More Days in Stockholm
Congratulations! More days in Stockholm, more possibilities to enjoy its magic. We recommend you spend one day on the island Djurgården with several attractions.
On another day, visit the unique Livrustkammaren (the Royal Armoury Museum) in the Old Town and the facinating Nobel Prize Museum only 5 min away by foot. On the same day, you can visit the time-capsule Hallwylska museet (the Hallwyl Museum).
We added two lovely libraries that are worthwhile to visit. Combine them with a visit to the store NK and Östermalmshallen (see webpage Shopping).
Skansen – A Living Swedish History
In the middle of Djurgården is the world's oldest open-air museum, Skansen, which can be visited all year round. Pick a day with nice weather and set aside at least half a day. Take a map with you at the entrance in case your mobile phone discharges – it's easy to get lost.
Skansen was founded in 1891 by the linguist, teacher and popular educator Artur Hazelius (1833–1901). His motto was "know thyself" by knowing the history. Thus, Skansen became a cultural-historical Sweden in miniature with Nordic plants and animals. All ages and tastes will have something to discover:
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start or end the visit with the Funicular Railway
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there are the Nordic animals and about 200 exotic species in the privately owned Skansen Aquarium (an extra ticket)
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over 140 different buildings cover the area, the oldest of which dates back to the 14th century
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the city quarters shows what a Swedish medium-sized city looked like in the 1800s
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the Seglora church from the 1790s – it's a popular church to get married in and well worth a visit
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the magic glass studio Stockholms Glasbruk.
The name Skansen comes from the redoubt that the king Karl XIV Johan (1763–1844) had built as a playground for his only child Oscar I (1799–1859). This redoubt was located next to the current Håsjöstapeln. Skansen is owned by a government-regulated foundation without a principal.
The Sing-alongs at Skansen
There is a large stage at Skansen – Solliden – with a unbeatable view over Stockholm. Here, a sing-along (Swedish: allsång) tradition began in 1935 based on the “ordinary” Swedish tradition with the unanimous sing-along together for fun at parties and other occasions.
From 1979, a popular TV-show started: Allsång på Skansen. It’s broadcast live by the Swedish Television (SVT). The time is from 8 pm to 9 pm for eight Tuesdays after Midsummer, i.e. during the Swedish holiday and summer period. Nowadays, about 10,000–25,500 people come to each performance.
You can see the show from a distance at Solliden on your entrance ticket. But to get closer to the stage, you must buy a separate ticket (Ticketmaster). Do not bring a bag.
In sing-alongs, people sing the songs they are familiar with, sometimes the songs are pre-selected in a booklet (as on Solliden). In the TV-show, the song-alongs are mixed with performances by various well-known guest artists.
From the Solliden stage, the New Year's Eve is celebrated since 1893. The poem-words "Ring, bell ring" are associated by many with this Eve at Skansen (recited for the first time in 1895). The Walpurgis Night on April 30th is also celebrated at Solliden since 1892. This tradition came to Sweden from Germany as early as the Middle Ages.
The Pleasure Palace and the Garden Café
If you have more days in Stockholm, do spend an extra day on the island Djurgården. For example, combine a visit to the pleasure palace Rosendal, the charming café next to it, and one of all art galleries (two is listed here).
In the 1820s, the Karl XIV Johan (1763–1844) built the Palace. It's a unique, well-preserved document of the Swedish empirical style (the so-called Karl Johan style). Members of the royal family went often to the Palace day-time when they wanted to get away from the formal court life in the city.
The palace belongs to the Royal Swedish Palace Djurgården's administration. During the summer months, visitors are given the opportunity to go on guided tours of the castle (not 2024).
Next to the Palace, the Swedish Garden Society created a garden academy in collaboration with Queen Josefina (1807– 1861). Until 1911, 700 gardeners were trained here. Since 1982, the garden has been run in the form of a foundation that, among other things, works to spread knowledge about biodynamic cultivation. There’s also a very nice café – Rosendals Trädgårdscafé – here. In mid-June, the Rosendal Garden Party event takes place with concert evenings (modern music).
The Amusement Park Gröna Lund
Gröna Lund ("Green Grove"), or the nickname Grönan, is an amusement park at the islet Djurgården. It's situated next to the jetty and street “Allmänna Gränd”. Stockholmers love its attractions, the concerts summertime, and the 5-fight (or 5-pentathlon). In the popular pentathlon you compete in five different games to collect points. It’s a fun and social way to experience the Park even if you don’t like big dippers or wobbling around in machines.
