407, 1411, 1419, 1445, 1458, and 1495 saw the city ravaged by major fires. The fire of 1407 was caused by a lightning strike and was alleged by some sources to have claimed up to 1,600 casualties. This fire destroyed many areas, including the Black Friars' Monastery of Stockholm.
Stockholm during the Middle Ages
Stockholm during the Middle Ages is the period in the history of Stockholm stretching from the foundation of the city c. 1250 to the end of the Kalmar Union in 1523. During this period, Stockholm still didn't fill up the small island Stadsholmen (the "city islet") which today known as the Stockholm Old Town ("Gamla stan"), and as a consequence this article to some extent overlap Gamla stan.
Stockholm Palace
This royal residence has been in the same location by Norrström in the northern part of Gamla stan in Stockholm since the middle of the 13th century when the Tre Kronor Castle was built. In modern times the name relates to the building called "Kungliga Slottet". The palace was designed by Nicodemus Tessin the Younger and erected on the same place as the medieval Tre Kronor Castle which was destroyed in a fire on 7 May 1697. Due to the costly Great Northern War which started in 1700, construction of the palace was halted in 1709, and not recommenced until 1727—six years after the end of the war. When Tessin the Younger died in 1728, the palace was completed by Carl Hårleman who also designed a large part of its Rococo interior. The palace was not ready to use until 1754, when King Adolf Frederick and Queen Louisa Ulrika moved in, but some interior work proceeded until the 1770s. No major conversions have been done in the palace since its completion, only some adjustments, new interiors, modernization and redecorating for different regents and their families, coloration of the facades and addition of the palace museums. The palace is surrounded by the Lejonbacken and the Norrbro to the north, the "Logården" (known as the Shot Yard in English) and Skeppsbron in the east, the Slottsbacken and the Storkyrkan in the south, and the outer courtyard and Högvaktsterrassen in the northwest.
Riddarhustorget
East of the House of Knights is the Bonde Palace ("Bondeska palatset"), arguably the most prominent monument of the era of Swedish Empire. It was originally created as the private residence of Gustaf Bonde (1620–1667) in the 1660s to the design by Jean de la Vallée and Nicodemus Tessin the Elder, however overtaken by the city in the early 18th century to serve as a city hall until the early 20th century and since WW2 accommodating the Supreme Court. The Ionic pilasters of the main building still reflects the original design, while the top floor and roof are from the 17th century. The building has been destroyed by fire on several occasions and was much neglected during the 18th and early 19th centuries, but post-WW2 restorations have been focused on giving prominence to the oldest features of the building, today given the status as an historical monument of national interest.
Gamla stan
The town dates back to the 13th century, and consists of medieval alleyways, cobbled streets, and archaic architecture. North German architecture has had a strong influence in the Old Town's construction.
Stortorget is the name of the scenic "large square" in the centre of Gamla Stan, which is surrounded by old merchants' houses including the Stockholm Stock Exchange Building. The square was the site of the Stockholm Bloodbath, where Swedish noblemen were massacred by the Danish King Christian II in November, 1520. The following revolt and civil war led to the dissolution of the Kalmar Union and the subsequent election of King Gustav I.
Mårten Trotzigs Gränd
Mårten Trotzigs gränd (Swedish: "Alley of Mårten Trotzig") is an alley in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Leading from Västerlånggatan and Järntorget up to Prästgatan and Tyska Stallplan, the width of its 36 steps tapers down to a mere , making the alley the narrowest street in Stockholm.
Holmen, Copenhagen
Being the oldest part of Holmen, Nyholm generally has the oldest buildings. These include the Central Guardhouse. The first guardhouse at Nyholm was located inside the Neptune Battery (now Sixtus Battery). When the building had become outdated and the grounds were being restructured, Naval Secretary Frederik Danneskiold-Samsøe proposed the construction of a new building to King Christian VI. The plans were approved in February 1744 and the project was assigned to Philip de Lange who served as Naval Master Builder for almost 30 years and also contributed with many other buildings at Nyholm, and the building was completed the following year. It guarded the passage between the Custom House and Nyholm. It was also used for receiving important guests to the naval base.
Central Post Office Building (Stockholm)
The building was inaugurated by King Oscar II on October 27, 1903. It was a modern building for its time; featuring electricity, 58 WC with rings in mahogany, and PO boxes, first introduced in Sweden here. However, long before the inauguration, the site selected for the project had proven insufficient, and in 1915 construction works was started for an enlargement on the remaining third of the block. The building was declared a historical monument ("byggnadsminnesmärke") in 1935. A major rebuilding in 1976–78 was followed by several alterations during the 1980s. Three of the four courtyards were glazed-over in 1987–92 resulting in a galleria, a restoration of the central hall, and the addition of a superstructure creating space for 800 new work-rooms.
