I am Stockholm

I am Stockholm A photo trip through some of my streets and all of my neighborhoods

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Lars Clason

Contents

8 The Old Town is where my journey begins

52 Södermalm used to be a working class neighborhood, now it’s my bohemian epicenter

86 My dear Kungsholmen is the island of singles and cops

104 Vasastan is beautiful and perhaps my most serene neighborhood

132 Östermalm is the posh side of me, and very dramatic

168 Norrmalm is the heart of me, the City

Hi, my name is Stockholm. This is a modern day photo trip through some of my streets and all of my neighbor­ hoods. A collection of holiday snapshots from places well worth a visit – and if you can't visit them, you can always enjoy them here.

So who am I? I am the capital of Sweden, the largest city in the country – and since I'm also the largest city in the ­region you may also call me the capital of Scandinavia.

I was officially born in the year 1252. My founding father was a man called Birger Jarl – and he had two sons who both became kings of Sweden.

Over the years I have grown from essentially just a castle, where the Old Town is now, to the fourteen islands I inhabit today. I'm situated where lake Mälaren meets the Baltic Sea, an ideal spot for merchant ships to transport goods to and from my quays.

For a long time I was the capital of a very poor and ­unequal country. This all started to change with the industrial revolution in the nineteenth century – when international demand for Swedish commodities such as iron and wood ­increased.

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Today I am a modern metropolis, in one of the most equal and well functioning democracies in the world. I am a mix of old and new, of things typically Swedish and influences from many other parts of the globe. I am clean and friendly.

I am 30 percent waterways. I am 30 percent green spaces.

I have 50 bridges connecting my 14 islands. My archipelago is made up of 24,000 islands and islets.

There are close to 900,000 Stockholmers living in the more central parts of me, and about two million inhabitants in my greater area. You can visit me all year round; I have four seasons, each with its own charm and beauty.

Here, in this photo book, you'll find some of my favourite­ places, a string of smultronställen*, as the Swedes would say. It's a chance to get to know me, in a traditional way, as well as catch a nice glimpse of who I am beyond my official image. * Smultronställen

means favourite spots.

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The Old Town is where my journey begins The Old Town, or the City Between the Bridges, as it was officially called until 1980, is where it all started for me. It began when my founding father Birger Jarl built a citadel here, on the island of Stadsholmen, to control the inlets from the Baltic Sea into Lake Mälaren.

As the city grew, so did the citadel. First it became Stockholms Hus and then it expanded in several steps and became the palace Tre Kronor (Three Crowns). For a long time, for hundreds of years, the Old Town was all of me. I was very tiny then compared to now. Eventually I grew out onto malmarna which became Norrmalm, Östermalm, Södermalm and so on.

My oldest street, Köpmangatan, is first men­ tioned in documents from 1323 and my oldest houses are from this period as well. The Old Town’s city planning dates back to the seven­ teenth century. Not much has changed since then.

Visit the Old Town today and you’ll get a good sense of what I was like in the past.

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There are 600 rooms in my Royal Palace and it is still one of Europe's largest. It is now the daily place of work for the King and the Queen, as well as the various departments of the Swedish Royal Court. The palace is open for visitors most days of the year. So do come by and take a royal tour ... or perhaps get a chance to wave to the King on his birthday April 30.

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Narrow alleys is a characteristic of my Old Town street network.

The narrowest one is only 90 cm wide, which is about three feet.

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My light is never the same, it changes with the weather and with the seasons. My dear old Nordic sun ... it moves like nowhere else ... it is up really long hours in the summertime ... at midsummer almost around the clock ... and in wintertime, it arrives, almost unwillingly, late in the morning and seems happy to leave early in the afternoon.

And since my waters are everywhere, they reflect­ the light from an ever changing sky ... from c­ lear ­blue skies with nothing but birds and aero­planes in them ... from blue skies with cotton candy clouds ... from dimly lit grey skies ... and occa­ sionally from thunderous black skies. So my light is ... one of a kind ... and it adds nicely to my atmosphere.

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Södermalm used to be working class, now it’s my bohemian epicenter The name Södermalm dates as far back as 1288, but this southern part of me also had another name, Åsön (Ridge island), which was kept alive by the inhabitants here well into the seven­teenth century. As a matter of fact it still lives on in ­names like Åsögatan and Åsöberget.

Urban develop­ment on this hilly island began in the four­teenth century. It started with a few houses around the area that is now Slussen (the Sluice) and grew out along streets like Götgatan and Hornsgatan.

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My dear Kungsholmen is the island of singles and cops My island of Kungsholmen (The Kings Islet) was first populated by religious monks in the fifteenth century and was pretty much undeve足 loped until 300 years ago. Today it's a really nice neighborhood to take a stroll in, or literally to walk around, along its shores.