The Grönan is relatively small compared to other amusement parks due to its location. Its roots are in the 1700s when there were entertainment establishments in the area. The national singer-songwriter Carl Michael Bellman (1740–1795) sung about them. Originally, the name Gröna Lund came from the large garden plot in the area. Later, an inn between Mjölnaregården and Bellmanshuset had the name. In 1883, the German carpenter Jacob Schultheiss rented the area to erect "carousels and other amusements". Thus, Grönan is Sweden's oldest amusement park. And it's unique. Most of the buildings are old residential and commercial structures from the 19th century. The Grönan was built around them.
Until 2001, descendants of Schultheiss ran the Park. Since 2006, it's owned by Parks & Resorts Scandinavia AB (owned by the Tidstrand family) which also owns Kolmården Zoo and Skara Sommarland.
The Royal History is Brought to Life
Livrustkammaren (the Royal Armoury or the Museum of the Swedish Royal History) is a Swedish state history museum, housed in the Royal Palace of Stockholm since 1978. It's easy to miss its entrance on the Slope of the Palace.
The Museum manages a collection of about 30,000 objects related to the various royal Swedish families. This is a cultural heritage that tells about the royal family's role in the historical development over the centuries.
The Royal Armoury was originally the Swedish royal family's storehouse of costumes, armour and weapons. The foundation the Museum was laid when King Gustav II Adolf (1594–1632) in 1628 ordered that his clothes from the campaigns in Poland during the Second Polish War should be preserved "uthi Rust-Cammaren (Royal Armoury) for an eternal memory". This meant that the Royal Armoury took on more of a historical collection.
The most iconic and historically significant object in the museum is Gustav II Adolf's well-preserved costume from the Battle of Lützen in 1632, when he was shot and died, including his bloodstained shirt and armor. The oldest existing inventory is from 1548.
The Nobel Prize Museum – Impressive Science
Alfred Nobel (1833–1896) was a Swedish chemist, engineer, and industrialist. His most famous invention – dynamite – was an explosive using nitro-glycerin that was patented in 1867. In his will 1895, he donated (no heirs) his fortune to the Nobel Foundation. It would award five different Prizes anually to those who, during the preceding year, have "conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
Nobel's will indicated that the awards should be granted in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace. The Norwegian Nobel Committee selected the recipient of the Peace Price. Why? It's unclear, but Norway was ruled in union with Sweden at that time. The first Prizes were awarded in 1901. They're widely regarded as the most prestigious awards available in their respective fields.
A sixth prize for Economic Sciences is included since the Foundation administrates it.T he award was established in 1968 by an endowment "in perpetuity" from Sweden's central bank, Sveriges Riksbank, to commemorate the its 300th anniversary. It was first presented in 1969.
The Nobel Prize Museum at the Grand Square was inaugurated in 2001 in connection with the 100th anniversary celebration of the Nobel Prize. Its permanent display presents Alfred Nobel, the Prizes, and the personal life stories of the laureates. They also donated many artifacts. Interesting temporary exhibitions are held regularly.
A Lady with a Passion – to Collect
The Hallwylska Museet (the Hallwyl Museum) is a time-capsule that is as hidden in central Stockholm it can get. Most of all, the Museum is a time-capsule moving you back over 100 years ago. Everything started with a lady who inherited a fortune: Wilhelmina von Hallwyl (1844−1930).
Walther and Wilhelmina von Hallwyl (the couple had four daughters together) built the Hallwyl Palace as a Stockholm residence finished in 1898. The architect was the Swedish Isak Gustaf Clason (1856–1930) and his collaborator Albert Collett. It was one of the most lavish Swedish private residences around the turn of the century 1900.
In terms of form and content, the Palace represents the historical romantic architecture of the late 1800s. The interiors showcase a range of historic styles with precious material choices as well as exclusive décor and artistic embellishment.
The Palace contains Wilhelmina von Hallwyl's unimaginable large collections of art, antiques, weapons, porcelain, and silver. There are 50,000 well-documented objects. The interior shows a private home from the turn of the century 1900.
In 1920, the von Hallwyl couple bequeathed the whole Palace to the Swedish state. The wish was to preserve a historical passed time for the future in a museum. Do take a guided tour (pre-book on internet), and ask if it’s possible to see the attic over the stables and some other rooms off the standard guided-tour.
Kungliga biblioteket (the National Library of Sweden)
The beautiful Kungliga biblioteket (the National Library of Sweden), with the nickname KB, is both a library and a government agency. It's situated in the lovely park Humlegården.
