Culture in Stockholm
Encyclopedia
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, the capital of Sweden, houses many national cultural institutions. There are two UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
s in the Stockholm County
Stockholm County
Stockholm County is a county or län on the Baltic sea coast of Sweden. It borders Uppsala County and Södermanland County. It also borders Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The city of Stockholm is the capital of Sweden. Stockholm County is divided by the historic provinces of Uppland and Södermanland...
area: the Royal Palace Drottningholm
Drottningholm Palace
The Drottningholm Palace is the private residence of the Swedish royal family. It is located in Drottningholm. It is built on the island Lovön , and is one of Sweden's Royal Palaces. It was originally built in the late 16th century. It served as a residence of the Swedish royal court for most of...
(within Ekerö Municipality
Ekerö Municipality
Ekerö Municipality is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. The name comes from the island Ekerö, and literally means "Oak Island". Its seat is located in the town of Ekerö....
) and the Skogskyrkogården
Skogskyrkogården
Skogskyrkogården is a cemetery located in the Enskededalen district south of central Stockholm, Sweden...
(The Woodland Cemetery).
Stockholm was the 1998 European City of Culture
European Capital of Culture
The European Capital of Culture is a city designated by theEuropean Union for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong European dimension....
.
Literature
Authors connected to Stockholm include the poet and songwriter Carl Michael BellmanCarl Michael Bellman
was a Swedish poet and composer. Bellman is a central figure in the Swedish song tradition and remains a very important influence in Swedish music, as well as in Scandinavian literature in general, to this day....
(1740–1795), novelist and dramatist August Strindberg
August Strindberg
Johan August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg's career spanned four decades, during which time he wrote over 60 plays and more than 30 works of fiction, autobiography,...
(1849–1912), and novelist Hjalmar Söderberg
Hjalmar Söderberg
Hjalmar Emil Fredrik Söderberg was a Swedish novelist, playwright, poet and journalist. His works often deal with melancholy and lovelorn characters, and offer a rich portrayal of contemporary Stockholm through the eyes of the flaneur...
(1869–1941), all of whom made Stockholm part of their works. Other authors with notable heritage in Stockholm were the Nobel Prize laureate
Nobel Prize in Literature
Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
Eyvind Johnson
Eyvind Johnson
Eyvind Johnson, was a Swedish writer and author. He became a member of the Swedish Academy in 1957 and shared the Nobel Prize in Literature with Harry Martinson in 1974 with the citation: for a narrative art, far-seeing in lands and ages, in the service of freedom.Johnson was born Olof Edvin...
(1900–1976) and the popular poet and composer Evert Taube
Evert Taube
Evert Axel Taube was a Swedish author, artist, composer and singer. He is best known for his folk songs, and is widely regarded as one of Sweden's most respected musicians.-Biography:...
(1890–1976). The novelist Per Anders Fogelström
Per Anders Fogelström
Per Anders Fogelström was among the leading figures in modern Swedish literature. He spent his whole life in Stockholm, and the most famous of his many works is a series of novels set in the city he dearly loved....
(1917–1998) wrote a popular series of historical novels depicting life in Stockholm from the 19th to the mid-20th century.
Architecture
German Church, Stockholm
Tyska kyrkan , sometimes called St. Gertrude's Church , is a church in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden....
(Tyska kyrkan) and several mansions and palaces: the Riddarhuset (the House of Nobles), the Bonde Palace
Bonde Palace
The Bonde Palace is a palace in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Located between the House of Knights and the Chancellery House , it is, arguably, the most prominent monument of the era of the Swedish Empire , originally design by Nicodemus Tessin the Elder and Jean De la...
