Stockholm City Hall opened in 1923 and is something to see. It has offices, conference rooms, and ceremonial halls. It is the venue of the Nobel Prize banquet and a major tourist attraction.
The Nobel Prize Banquet is held here, (except the for the Peace Prize which is awarded in Oslo.)
So why is it called the Blue Hall? It was supposed to be painted blue, but the architect changed his mind when he saw the exposed brick. They just never considered changing the name.
We got stickers to identify us as legit. At the end of the tour you can keep your sticker, but they have big boards near the exits where you can leave it. Overflowing, these boards illustrate how many people visit.
This woman did a great job guiding our tour.
The Prince’s Gallery contains City by the Water painted by Prince Eugene between 1916–22. This mural is over 40 meters long taking up the walls and ceiling of the room. It simply depicts life in Sweden.
Located in the mezzanine, The Golden Hall is the most impressive space of all. It, too, is a banquet hall. The giant mosaic covers every wall and uses gold leaf pressed between tiles of glass mounted on cardboard to create a mirrored effect. After the Nobel Banquet, they hold a dance here.
The focal point is an embodiment of the Queen of Mälaren or Mälardrottningen, which is the symbol of Stockholm.
One last story. When they were building this room, they had a bit of a miscalculation with the mosaic discounting the size of the plinth for the door way. So the depiction of Saint Erik is missing his head. It would be too time consuming and expensive to fix so here it is in its glory.
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