Monday, 31 January 2011

Cities of the world: Stockholm in 20 photos II

Europe’s most beautiful capital viewed from the Kaknäs Tower

Early autumn at Prince Eugen’s Waldemarsudde

The City Hall

Detail of the Concert House

Equestrian statue of Carl XV, the most popular of the Bernadottes

The Museum of Maritime History

The City Library – Gunnar Asplund’s masterpiece

The King’s Garden

The Royal Palace

The Western Bridge

Hotels Esplanade and Diplomat

King’s Street after Christmas

Katarina Church

The House of the Nobility

The author Hjalmar Söderberg surprised by the first snow

Sunset

Mansions along Northern Stream

A view towards Söder

Rosendal, a summer palace in winter

A view from the tower of the Cathedral

4 comments:

  1. You really make me pride of my home town although I do not intend to return to Stockholm, before the end of April!

    Perhaps it would be interesting for some readers to know more about the Mansions along the Northern Stream. The one most distant is Rosenbad where the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Justice have their offices. It was built for less serious purposes like dining,wining and dancing.

    The next corner building houses the company Ratos of the finance family Söderberg.

    The next one closer to the cam is the Palace of the Family Sager-one or the last family palaces in the centre of Stockholm- which upon the death of the last Mrs. Sager- was inherited by the catholic diocese of Stockholm, which in their turn sold it to the Swedish Government that eventually turned it into the residence of Swedish Prime Ministers.
    Mr Fredrik Reinfelt and family reside there now.

    The palace closest to the camera is a palace built for the Princess Sophia Albertina, sister of King Gustav III. Upon her death she bequeathed to the prince second in line after the crown prince. I think the last such prince actually residing in the palace was prince Oscar,duke of Ostrogothia, later to become King Oscar II of Sweden (and Norway). I think all his sons were born in this palace.The palace is now the head office of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I am not sure if the state is still paying a nominal rent for the use of the palace to its original owner, which since female succesion to the throne was introduced ,would be the duke of Wärmland.

    Martin Rahm

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  2. Yes, Stockholm is a marvellous city.

    Concerning the Hereditary Prince's Mansion I could add that the last princes actually to live there were Carl and Eugen, the younger sons of Oscar II, who moved in in 1889. Eugen also remained there after Prince Carl married Princess Ingeborg in 1897, but in another part of the mansion. Prince Eugen moved permamently to Waldemarsudde in 1905, Prince Carl and Princess Ingeborg to Byströmska villan (now the residence of the Spanish ambassador) in 1906.

    The thought of selling the Hereditary Prince's Mansion was first put forward in 1902 and the city engineer, who was consulted, recommended that the mansion should be demolished (!!) to make room for shops and other modern facilities. Luckily this was prevented and the Foreign Ministry and other institutions moved in in 1906 - as the Foreign Ministry grew in size it got the entire building on its own.

    The mansion was sold for 2,250,000 SEK of which an interest of 4 % should be paid annually to the prince who would otherwise have had the right to reside there. In 2005 I was informed by Göran Alm, head of the Bernadotte Library, that Prince Carl Philip does indeed benefit from that interest.

    I could also add that of Oscar II's sons at least two (Gustaf V and Eugen) were born at Drottningholm; Gustaf V in one of the pavilions in front of the theatre (on the right hand side if one faces the theatre, I believe). But Crown Princess Märtha of Norway and Queen Astrid of the Belgians were both born in the Hereditary Prince's Mansion in 1901 and 1905 respectively and also christened there (their sister Margaretha was born and christened at her parents' summer house at Djurgården, Parkudden).

    And I could also add that Carin Bergström, the head of the Royal Collections, is about to complete her biography of Sophia Albertina, "Självständig prinsessa" ("Independent Princess"), which will be published later this year.

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  3. I am glad I wrote that I only "thought" that the last hereditary prince to reside in the Sophia Albertina Palace was the later Oscar II and that I "thought" that all his sons were born there.I could of course have checked these facts before making my comment. On the other hand I am glad that my comment gave you an opportunity to share your knowledge with me and others.

    Martin Rahm

    ReplyDelete
  4. But we can say that you was right to say that the future Oscar II was the last prince to reside there while being second in line to the throne - he was so when he moved in in 1857, whereas Princes Carl and Eugen were fifth and sixth in line to the throne when they moved in in 1889 (following their elder brother Crown Prince Gustaf and his sons Gustaf Adolf, Wilhelm and Erik). But of course the mansion was not needed for the seven-year-old Prince Gustaf Adolf.

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