A recent trip to Scandinavia gave me the opportunity of a lifetime: visiting the capital city halls of Sweden, Denmark & Norway. A trifecta! Stockholm & Copenhagen built their modern city halls at about the same time, but Oslo wouldn’t start construction until a few decades later… yet they all have similar themes. Let’s take a closer look at each.
Stockholm
Style: National Romantic Style/Regionalism
Construction: 1911—23
Height: 106 m
Architect: Ragnar Östberg
This first city hall I visited was part of a guided tour & the only way to see the building’s interior. Famous for hosting the Nobel Prize banquet for Physics, Chemistry, Medicine & Economic Sciences, that first view from across the water blew me away. The term National Romantic Style often bundles Romanesque Revival, Gothic Revival & other elements together; however, I know the movement better as Regionalist. As mentioned in my PDF guide to Regionalism in Sevilla:
…European nations began to focus on specific regions which offered nostalgic looks to the past in an increasingly modern & complicated world. Regional uniqueness, defined in terms of autonomy & tradition, became a model for patriotism & a nation’s “true” origins. Merging vernacular styles & different historic periods —often exaggerated for dramatic effect— gave birth to Regionalist architecture.
The waterside public park along Riddarfjärden shows order & restraint, & morning sun during my visit made everything glow. Celestial dieties —like Orpheus pictured below— decorate the wooden ceiling of an adjacent promenade. Crossing underneath leads to a large interior patio, where public space becomes private. Snakes are often present in Scandinavian mythology, but I’m not sure who the prisoner held under the fountain is. Any ideas?
Once inside, dark-red bricks reminiscent of Swedish monasteries mingle with a huge central patio that has an easy-to-identify Venetian feel. Even the floor is stunning… Gaudí would have approved:
Hallways decorated with period sculpture are otherwise bare & beautiful. Hey, what’s that mudéjar brick dome doing here? The Rådsalen (Red Room/Council Chamber) where officials meet to debate & vote showed little restraint with its stunning ceiling:
Window reliefs along the Prince’s Gallery are a beautiful addition, but what really took my breath away was the long mural behind the row of double columns… painted by Prince Eugen himself. Younger brother to King Gustav V, Eugen donated his entire estate + his art to the people of Sweden on his death in 1947. He was an accomplished artist, & I wish our guide had talked more about his life:
Without question, the Golden Room is the show stopper… covered from floor to ceiling in real gold mosaics. Artist Einar Forseth must have blown the budget but thankfully so. Scenes of Swedish history surround us as we converge on the Queen of Lake Mälar. She welcomes us all, regardless of nationality, as a section portraying world monuments appears at left. Even without the columns, I felt like I’d stepped into an updated version of Monreale cathedral outside Palermo in Sicily. Stunning in every respect:
I’ll have to return to see city views from the tower. While doing a bit of light research on Ragnar Östberg’s career, I found that most of his other constructions were villas for the upper class… something all Regionalist architects did in Spain. Yet another tie in!
Copenhagen
Style: National Romantic Style/Regionalism
Construction: 1893—1905
Height: 106 m
Architect: Martin Nyrop
Apologies for the stock photo above… a mega-concert venue set up in front of city hall during my visit meant that I couldn’t see the building well. In fact, I had to walk around the entire thing in order to find an entrance. But at least I could check out all the beautiful door decor:
Inspired by Siena’s city hall, this sixth upgrade for Copenhagen was built for expansion & to impress. And as the first completed of all three capital cities, surely it inspired a bit of friendly competition. Architect Martin Nyrop had his most successful career moment during the city hall’s construction, building villas for the elite, winning the grand prize at the 1900 Universal Exposition in Paris & even designing much of the interior furnishings of city hall since his background had been in carpentry.
And more snakes! The colorful ceramic entrance contains an important local phrase: Saa er by som borger or “As the citizen, so the city”… a great way to remind politicians that they indeed work for the public!
The covered Central Hall impresses with its size & decoration. Although I arrived too late to take a guided tour, at least the time of day allowed me to explore the building while relatively free of other tourists & groups:
Ceramics add a wonderful touch, but cut-glass panels depicting local flora & fauna were my favorite. I’ll have to return to see more!
Oslo
Style: Functionalism… or is it? 😉
Construction: 1931—1950
Height: 66 m
Architects: Arstein Arneberg & Magnus Poulsson
As our group walked by on the way to dinner, I stopped dead in my tracks. Wha, wha, what is this?? I certainly did not expect such a grand, modern city hall. Monumental in size, with multiple reliefs of traditions & local products, a decorative fountain, & even the underside of the main balcony embellished. Also, if I didn’t know better, I’d say the architects were from Portugal… more on that in a moment. So much beauty just on the exterior:
So modern, so stylish. The fountains by Anne Marie Grimdalen (pictured above) bear such a resemblance to Português Suave design in Salazar-era Portugal, it’s uncanny. The sheer size of the building, its reliefs & even window border treatments are similar as well. Brick certainly was not a material of choice in Portugal, but still… I fell in love with this city hall right away. Just look at all those geometric planes making different levels for staircases & the main fountain:
I returned after dinner to complete my stroll around the exterior, then examined the wood reliefs (Yggdrasilfrisen) that decorate both galleries leading to the main entrance. Artist Dagfin Werenskiold portrayed scenes of Norse mythology, & all panels are described in English for everyone who isn’t familiar with those classic tales. For pics of all 16 reliefs along with accompanying text, head to Rowdy Geirsson’s blog (anything but mediocre, as he describes it):
Next day, I returned after our guided tour of Oslo to visit the interior. The Central Hall holds the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony every year —the only prize awarded outside of Stockholm— & showcases a series of fantastic murals. Henrik Sørensen’s “The Nation at Work & Play” greets all who enter. The remaining three murals by Alf Rolfsen are even more interesting, showing Nazi occupation, reconstruction & Oslo’s patron saint Hallvard. Amazing expressionism from the 1930’s & 1940s’… similar to so much tile art in Portugal from the same era, with Maria Keil coming immediately to mind.
At the end of the hall, windows overlook the waterfront with two more murals: one by Reidar Aulie depicting the development of the labor movement & the other by Karl Høgberg showing local trade. A feast for the eyes:
Even small details like floor marble, ceiling lamps, curtains & ceramic panels express local pride. And those stunning hallways!
Unfortunately a private group had reserved the upper level where council chambers reside. But I’d already had an emotional visit, & of course I can return some day. Many more murals, tapestries, paintings & gorgeous architecture to discover.
Each of these buildings is worthwhile to see on their own, but if you visit all three Scandinavian capitals in a single trip then make city halls part of your plan. As political statements & public buildings, they showcase values, trades & traditions that were important at the beginning of the 20th century… & still define these societies today.