Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1923, this is still a functioning city hall. The members of the city coun-
cil—101 people (mostly women) representing the 850,000 people of Stock-
holm—are hobby legislators with regular day jobs. That's why they meet in
the evening. One of Europe's finest public buildings, the site of the annual
Nobel Prize banquet, and a favorite spot for weddings (they do two per hour
on Saturday afternoons), City Hall is particularly enjoyable and worthwhile
for its entertaining and required 50-minute tour.
Cost and Hours:
100 kr; English-only tours offered daily, generally June-
Aug every 30 minutes 9:30-16:00, off-season hourly 10:00-15:00; call to con-
firm, 300 yards behind the central train station—about a 15-minute walk
from either the station or Gamla Stan, bus #3 or #62, tel. 08/5082-9059,
www.stockholm.se/cityhall
.
City Hall's cafeteria, which you enter from the
courtyard, serves complete lunches for 95 kr (Mon-Fri 11:00-14:00, closed
Sat-Sun).
Visiting City Hall:
On the tour, you'll see the building's sumptuous Na-
tional Romantic style interior (similar to Britain's Arts and Crafts style), cel-
ebrating Swedish architecture and craftwork, and created almost entirely with
Swedish materials. Highlights include the so-called Blue Hall (the Italian
piazza-inspired, loggia-lined courtyard that was originally intended to be open
air—hence the name—where the 1,300-plate Nobel banquet takes place);
the City Council Chamber (with a gorgeously painted wood-beamed ceiling
that resembles a Viking longhouse—or maybe an overturned Viking boat);
the Gallery of the Prince (lined with frescoes executed by Prince Eugene of
Sweden); and the glittering, gilded, Neo-Byzantine-style, and aptly named
Golden Hall, where the Nobel recipients cut a rug after the banquet. In this
over-the-top space, a glimmering mosaic Queen of Lake Mälaren oversees the
proceedings with a welcoming but watchful eye, as East (see Istanbul's Ha-
gia Sophia and the elephant, on the right) and West (notice the skyscrapers
with the American flag, on the left) meet here in Stockholm. Above the door
across the hall is Sweden's patron saint, Erik, who seems to have lost his head
(due to some sloppy mosaic planning). On the tour, you'll find out exactly
how many centimeters each Nobel banquet attendee gets at the table, why the
building's plans were altered at the last minute to make the tower exactly one
meter taller, where the prince got the inspiration for his scenic frescoes, and