But whatever you do, be sure to behave.

Kungsholmen is where I have my police head足 quarters and my city jail as well as my court 足house. And the people who rule me also work here. On the south eastern tip of Kungsholmen you'll find Stockholms Stadshus (City Hall) where it is reflected in the waters of Riddarfj辰rden.

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Vasastan is perhaps my most serene neighborhood Vasastan is both beautiful and serene. In many ways it's also my most intellectual neighborhood.

Here are the headquarters of one of Sweden's most influential book and newspaper publishing companies. And at the corner of Sveav채gen and Odengatan, you'll find my public library, housed in a unique building which was created by Swedish architect Gunnar Asplund and completed in 1928.

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My good old Observatorielunden is a lovely park on a hill 42 meters above sea level in Vasastan. It's a green oasis and despite it ­being close to some of my most busy streets it's very peaceful. Here you can visit the ­ observatorium museum – where very im­ ­ portant r­ esearch in the fields of geography, astronomy and meteorology was conducted between 1753 and 1931.

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Sven-Harry's art museum in Vasaparken is built like a golden casket to protect the art treasures inside. Creator of this stunning six story structure, which opened its doors in March of 2011, is building contractor Sven-Harry Karlsson. It houses a 400 square meter art gallery, which primarily exhibits contemporary Swedish artists. And behind the shiny brass facade is also a museum, a restaurant, residential apartments and retail premises.

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Östermalm is the posh side of me, and very dramatic My dear Östermalm was not always the posh neighborhood it is today. I remember when it was pure boonies and mainly made up of the King's farms – four of them – supplying the Swedish King and his court with food provisions.

It wasn't until 1640 that the city planning began here. And even then it was mostly poor people living on Ladugårdsgärdet, as it was called at this time. The area was, however, also popular with more affluent Stockholmers, who had farms and summer residents here.

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Nowadays Östermalm is one of my most impressive neighborhoods, with many stately and grand buildings and streets.

Take a stroll for example along one of my most famous and posh boulevards, Strandvägen – just follow the cobblestone quay from the Djurgården bridge to Nybro­ plan, and you'll see what I mean.

The houses are magnificent and the view across the water overlooking the islands of Djurgården and Skeppsholmen is indeed spectacular.

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Visit my island of Djurgården and you'll get a chance to enjoy a charming mix of new and old, as well as seriousness and fun.

It's a green oasis, like being in the coun­ try without leaving the city. It is also a place of contrasts – quiet in some parts and really loud in others. Here you'll find many relax­ ing and entertaining things to do, regardless of your physical or mental age.

I myself is more than 760 years old, but here I feel no older than eight sometimes ... or 14 ...or 22 ... or maybe 34 ... 56 ... or 79. On this royal island I have, for example, a zoo, an amusement park, a house of fantasy play, my own art gallery, several world class museums and many great cafés and restaurants.

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Norrmalm is the heart of me, the City My neighborhood Norrmalm is almost as old as my original Old Town. The name first appears in 1288, just 36 years after I was officially founded.

Today Norrmalm, also called “the City”, is my downtown. It hasn't always been this way. The Old Town was my centre until the 1860:s. Then the railway came and my main railway station was built on Norrmalm. Suddenly the Old Town was too cramped and out of date, and everything ­started to change – a trend that was accelerated by the new central post office and numerous news­papers being established on Norrmalm, in the area around the railway station.

Today not very many people live in this neigh­ borhood. Like many downtown areas it has plenty of office buildings. It is also where you'll find my best shopping and nightly entertainment.

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More than three million people visit my oldest park every year.

Kungsträdgården here on Norrmalm with the pretty Japanese cherry trees, is my oldest park, together with Humlegården on my neighboring Östermalm. “Kungsan” as the Stockholmers call it, dates back to my youth in the fifteenth century.

In those days it was literally the king's garden – hence the name, Kungsträdgården, which means exactly that. Back then it was only open to the members of the royal family.

Today it's one of my most popular rendezvous spots, all year round. Some three million people visit Kungsträdgården every year. Here I have for example restaurants, cafés, an outdoor stage and an ice skating rink. This is also where the Swedes have a tradition of celebrating their sports heroes, when they return to Sweden after having won world championships and Olympic medals.

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If only these walls could speak, people say ... well, imagine if a whole city would tell you about itself. For the first time ever, in this photo book, Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, takes you on a modern day photo trip through some of its streets and all of its neighborhoods.

“Everyone is welcome here. I have many visitors from all over the world. It's really nice.

I like all kinds of people. Sometimes I listen to them talk about me. It's very clean here, they say. The streets are so tidy.

And the air is so fresh. And the waters too.�

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Lars Clason