, the Tessin Palace
Tessin Palace
The Tessin Palace is a baroque town house located in Gamla Stan, the old town in central Stockholm. Located next to the Royal Palace, it is facing Slottsbacken, the major approach to the Stockholm Palace, and flanked by two alleys, Finska Kyrkogränd and Bollhusgränd.The mansion was constructed...
and the Oxenstierna Palace. The oldest building in Stockholm is the Riddarholmskyrkan
Riddarholmskyrkan
The Riddarholmen Church is the burial church of the Swedish monarchs. It 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...
from the late 13th century. After a fire in 1697 when the original medieval castle was destroyed, Stockholm Palace
Stockholm Palace
The Stockholm Palace is the official residence and major royal palace of the Swedish monarch. . Stockholm Palace is located on Stadsholmen , in Gamla Stan in the capital, Stockholm...
was erected in a baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
style. Storkyrkan
Storkyrkan
Sankt Nikolai kyrka , most commonly known as Storkyrkan and Stockholms domkyrka , is the oldest church in Gamla Stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. It is an important example of Swedish Brick Gothic...
Cathedral, the episcopal seat of the Bishop of Stockholm, stands next to the castle. It was founded in the 13th century but is clad in a baroque exterior dating to the 18th century.
As early as the 15th century, the city had expanded outside of its original borders. Some pre-industrial, small-scale buildings from this era can still be found in Södermalm
Södermalm
Södermalm, often shortened to "Söder", is a district in central Stockholm. It covers the large island formerly called "Åsön". With a population of 99,685, it is one of the most densely populated districts of Scandinavia...
. During the 19th century and the age of industrialization Stockholm grew rapidly, with plans and architecture inspired by the large cities of the continent such as Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. Notable works of this time period include public buildings such as the Royal Swedish Opera
Royal Swedish Opera
Kungliga Operan is Sweden's national stage for opera and ballet.-Location and Environment:...
and private developments such as the luxury housing developments on Strandvägen
Strandvägen
Strandvägen is a boulevard on Östermalm in central Stockholm, Sweden. Completed just in time for the Stockholm World's Fair 1897, it quickly became known as one of the most prestigious addresses in town....
.
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
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
style. A key landmark of Stockholm, the Stockholm City Hall
Stockholm City Hall
Stockholm City Hall is the building of the Municipal Council for the City of Stockholm in Sweden. It stands on the eastern tip of Kungsholmen island, next to Riddarfjärden's northern shore and facing the islands of Riddarholmen and Södermalm. It houses offices and conference rooms as well as...
, was erected 1911–1923 by architect Ragnar Östberg
Ragnar Östberg
Ragnar Östberg was a Swedish architect who is most famous for designing Stockholm City Hall. He is the most famous architect within the so-called "national romanticist" movement in Sweden...
. Other notable works of these times are the Stockholm Public Library
Stockholm Public Library
Stockholm Public Library is a rotunda library building in Stockholm, Sweden, designed by Swedish architect Gunnar Asplund. The library was prepared from 1918 and onwards by a committee in which Asplund himself took part. Construction began in 1924, and the library was completed in 1928...
and the Forest Cemetery, Skogskyrkogården
Skogskyrkogården
Skogskyrkogården is a cemetery located in the Enskededalen district south of central Stockholm, Sweden...
Modernism
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
characterized the style of the Stockholm International Exhibition (1930)
Stockholm International Exhibition (1930)
The Stockholm Exhibition was an exhibition held in 1930 in Stockholm, Sweden, that had a great impact on the architectural styles known as Functionalism and International Style....
and the development of the city as it grew in that decade. New residential areas sprang up such as the development on Gärdet
Gärdet
Gärdet is a part of Stockholm east and northeast of Östermalm. Its official name is Ladugårdsgärdet. It is renowned for its large number of modernist apartments...
while industrial development added to the growth, such as the KF manufacturing industries on Kvarnholmen located in the Nacka Municipality
Nacka Municipality
Nacka Municipality is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located at Nacka. The municipality is situated just east of the capital Stockholm and the western parts are considered a suburban part of the Stockholm urban area.The present municipality was created in...
