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Sculptures
thumb|110px|Erik Dahlbergh
The southern façade is the most ornate, with statues, sculptures, and reliefs. In eight, initially empty, niches are statues of notable Swedish men. These were added in the 1890s through the initiative of King Oscar II. The statues are approximately tall, made of zinc by Johan Axel Wetterlund. The statues are depicting Erik Dahlbergh, Carl Linnaeus, Nicodemus Tessin <small>the Younger</small> and Georg Stiernhielm to the left of the South Arch, and Haquin Spegel, Olof von Dalin, Rutger von Ascheberg and Carl Fredrik Adelcrantz to the right of the South Arch. They are made of bronze and are approx. high. The group were made at the initiative of King Oscar II to fill the previously empty niches in the triumphal arch. The originals have been restored by Sven Scholander and were cast by Otto Meyer. Bernard Foucquet also made the lions at the Lejonbacken.
The eastern row
The eastern row, or the eastern façade, represents "The Female Qualities" and the Queen. Below this façade is the palace park, the Logården. On a balustrade closing of the Logården from the Skeppsbron are four sculptures representing music, religion, poetry, and mercy. These can be seen as old perceptions of female values and interests. and came from brown ochre that was bought for painting the walls of the building. Carl Hårleman took over as the head of the building site when Tessin died in 1728. During the construction, the plaster was left unpainted, while the stone details were painted in white lead.
During the reign of King Charles XIV John in the 1820s, the coloration was changed again, but not fully. The stone details of the northern and eastern rows were painted in a pink color that was not widely appreciated. When the western and southern rows were to be painted, the stone details were done in a grey color which better contrasted to the still yellow plaster. This coloration lasted until the 1890s, when Tessin's red color was once again used on the plaster at the initiative of King Oscar II. All paint was removed from the sandstone details and sculptures. , this coloration remains but the red-brown color has become more brown over the years.
The new lights were approved after long discussions and tests. They deliver almost twice as much luminous flux as the old ones and use half the energy. The lighting was made by a collaboration between the National Property Board of Sweden, the Office of the Governor of the Royal Palaces, The Royal Architect Johan Celsing and the Municipality of Stockholm Traffic Control. The color is described as neutral warm-white.
According to Johan Celsing, the lighting is supposed to enhance the distribution and nuances of the palace and bring out decorative details not previously visible during the evenings. An example of this is the eastern façade where the wings facing the Skeppsbron are now illuminated.
, the palace is undergoing a comprehensive renovation. Almost half of the area of the façade is made of sandstone from Gotland, as well as the decorations such as sculptures and ornaments.
In 2008, the National Property Board of Sweden, which is responsible for the maintenance of the palace, found that the sandstone had partially disintegrated and the weathering was only getting worse. Among the incidents was a piece of stone weighing falling from . Most damaged were the sunlit parts, the façades facing south and west. As an interim solution, the Property Board had some parts of the façade covered by a black net to catch any falling rocks.
Ever since the palace was built in the 18th century, the weathering of the sandstone has been a problem and this has accelerated since the oil paint was removed from the stone during the renovation in the 1890s. In the spring of 2008, the Property Board started a comprehensive study on order to make a long-term plan for maintenance of the palace during the next 50 years. The study showed that the Gotlandic sandstone was in worse condition than expected. A number of stones were cracked and loose.
The biggest façade renovation in the history of the palace started in May 2011. Starting with the east wing of the northern row at Strömbron, all the façades will be renovated during the following 22 years, each stage of the work being one year, at a cost of 500 million crowns.
<gallery widths="160px" heights="110px">
Slottets fasadrenovering 2011a.jpg|The National Property Board of Sweden posts information, 2011
Slottets fasadrenovering 2011d.jpg|Renovation of the northern row, June 2011
Norra slottsfasaden 2012.jpg|The northern row, a ground-floor apartment after the renovation, June 2011
Slottet fasadrenovering 2013x.jpg|The southern façade, the east wing, June 2011
</gallery>
Interior
Overview
thumb|The ceiling in the south stairwell
thumb|The top of the west stairwell
The palace has 1,430 rooms, of which 660 have windows.
- The Ground Floor is the largest floor of the palace. The rooms there have mostly been used by the staff of the court, and there are also the four portals (or arches) that make up the entrances to the palace as well as the Hall of State and the Royal Chapel.
