Stockholm City Hall – an emblematic building

Stockholm City Hall, beautifully situated by Riddarfjärden (part of Lake Mälaren).

The Stockholm City Hall (Stockholms Stadshus in Swedish) houses the Council for Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. This remarkable building was built between 1911 and 1923 in the so called national romatic style that was very popular around the turn of the century. Today, it has stood the test of time and is considered one of the finest European examples of modern architecture.

An emblematic building

The Stockholm City Hall, beautifully situated on the Riddarfjärden waterfront in centralStockholm, has become a landmark symbol of Sweden. The architect, Ragnar Östberg (1866-1945), had the City Hall built around two large squares, an outer yard and an indoor hall (Blå Hallen).

The building consists of 8 million red bricks, and the tower reaches 106 meters (350 foot) up in the sky offering a stunning view of the islands of Stockholm. The tower is also crowned with the old national symbol of Sweden, the three golden crowns.

The Nobel Prize banquet in the Blue Hall

The Blue Hall (Blå Hallen) of the Stockholm City Hall is used for the banquet held after the annual Nobel Prize award every 10th of December. This indoor hall was originally intended to be in blue. However the architect, changed his mind and decided to keep the red bricks that still remain today. The Blue Hall also houses the largest organ in Scandinavia with its more than 10,000 pipes.

There are four Nobel prizes: physics, chemistry,medicine and literature. The Nobel Peace Price is presented in Oslo, Norway.

Stockholm City Hall – an emblematic building at Flickr