. In the 1950s, suburban development entered a new phase with the introduction of the Stockholm metro. The modernist developments of Vällingby
Vällingby
Vällingby is a suburban district in Västerort in the north-western part of Stockholm Municipality, Sweden.Vällingby was planned in the early 1950s as a new town...
and Farsta
Farsta
Farsta is a district in a borough with the same name in southern Stockholm, see Farsta . It is also a metro station on the Green line . The distance between central Stockholm and Farsta is 8 kilometers.-Sports:...
where internationally praised. In the 1960s this suburban development continued but with the aesthetic of the times, the industrialised and mass-produced blocks of flats received a large amount of criticism.
At the same time that this suburban development was happening the most central areas of the inner city where being redesigned. Sergels Torg
Sergels Torg
Sergels torg is the most central public square in Stockholm, Sweden, named after 18th century sculptor Johan Tobias Sergel, whose workshop was once located north of the square.- Overview :...
, 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 is the ensemble of the House of Culture, City Theatre and National Bank at Sergels Torg, designed by architect Peter Celsing
Peter Celsing
Peter Celsing was a Swedish modernist architect.Celsing studied at the architectural school of the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, and at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts. He later became professor of architecture at the Royal Institute of Technology...
.
Museums
One of the most renowned museums is the Nationalmuseum, with the largest national collection of art: 16,000 paintings and 30,000 objects of art handicraft. The collection dates back to the days of Gustav Vasa in the 16th century, and has since been expanded with works by artists such as Rembrandt, and Antoine Watteau
Antoine Watteau
Jean-Antoine Watteau was a French painter whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour and movement...
, as well as constituting a main part of Sweden's art heritage, manifested in the works of Alexander Roslin
Alexander Roslin
Alexander Roslin was a Swedish portrait painter.-Life:Roslin was born on July 15, 1718, in Malmö, Sweden. In 1759 he married Marie-Suzanne Giroust. He plied his trade in Stockholm, Bayreuth, Vienna, Paris and Italy...
, Anders Zorn
Anders Zorn
Anders Leonard Zorn was one of Sweden’s foremost artists who obtained international success as a painter, sculptor and printmaker in etching.-Biography:...
, Johan Tobias Sergel
Johan Tobias Sergel
Johan Tobias Sergel , Swedish sculptor, was born in Stockholm.-Biography:After studying for some time in Paris he went to Rome, where he remained for twelve years and sculpted a number of groups in marble, including, besides subjects from classical mythology, a colossal representation of "History,"...
, Carl Larsson
Carl Larsson
Carl Larsson was a Swedish painter and interior designer, representative of the Arts and Crafts Movement. His many paintings include oils, watercolors, and frescoes...
, Carl Fredrik Hill
Carl Fredrik Hill
Carl Fredrik Hill was a Swedish painter.-Early life and training:Born the son of a mathematics professor, Hill grew up in the narrowness of the university town of Lund in southern Sweden and had to strike out his career as a landscape painter against his father’s resistance. After studying at the...
and Ernst Josephson
Ernst Josephson
Ernst Josephson was a Swedish painter from a prominent Jewish family, whose main work was done on portraits and paintings of folk life....
.
The Museum of Modern Art, or Moderna Museet
Moderna Museet
Moderna museet, the Museum of Modern Art, Stockholm, Sweden, is a state museum located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, that was first opened in 1958. Its first manager was Pontus Hultén...
, is Sweden's national museum of modern art. It has works by famous modern artists such as Picasso and Salvador Dalí
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
.
Other notable museums in Stockholm include:
- SkansenSkansenSkansen is the first open air museum and zoo in Sweden and is located on the island Djurgården in Stockholm, Sweden. It was founded in 1891 by Artur Hazelius to show the way of life in the different parts of Sweden before the industrial era....
- An open air heritage museum and zoo - Vasa MuseumVasa MuseumThe Vasa Museum is a maritime museum in Stockholm, Sweden. Located on the island of Djurgården, the museum displays the only almost fully intact 17th century ship that has ever been salvaged, the 64-gun warship Vasa that sank on her maiden voyage in 1628. The Vasa Museum opened in 1990 and,...
