Hantverkargatan
1 at the eastern tip of Kungsholmen
island
Description
Stockholm's City Hall is regarded as the
country’s leading example of national
romanticism in architecture. Following an
architectural design competition, Ragnar
Östberg's design was successful and work began
in 1911. Nearly eight million dark red
bricks from the Lina brick factory near
Södertälje were used in its construction.
Externally, the building is dominated by this
monumental tower that rises to 106 metres and is
topped by the three crowns of Sweden.
The city hall has two large open spaces.
One of them is this piazza known as
Borgargården.
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Inside is the Blue Hall,
so called because the original plan called
for it to be decorated in blue but in the
end the architect left the red brick as the
dominant colour. The hall is
Romanesque in style with its colonnade
skirting all sides. This is the venue
for the Nobel Prize banquet.
The grand staircase at
one end was carefully designed to
accommodate stately entrances providing the
sort of width and shallow steps that would
make it easier for ladies to navigate in
formal dresses.
Whilst the building is
the site of many ceremonial events,
including weddings, it is also home to the
business of city politics and below is the
council chamber.
Without question, the
most spectacular part of the building is the
Gyllene Salen or Golden Room. It gets
its name from the decorative mosaics
embedded in a field of golden tile.
The images on the walls depict motifs from
Swedish history. They were executed by
the Berlin, Germany, firm of Puhl &
Wagner.