Posten relocated its headquarters to Solna and in 2004 the building was taken over by the National Property Board of Sweden, who rebuilt it in 2008 to accommodate the Government of Sweden.
Vadstena Town Hall
Vadstena Town Hall () is a former town hall in Vadstena, Sweden. It is the oldest preserved town hall in Sweden.
Gustaf Vasa Church
Gustaf Vasa Church () is a church located in the Vasastaden district of Stockholm, Sweden. Inaugurated in 1906 and named after 16th century King Gustav Vasa, it was designed by architect Agi Lindegren in the Baroque Revival style. Situated between two busy avenues partially lined with trees, its dome rises above the nearby Odenplan plaza. The floor plan is in the shape of a Greek cross and seats 1,200 people, making it one of the largest churches in Stockholm.
Gökhem Church
Gökhem Church is one of Sweden's oldest churches. Tree-ring dating of the church's beams indicates it was built around 1077. Built of sandstone and limestone, it originally consisted of a rounded apse, a chancel and a wider nave. A chapel and a sacristy were later added to the north of the chancel. While many of the windows have been enlarged, the one on the north side of the chancel has remained unaltered since the Middle Ages. The bell tower is said to have been built by Russian prisoners in the 1720s.
Landskrona Citadel
Landskrona Citadel ( or "Landskrona slott") is situated in Landskrona, Scania, southern Sweden. Much of the original work is intact, and exaples remain of major parts of all the fortification, which is uncommon in such an accessible area.
The moat around the central fortification is intact, as are the north-west and north-east parts of the most outer moat, which originally cooneced to a moat surrounding the city itself. centermost, the citadel sits on an island surrounded by its own moat. 
North of the fort, between the second, third and fourth moat is Sweden's oldest allotment-garden are. Several of its garden houses are attractions in themselves. Also the fortress castle itself hides both history as such as well as historical horrors, like the 16th Century dungeon in the old western tower, into which the unlucky prisoners were thrown down through a hatch. If surviving the 4-5 meter fall, there then was neither any daylight or any way out. Also the eastern tower has in later centuries served as a prison for lifetimers. And around 1900 until 1940 did a part of the fortress serve as a forced labour institution for vagrant women
Stockholm Palace
The first building on this site was a fortress with a core tower built in the 13th century by Birger Jarl to defend Lake Mälaren. The fortress grew to a castle, eventually named Tre Kronor for the core tower's spire top decorated with three crowns.
Stockholm during the Age of Liberty
As a city planner, Carlberg reworked the building code at several occasions which resulted in wooden buildings being prohibited on the ridges surrounding the medieval city. Notwithstanding these precautions, two devastating fires in the 1750s destroyed large parts of the buildings on the ridges. Some of the structures built following these fires are today, together with Djurgårdsstaden, the best preserved 18th century neighbourhoods in Stockholm. To the straight boulevards proposed by his predecessors, Carlberg added new squares and open spaces surrounded by uniformly designed façades with colours limited to various shades of yellow and grey — still a characteristic of large parts of Stockholm. One of Carlberg's adepts was Erik Palmstedt (1741–1803). Palmstedt was able implemented many of the renewal plans Carlberg have had for the medieval city, including the Stock Exchange Building and the small open space Tyska Brunnsplan, both still preserved. In 1744–53, the area around the Karl Johanslussen sluice was redesigned by an aged Christopher Polhem (1661–1751).
People's House
In Stockholm, the construction of the first people's house started in 1897 in Norra Bantorget square. It was opened in 1901, and by 1906 the Russian Bolsheviks and Mensheviks were welcomed to hold their fourth congress at Stockholm Folkets hus. In 1955 the original Stockholm people's house was demolished, as was most of lower Norrmalm during the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. It was replaced by the current people's house building, which was built at the same place.
Stockholm
After the Ice Age, around 8,000 BC, there were already many people living in what is today the Stockholm area, but as temperatures dropped, inhabitants moved south. Thousands of years later, as the ground thawed, the climate became tolerable and the lands became fertile, people began to migrate back to the North. At the intersection of the Baltic Sea and lake Mälaren is an archipelago site where the Old Town of Stockholm was first built from about 1000 CE by Vikings. They had a positive trade impact on the area because of the trade routes they created.
Stockholms Auktionsverk
Stockholms Auktionsverk (Swedish for "Stockholm's Auction House"), founded in 1674 in Sweden, is the world's oldest auction house.