Here, you can see the Codex Gigas (means "giant book"), also known as the Devil’s Bible (check that it's on display). It's famous for two reasons: it is believed to be the world’s largest preserved medieval manuscript and it contains a large, full-page portrait of the Devil. The Book was created in the early 13th century in the Benedictine monastery of Podlažice (in today's Czech Republic) but was brought to Sweden as spoils of war in the 17th century.
The roots of KB go back to the King Gustav Vasa (1496–1560) who collected books on a variety of subjects as well as maps. His successors expanded the collection. King Gustav II Adolf gave away parts of it in 1620: those books founded the Uppsala University Library, which has the "Silver Bible" (see Excursions).
In 1661, Sweden introduced a legal deposit act (the Act). It required all printers to deliver one copy of their material to KB. Initially, the act was an instrument of censorship, a way for the state to control its citizens.
Much of the KB went up in flames during the Tre Kronor Palace fire of 1697. Only 6,700 volumes and 283 manuscripts survived. They were stored temporarily in various places (one the Islet of the Knights). In 1768, the collection moved into the new Royal Palace.
Several large book collections, either donated or purchased, came to the KB in the 19th century. Space was limited in the Palace. In 1877, the present building was finished. The designer was the Swedish architect Gustaf Dahl. He used cast iron technology in the construction. The two wings, designed by the Swedish architect Axel Anderberg, were finished in 1927.
In the late 1900s and in 2012, the Act was expanded to include electronic media. KB's has currently over 18 million items (including foreign literature), mostly stored in underground storage rooms. Almost everything that's published in Sweden is here – saved in their original forms or contents.
The Book Thief at the KB
In 2004, a person wanted to look at KB's copy of Henry Lewis' "Das illustrirte Mississippithal" from 1858. The librarian realized that the valuable book was gone. Soon the staff found out it was not alone. Several other older works – valuable rarities that were rarely borrowed from the underground storage rooms – had also disappeared. After an inventory of the KB's collections, it was established that 62 books had been stolen. The thefts had been going on systematically for nine years.
It turned out that the culprit was employed as a senior librarian and head of the manuscript department at the KB. He had called himself Mr. Karl Fields, as a nod to his favorite Swedish poet Erik Axel Karlfeldt, when he sold the books through the Ketterer Kunst auction house in Hamburg. The auction house paid in cash. The books were spread around the world.
When the thefts were discovered, the police finally managed to arrest the “KB-man”: Anders Burius. In interrogation, he stated that the sales had given him over SEK 9 million, which paid for a "lavish living". But the investigation stopped there. On December 8, 2004, he cut the gas line in his apartment on street Surbrunnsgatan in central Stockholm. In the powerful explosion the roof collapsed, and a dozen people were injured. Only Burius died. After his death, the police's theft investigation was closed. They tried to do more, but the case was time-barred.
The KB still try to find and recover the books that were stolen. So far, 19 books have been returned.
Stadsbiblioteket (the Stockholm Public Library)
In 1918, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation presented a donation of SEK 1 million to the City of Stockholm for the establishment of a city library. Two more funds made the construction possible. Stadsbiblioteket (the Stockholm Public Library) became one of Stockholm's most notable structures. This thanks to the world famous Swedish architect Gunnar Asplund (1885–1940).
Asplund was a key representative of Nordic Classicism of the 1920s. The Library was finished in 1928 and it's considered as one of Asplund's most important works. It stands as the prototypical example of the Nordic Classicism and so-called Swedish Grace movement. Asplund was partly inspired by the Barrière Saint-Martin (Rotonde de la Villette) by Claude Nicolas Ledoux (1736–1806). The approximately 24-metre-high rotunda, the cylinder, in the middle, is surrounded by four lower rectangular buildings that are interconnected, so-called wings.
Also designed by Asplund, and completed in 1931, is the parkland to the south with its large pond and the shops along the street Sveavägen. The three simple annex buildings to the west, too, formed part of Asplund's original concept but were designed by other Swedish architects, i.e. Erik Lallerstedt (two blocks furthest west, 1930 and 1932) and Paul Hedqvist (1953). Lallerstedt you "met" at the Waxholm Hotel.
The Library holds about 400,000 books. Actually, the Library is a network with other smaller libraries around the Stockholm area. They have more than 2 million volumes and 2.4 million audio tapes, CDs, and audio books. On 20 June, the "Asplund" Library closed for renovation and will remain closed until the end of 2027. Though, you've nice pictures here and here from the interior.
When Asplund is presented for you, this might be interesting: