STOCKHOLM'S CITY HALL

A gorgeous Building

   In Swedish, city hall is Stadshuset. In Stockholm the brick tower  of the city hall is 395-feet high and topped with three crowns. There are three explanations for the three crowns. They represent the three tribes that inhabited Sweden; they represent the three wise men; or they represent Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, the three Scandinavian countries. Take your pick.

   Each year the Nobel Prize is awarded here in December. 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. Each room is finer than the previous one. The city hall is more like a palace.

         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 used are from Sweden. The staircase has steps wide enough and not too deep so the Nobel winners can glide down the stairs. 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 beautifully carved. The original Parliament had 100 members, 14 of whom were women. The women had their own red velvet room to confer, while men would go off to the ‘smoking room’. Today there are 54 women in the 101 member parliament. There are 20 provinces in Sweden. 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 all people seated in the room would be looking at the same thing. The windows were inset with top to bottom granite-type reliefs. In effect they frame the huge windows. They were beautiful and each one was different.                
      The Three Crown Room contains 19 million 1/4-inch pieces of  glass and gold mosaic chips. The designs, done by a 27 year old, depict Sweden’s history and were completed in three years. The entire walls are covered. The people all have big eyes which was the artist’s desire. Its glitter is earth shattering and there are 200 shades of color. About 30 tiles disappear each year, the majority of them on Nobel Prize night. The kitchen is above this hall. I’ve never seen a public building like Stockholm’s city hall; it is spectacular!