, dedicated to the restored Vasa, a ship that sunk in 1628 - The Nordic MuseumNordic MuseumThe Nordic Museum is a museum located on Djurgården, an island in central Stockholm, Sweden, dedicated to the cultural history and ethnography of Sweden from the Early Modern age until the contemporary period...
with art and design from the Nordic countries - The Stockholm City MuseumStockholm City MuseumThe Stockholm City Museum is a museum documenting and exhibiting the history of Stockholm. The museum is housed in Södra Stadshuset at Slussen on Södermalm. The building was completed in 1685...
- The Museum of Medieval StockholmMuseum of Medieval StockholmThe Museum of Medieval Stockholm , centrally located north of the Royal Palace, was constructed around old monuments excavated in an extensive archaeological dig in the late 1970s...
- The National Museum of Science and Technology
- The National Maritime Museum
- The Swedish Museum of Natural HistorySwedish Museum of Natural HistoryThe Swedish Museum of Natural History , in Stockholm, is one of two major museums of natural history in Sweden, the other one being located in Gothenburg....
- The Biological Museum, Swedish flora and fauna.
- The Aquaria Water Museum, featuring various aquatic environments.
- The Museum of the History of Wine and Liquor
- MillesgårdenMillesgårdenMillesgården is an art museum and sculpture garden, located on the island of Lidingö in Stockholm, Sweden. It is located on the grounds of the home of sculptor Carl Milles and his wife, artist Olga Milles, who are both buried there....
- The home of sculptor Carl MillesCarl MillesCarl Milles was a Swedish sculptor, best known for his fountains. He was married to artist Olga Milles and brother to Ruth Milles and half brother to the architect Evert Milles...
.
Theatres
Royal Dramatic Theatre
The Royal Dramatic Theatre is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's eight running stages....
(Dramaten), one of Europe's most renowned theatres, and the Royal Swedish Opera
Royal Swedish Opera
Kungliga Operan is Sweden's national stage for opera and ballet.-Location and Environment:...
, inaugurated in 1773.
Other notable theatres are the Stockholm City Theatre
Stockholm City Theatre
Stockholm City Theatre is Sweden's most popular theatre stage. It was created in 1956 but the first performance was delayed until 1960. It had not yet been decided at that point where in the city the theatre would lie so the Folkets hus building at Norra Bantorget, with a temporary stage, became...
, the Peoples Opera (Folkoperan
Folkoperan
Folkoperan is an opera house in Stockholm, Sweden, founded by Claes Fellbom in 1976. It is located in Stockholm at Hornsgatan 72 in a popular southern district of Stockholm called Södermalm....
), the Modern Theatre of Dance (Moderna dansteatern), the China Theatre
Chinateatern
Chinateatern or commonly known as "China" is a private theatre in Stockholm, Sweden, located at Berzelii Park in Stockholm city. Originally built 1928 as a movie theatre but has over the years simultaneously been used as a theatre stage for revues, comedies and musical shows...
, the Göta Lejon
Göta Lejon
Göta Lejon is a theatre in Stockholm, Sweden, located in Södermalm.It is especially popular for musical productions.The current plays are: High School Musical and Buddy - The Buddy Holly Musical....
Theatre, the Mosebacke Theatre
Mosebacke
Mosebacke is a part of Södermalm in Stockholm, Sweden where cultural events take place. There is a restaurant and theater, , and a stage where local legends like Cornelis Vreeswijk have performed....
, and the Oscar Theatre
Oscarsteatern
Oscarsteatern or "Oscars" is one of Stockholm's finest private theatres and the most well-known musical theatre in Sweden. It's located at Kungsgatan 63 in central Stockholm....
.
The stages of Stockholm number in their fifties at the least, and a wide variety of plays are constantly on, from classical to newly written.
Media
Stockholm is basically the media center of Sweden. It has four nation-wide daily newspapers, is also the central location of the publicly-funded radio (SRSveriges Radio
Sveriges Radio AB – Swedish Radio Ltd – is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. The Swedish public-broadcasting system is in many respects modelled after the one used in the United Kingdom, and Sveriges Radio - like Sveriges Television - shares many characteristics with...
