STOCKHOLM. - Capital of the Kingdom of Sweden, S. (Stockholm in Swedish), on the western shore of the Baltic Sea, where the slow action of glaciation has produced such a tangle of lakes, islands and peninsulas, canals and rivers as to give the locality a distinctive character of its own.
Around 1100 the mouth of Lake Mälaren was already fortified, and on the hill of the island two strongholds stood to watch over the two waterways, today called Norrström and Söderström. Around the middle of the 13th century Birger Jarl built his royal Castle, the first encircling walls of the city, and outside them the two long streets, of which the "Västerlänggatan" (the long western street) between the north and the south of S. still survives; and in his time dates the first construction of the church of St. Nicholas, which is the oldest in S. (Storkyrkan). It was erected around 1250, rebuilt in 1306 with three naves and a wooden roof; in 1340 the chapel dedicated to the B. Virgin was added; at the beginning of the 15th century five bays were added on the eastern side and along the walls a series of chapels; while inside the vaults were all brought to the same height; at the end of the same century the naves were increased to five, demolishing the chapels; in the middle of the 16th century King Gustav Vasa demolished the raised portion of the choir; and at the beginning of the 18th century the exterior was made uniform to harmonize it with the royal Castle. The tower is from around 1740; the interior was reduced to the Baroque style; there is the wooden group of St. George executed by Bernt Notke of Lübeck in 1489. The silver and ebony altar with Baroque decorations is the work of E. Erdmüller of Hamburg; the great choir candelabrum is the work of northern Germany of the 15th century; the paintings of the Crucifixion and the Last Judgment are by David Klöcker Ehrnstrahl, around 1695. The sumptuous royal stalls were designed in 1684 in the Italian style by Nicodemus Tessin the Younger; as, around 1700, was the chair. The baptismal font is from 1514 and comes from Uppland. The church is now used for Protestant worship.
The church of Riddarholmen belonged to the Franciscans and was founded with the adjoining convent around 1270. The primitive church was bounded on the south by a wall divided at the bottom by niches, and beyond it was a cloister, whose founder and benefactor was King Magnus Ladulås, who was crudely represented in a fresco. The cloister was enlarged in the 15th century and joined to the central nave by means of arches. The church, today occupied by the Protestants, has three naves, with an elongated choir; four round pillars separate the central nave from the north side aisle, while four rectangular pillars separate it from the south side aisle. Near the choir are the tombs of Kings Charles Knutsson and Magnus Ladulås. From the ancient church is the vaulted pointed-arch portico on the north side. Around the church there clustered between the 17th and 19th centuries a series of burial chapels; on the south side those of the dynasties of Gustav (around 1630) and of Bernadotte (1860); north of the choir the chapel of the Carolines on a design by the Tessins and by C. Härleman (1671-1743); further west, the chapel of the Banér.
Around 1400 the city wall was enlarged, including Riddarholmen and Helgeandsholmen, where today the Parliament Building stands; around 1500 date the two cylindrical towers situated, one in the building of the Svea court of appeal and the other, called that of Birger Jarl, in that of the municipal archives. To the west of the church of Riddarholmen the remains of the ancient Franciscan cloister can be identified, and in the southern part of the city the remains of the Dominican cloister were found. But the old city was devastated several times by fires that destroyed the houses, then of wood, replaced only in the 16th century by brick buildings, inspired by the architecture of northern Saxony and of France. But the period of great building was that of the 17th century. Then the church of St. James was completed, begun at the end of the 16th century during the reign of John II; on the site of a guild was erected around 1640 the so-called German church; there the silver baptismal basin comes from Augsburg. Between 1630-40 the great governor of S., Klas Fleming, after the fire of 1625, drew up the plans for the enlargement of the city within the limits that remained until the beginning of the 20th century. The most notable example of the architecture of the period in S. is the Palace of the Nobility, with its pilastered facade, the work of the Dutchman Justus Vingboons; it was finished by Jean de la Vallée, to whom is also due the Palace of Axel Oxenstierna near the Castle and, together with Nicodemus Tessin, whose son, also Nicodemus, introduced Italian Baroque into S., with the Palace of the old State Bank, the town hall, the construction of the new Castle, finished by his son Charles Gustav Tessin, C. Härleman and C. J. Adlcreutz; the last two erected the monumental North Bridge. The Palace of the Grand Governor was erected around 1700 by Nicodemus Tessin the Younger, who knew how to blend motifs of the Italian Baroque, setting them in the Swedish climate; he had as collaborators in the interior the Frenchmen De Maux, J. Fouquet, E. Chauveau. Around 1770 the architects C. J. Cronstedt and E. Palmestedt