- The Half Floor, or the mezzanine, has 115 rooms. Most of the rooms have retained their size since the construction of the palace, but their use has varied. The name is derived from the fact that the floor is just half as high as the other floors. The rooms have mostly been used by the staff of the court, but some of the princes' and princesses' apartments have also been there. The mezzanine also houses the Small Guest Apartment, consisting of a couple of rooms in the north part of the western row.
- The First Floor has 67 rooms. The rooms have mostly retained their size since the construction of the palace, but their use has varied. The Bernadotte Apartments and the Pillar Hall are in the northern row, and the eastern row houses the private quarters. This is where King Carl XVI Gustaf and his family lived until they moved to the Drottningholm Palace in 1981.
- The Second Floor, has 57 rooms. Most of the rooms have retained their size since the construction of the palace, but their use has varied. The Guest Apartments, the State Apartments with the ball room the Vita Havet (the White Sea), the Cabinet Meeting Room and Prince Bertil's Apartment are on this floor.
- The Attic, has about 25 rooms, as well as the upper part and the arches forming the ceiling for the Hall of State, the Royal Chapel and the southern stairwell. The attic is mainly used for storage.
<gallery widths="240px" heights="140px" style="clear:left;">
File:Stockholms slott bottenvån, norr uppåt-text.jpg|
File:Stockholms slott 1 tr upp, norr uppåt.jpg|
File:Stockholms slott översta vån, norr uppåt.jpg|
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{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;"
!Floor!!The Southern Row!!The Western Row!!The Northern Row!!The Eastern Row!!The Northeast Wing!!The Southwest Wing!!The Northwest Wing!!The North Curved Wing!!The South Curved Wing
|-
! 2
| rowspan=3|The Hall of State, The Royal Chapel
| The Guest Apartments
| The State Apartments
| Prince Bertil's Apartment
! -
! -
! -
! -
! -
|-
! 1
| The Apartments of the Orders of Chivalry
| The Bernadotte Apartments
| Princess Sibylla's Apartment
! -
! -
! -
! -
! -
|-
! ½
| Royal Court of Sweden
| Office
| Office
| The Upper<br />Middle Gallery
| Not available
| Not available
| Not available
| Not available
|-
! ground
| colspan=4| Royal Court of Sweden (with the Office of the Governor of the Royal Palaces' room and Office of the Royal Architect)
| The Bernadotte library
| Royal Court of Sweden (with the office of the Hofmarschall)
| The Chancery Wing
| The Royal Guards
| The Royal Gift Shop
|-
! Basement
| The Treasury
|colspan=2| The Tre Kronor Museum
| Livrustkammaren
| Gustav III's Museum of Antiquities
| Livrustkammaren
| Slottsarkivet
| Storage
| Storage
|}
The Western Row
The Guest Apartments
thumb|150px|Meleagersalongen<br />(The Meleager Room),<br />the Guest Apartments
The Guest Apartments (also known as the Grand Guest Apartments) are on the second floor in the south part of the western row and are used for visiting heads of state at state visits to Sweden. The rooms got their original interior in the 1760s, under the direction of Jean Eric Rehn when they were set in order for the Prince Frederick Adolf, the brother of King Gustav III. Three of the rooms that are shown to the public are in the mezzanine suite of rooms with windows facing the Inner Courtyard.
The Apartments of the Orders of Chivalry
The Apartments of the Orders of Chivalry are in the south part on the first floor of the western row and consists of four halls, one for each order: The Royal Order of the Seraphim, Order of the Sword, Order of the Polar Star and Order of Vasa. In the Apartments of the Orders there are permanent exhibitions about the Royal Orders. Formerly, this is where the Privy Council had their apartments in the mid-1750s. They were succeeded by the Supreme Court of Sweden who used the halls of the Apartments from 1789 to 1949.
The Eastern Row
Prince Bertil's Apartment
thumb|150px|Skära salongen<br />(The Pink Drawing room),<br />Prince Bertil's apartment
The rooms on the second floor of the eastern row is called the Prins Bertil's Apartment after its latest noted tenant. King Adolf Frederick used the rooms as his own apartment. During the reign of King Gustav III, it was Duke Charles' apartment and later when King Charles XIV ruled, it was used for some time by Crown Prince Oscar (I). Oscar had one of the rooms decorated in a neo-gothic style in 1828. The room became known as the Götiska (the Geatish Room). King Charles XV also used the apartment as his quarters and during the reign of King Oscar II it was used by the Crown Prince Gustaf (V). Later it was Prince Bertil's apartment until he died in 1997. After the prince's demise it has been used for visiting heads of state, interviews and seminars.