) and television (SVT
Sveriges Television
Sveriges Television AB , Sweden's Television, is a national television broadcaster based in Sweden, funded by a compulsory fee to be paid by all television owners...
); in addition, all other major television channels have their base in Stockholm (TV4
TV4 AB
TV4 Group is a Swedish media company that owns the largest commercial television channel in Sweden, TV4.Since 2007, the company is fully owned by Bonnier through Nordic Broadcasting Oy...
TV3
TV3 (Viasat)
TV3 is the brand name used by Viasat's flagship channels in Scandinavia, the Baltic States, and Slovenia. Viasat is part of the Swedish media company Modern Times Group...
, TV6 and Kanal 5
Kanal 5 (Sweden)
Kanal 5 is a Swedish commercial television channel established in 1989. It is owned by the media corporation ProSiebenSat.1 Media.After a troublesome 1990s, Kanal 5 launched new strategies in the early 2000s that established it as a popular entertainment channel targeting young people...
). All major magazines are also located to Stockholm, as are the largest literature publisher, the Bonnier group.
Sports
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
. The three most popular football teams are AIK
AIK Fotboll
AIK, , an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben, , when needed internationally AIK Stockholm, is a Swedish football club based at Råsunda stadium in Solna, a municipality in Stockholm County bordering to Stockholm City Centre...
, Hammarby IF
Hammarby IF
Hammarby Fotboll is a Swedish football club based in Johanneshov - just south of Södermalm, the southernmost district of Stockholm city centre...
and Djurgårdens IF.
Historically, the city was the host of the 1912 Summer Olympics
1912 Summer Olympics
The 1912 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 5 May and 27 July 1912. Twenty-eight nations and 2,407 competitors, including 48 women, competed in 102 events in 14 sports...
. From those days stem the Stockholms Olympiastadion
Stockholms Olympiastadion
Stockholms Olympiastadion, most often called Stockholms Stadion or just Stadion, is a stadium in Stockholm, Sweden. Designed by architect Torben Grut, it was opened in 1912, its original use was as a venue for the 1912 Olympic Games...
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.
Stockholm also hosted all but one of the Nordic Games
Nordic Games
The Nordic Games was the first international multi-sport event that focused primarily on winter sports, and was held at varying intervals between 1901 and 1926. It was organized by Sweden’s Central Association for the Promotion of Sports, and more specifically by Viktor Balck, a member of that...
, a winter multi-sport event
Multi-sport event
A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports between organized teams of athletes from nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of international significance was the modern Olympic Games.Many...
that predated the Winter Olympics.
Annual events
- Stockholm Jazz FestivalStockholm Jazz FestivalStockholm Jazz Festival, established in 1980, is an annual jazz festival in Stockholm, Sweden. It is a major summer event of Stockholm and it is spread over several venues across the city.-Overview:...
is one of Sweden's oldest festivals, the festival takes place at Skeppsholmen in July. - Stockholm PrideStockholm PrideStockholm Pride is an annual gay pride festival held in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. Since the start in 1998, Stockholm Pride has grown....
is the largest Pride event in the Nordic countries and takes place in the last week of July every year. The Stockholm Pride always ends with a parade and in 2007, 50 000 people marched with the parade and about 500 000 watched it. - The Stockholm MarathonStockholm MarathonThe Stockholm Marathon, known as the ASICS Stockholm Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon arranged in Stockholm, Sweden since 1979. It serves as the Swedish marathon championship race...
takes place on a Saturday in early June each year - The Nobel Banquet takes place at Stockholm City HallStockholm City HallStockholm City Hall is the building of the Municipal Council for the City of Stockholm in Sweden. It stands on the eastern tip of Kungsholmen island, next to Riddarfjärden's northern shore and facing the islands of Riddarholmen and Södermalm. It houses offices and conference rooms as well as...
every year on December 10
External links
- Stockholm Town - Stockholm's official tourist page
- Gratis i Stockholm - Stockholm's website with only free cultural events