erected the Exchange in Rococo style. New plans for the development of S. were made by A. Lindhagen in 1869 with the new quarters of Straudvägen, Norr Mälarstrand, the great parks of Kronobergsparken and Tantolunden, the Riksdag Building, the new Opera, later the Dramatic Theatre, the Nordic Museum (1888-1907), the Stadium (1912), the Palace of Justice (1915), the new town hall (1923), the work of Ragnar Östberg, the Lärkstaden quarter with the Engelbrekt church, down to the modern quarters of Rödbärgsstaden, Atlas and Rörstrand; the Concert Hall (1923-26), the Higher School of Commerce and the South Bank are works of Ivar Tengbom; the municipal Library inspired by Egyptian motifs by E. G. Asplund. The Catholic parish churches currently in S. are those of St. Henry, in the northern part of the city (Götgatan), where the apostolic vicariate also has its seat; attached is a parish school kept by the Poor School Sisters of Munich; and that of St. Eugenia in Norra Smedjegatan, founded in 1835, in the southern part of the city, with an attached parish school kept by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Chambéry. There are then the two asylums of Oscar Minne and Jozefinahemmet kept by the Sisters of St. Elizabeth; the French Sisters of St. Joseph have a higher school for girls. For 25 years the Friars Preachers of the province of Paris have had the church dedicated to the Madonna under the title of the Annunciation. The German Salesians have had, since 1931, a small school and a chapel. The Dominicans of the Third Order of the mother house of Fribourg in Switzerland opened a hospice in S. in 1931. The Sisters of St. Bridget, with mother house in Rome, opened a house in 1923 at Djursholm, near S. The Sisters of St. Elizabeth opened a small hospital in S. in 1926.
Maux, J. Fouquet, E. Chauveau. Around 1770 the architects C. J. Cronstedt and E. Palmestedt erected the Exchange in the Rococo style. New plans for the development of S. were made by A. Lindhagen in 1869 with the new quarters of Straudvägen, Norr Mälarstrand, the great parks of Kronobergsparken and Tantolunden, the Riksdag Palace, the new Opera, later the Dramatic Theatre, the Nordic Museum (1888-1907), the Stadium (1912), the Palace of Justice (1915), the new City Hall (1923), the work of Ragnar i Östberg, the Lärkstaden quarter with the Engelbrekt church, down to the modern quarters of Rödbärgsstaden, Atlas and Rörstrand; the Concert Hall (1923-26), the Higher School of Commerce and the South Bank are works of Ivar Tengbom; the Municipal Library inspired by Egyptian motifs is by E. G. Asplund. The Catholic parish churches currently in S. are those of St. Henry, in the northern part of the city (Götgatan), where the apostolic vicariate also has its seat; attached to it is a parish school kept by the Poor School Sisters of Munich; and that of St. Eugenia in Norra Smedjegatan, founded in 1835, in the southern part of the city, with an attached parish school kept by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Chambéry. There are then the two asylums of Oscar Minne and Jozefinahemmet kept by the Sisters of St. Elizabeth; the French Sisters of St. Joseph have a higher school for girls. For 25 years the Friars Preachers of the province of Paris have had the church dedicated to the Madonna under the title of the Annunciation. The German Salesians have had, since 1931, a small school and a chapel. The Dominicans of the Third Order of the mother house of Fribourg in Switzerland opened a hospice in S. in 1931. The Sisters of St. Bridget, with their mother house in Rome, opened a house in 1923 at Djursholm, near S. The Sisters of St. Elizabeth opened a small hospital in S. in 1926.
ethnographic collection of the Swedish provinces and a history of the civilization of the upper classes over the last four centuries. The Skansen Museum is an open-air museum in Djurgården; it was opened in 1891 and shows all the characteristics of Swedish folklore. The State Historical Museum and the Royal Cabinet of Medals were established as early as 1670, to give an exact idea of the history of civilization in Sweden; it ranges from prehistory to the Middle Ages. The National Museum and the State Art Museum. It was begun as early as King Gustav Vasa, but developed in 1777 with the collections of Queen Louisa Ulrika and King Adolf Frederick. The Museum comprises painting and sculpture with a section for the Far East. The Royal Cabinet of Arms and Armor in the Nordic Museum comprises a collection of arms in general and of samples of Swedish manufacture and also a collection of State trophies. The Hallwyl Museum in the palace of the same name (1893-99) comprises ca. 400 paintings, especially of the Dutch school of the 17th century, over 600 porcelains from the various countries of Europe and 600 Chinese ceramics, Chinese bronzes and artistic furniture, illustrated in a descriptive catalogue of over 40 vols. The Free University of S. contains a collection of paintings by Italian, French, Dutch and Swedish artists of various periods; this collection, offered by several donors, has the purpose of completing the teaching of art history. The Thiel Gallery contains the major collection of Swedish art from the end of the last century to the beginning of the present one. For the pan-Christian conference of S. from 19 to 30 Aug. 1925, v. CONFERENZE PANCRISTIANE. - See plate XCIII.
