STOCKHOMN

SPECTACULAR CITY HALL   

One of the most spectacular buildings in Stockholm, Sweden is the elegant City Hall, Stadshuset. The 395’ high brick tower is topped with three crowns. There are three explanations for the crowns. They represent the three tribes that inhabited Sweden; they represent the three wise men; and they represent Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, the three Scandinavian countries.

In 1923 eight million bricks went into making one of Europe’s finest public buildings. The brick work is 3- D in some places and is some of the finest brick masonry I’ve ever seen. More like a palace than a City Hall, each room is finer than the previous one.

The Blue Room, 1911, used for Nobel Prize presentations, was finished in 1923 with interruptions of WW I. The cost was estimated to be 6 million crowns, but actually cost 18 million crowns. All materials are from Sweden. The staircase steps are wide enough and shallow enough so Nobel winners can glide down them. There is a 10,000-pipe organ in the room and 1360 people can be seated for dinner.

The Parliament Room has high ceilings with wooden beams that represent the Viking past. The roof is V shaped. The doors are beautiful carved ones. The original Parliament had 100 members, 14 of whom were women. The women had their own red velvet room to confer in, while men would go off to the ‘smoking room’. Today there are 54 women in the 101 member parliament. There are 20 provinces in Stockholm. Members are elected for four years.

The tower is popular for weddings. The open ceiling has glass between it and the wall. Next to the tower is a room built specially to house several beautiful French tapestries.

The Prince Gallery is a long hall with large windows. On the wall opposite the windows a prince painted the reflection in pastel of what is seen out each window so everyone seated in the room would be looking at the same view. The windows were inset with top to bottom granite-type reliefs. In effect they framed the huge windows. They are beautiful and each one different.

The Three Crown Room contains 19 million 1/4 -inch pieces of glass and gold mosaic chips. The designs, done and completed in three years by a 27 year old, depict Sweden’s history. The entire walls are covered. The big eyes of the people were the artist’s desire. Its glitter is earth shattering and there are 200 color shades. About 30 tiles disappear each year, the majority of them on Nobel Prize night.

I’ve never seen a public building like Stockholm’s beautiful City Hall.