Stockholm: Capital of Sweden

History

Foundation and the Swedish Empire

Stockholm was founded around 1252 by Birger Jarl at a strategically vital strait connecting Lake Mälaren to the Baltic Sea. Control of this strait meant control of trade between inland Sweden and the coast. The city grew rapidly and became Sweden's capital. In the 17th century, Sweden was a great European power — the Swedish Empire controlled much of the Baltic coast and participated decisively in the Thirty Years' War. The Stockholm Bloodbath of 1520 — when Danish King Christian II massacred ~90 Swedish nobles at a banquet — triggered the Swedish revolt that brought Gustav Vasa to power and established Swedish independence.

Nobel and Modern Sweden

Stockholm's most globally recognised institution is the Nobel Prize. Alfred Nobel — Swedish chemist, inventor of dynamite, and one of the wealthiest men of his era — stipulated in his 1895 will that his fortune should fund prizes for physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and peace. The prizes are awarded every December 10 (the anniversary of Nobel's death) in a ceremony at Stockholm's Concert Hall — except the Peace Prize, which Nobel specified should be awarded in Oslo (then part of Sweden-Norway), a tradition maintained to this day.

Landmarks

The Vasa Museum

The Vasa was a Swedish warship built for King Gustav II Adolf, launched in 1628 with tremendous fanfare. It sailed approximately 1,300 metres on its maiden voyage before capsizing and sinking in Stockholm harbour, taking 30–50 crew members with it. The cause: it was top-heavy with armament and too narrow at the base. The wreck lay undisturbed until 1956, when it was located; the hull was raised in 1961 in an extraordinary salvage operation. Today the Vasa — 98% intact, the best-preserved 17th-century ship in the world — stands in its own climate-controlled museum on Djurgården island.

Gamla Stan and Djurgården

Gamla Stan (Old Town) is one of Europe's best-preserved medieval city centres — a labyrinth of narrow cobbled streets on the original island where Stockholm was founded. Djurgården island, reachable by ferry, is Stockholm's museum island: home to the Vasa Museum, the ABBA Museum (opened 2013), and Skansen — the world's oldest open-air museum, founded 1891, featuring 160 historic buildings relocated from across Sweden.

Fast Facts

• ABBA — Agnetha, Björn, Benny, Anni-Frid — are all from Sweden; their 1974 Eurovision win launched a global phenomenon
• Spotify was founded in Stockholm in 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon
• The Stockholm Syndrome — where hostages develop positive feelings toward captors — is named after a 1973 bank robbery in Norrmalmstorg square
• Stockholm's water is so clean that salmon and sea trout are caught in the city centre
• Sweden maintained neutrality in both World Wars — Stockholm was never bombed or occupied