Princess Sibylla's Apartment
The Princess Sibylla's Apartment, named after the Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, is on the first floor in the south part of the eastern row and is used as the everyday reception rooms for the King and Queen, and is not open to the public. During the history of the palace, the apartment have always been a part of the palace where the king or one of his close relatives has lived. The apartment is known for the Blue Drawing room where the engagements of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Silvia Sommerlath in 1976, as well as Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling in 2009, were declared. The Princess Sibylla's Inner Drawing room, formerly known as Crown Prince Gustaf's audience chamber, still have some interior designed by Carl Hårleman, such as pilasters and ornamentations over the lintels of the doors.
Livrustkammaren
The main area of the Livrustkammaren museum is in the cellars under the eastern row and is accessed from the Slottsbacken. It is the oldest museum in Sweden, founded by King Gustavus Adolphus in 1628, and contains objects associated with Swedish royalty from the time of the Swedish Empire and onwards.
The Northern Row
The State Apartments
thumb|150px|Vita havet<br />(The White Sea ball room),<br />the State Apartments
The State Apartments, also known as the Apartment for Festivities, are on the second floor of the northern row and are used for the Royal Couple's receptions and representation. Official dinners are held in the Charles XI's Gallery on such occasions as state visits, after elections to the Riksdag and for the Nobel laureates. Since 1950, it is used as the main banqueting room of the palace and can accommodate about 200 seated guests. Five to ten official dinners are held in the gallery each year. A couple of times each year a Cabinet Meeting is held with the Swedish government in the Cabinet Meeting Room. The apartment was originally designed as the Royal Couple's apartment, but when King Adolf Frederick and Queen Lovisa Ulrika moved into the palace in 1754, they chose to stay in the part now known as the Bernatotte Apartments. Later, the Crown Prince Gustav (III) and Sophia Magdalena would use the apartments after their wedding in 1766. The apartments have not been used as living quarters since the time of Oscar I.
In the northeast corner of the State Apartments is the ball room the Vita Havet (the White Sea) which used to be two rooms: the queen's dining hall and the hall for the trabants. The dining hall was called the White Sea, a name that was inherited for the resulting hall after the wall had been removed. In connection to dinners in the Charles XI's Gallery, the White Sea is furnished as a salon with sofas, chairs and coffee tables. On those occasions, the room is used as a drawing room after the dinners.
The Bernadotte Apartments
The Bernadotte Apartments are on the first floor of the northern row and are named after Sweden's current royal house, Bernadotte. The name of the suite is derived from a collection of portraits in the Bernadotte Gallery, the largest room in the apartments, depicting members of the Bernadotte House. Most of the rooms are in the northern row and are used for audiences, awarding medals and for meetings with the Advisory Council on Foreign Affairs. The rooms are also open to the public. The apartment was originally decorated in the 1730s and 1740s by Carl Hårleman. When King Adolf Frederick and Queen Lovisa Ulrica moved in there in 1754, the rooms were furnished with pieces of furniture made by the best craftsmen in Stockholm at that time. The last Royal Couple to use the apartment as living quarters were King Oscar II and Queen Sophia. Since then, some rooms have been restored to their original 18th-century appearance, while others are maintained as they were at the time of King Oscar II, such as his writing room.
The Exhibitions Apartments
On the ground floor of the northern row are the Exhibition Apartments which are used for special exhibitions and public lectures.
The Tre Kronor Museum
In the cellars, accessed from street level under Lejonbacken, of the northern and western row is the Tre Kronor Museum. The museum is in the rooms that used to be kitchens in the Tre Kronor Castle and are thus the oldest rooms in the palace, but the museum itself is the newest of the museums in the palace. It was inaugurated in 1999 and houses an exhibition about the old castle Tre Kronor which was destroyed during a fire in 1697.
The Southern Row
The Royal Chapel
thumb|150px|Slottskyrkan<br />(The Royal Chapel),<br />the southern row
The Royal Chapel was built during the 18th century, and it is the parish church for the members of the Royal Parish. The church is situated in the east half of the southern row of the palace. It is as wide as the building and two and a half stories high. The entrance of the church is in the South Portal (or Arch) at the address Slottsbacken 1. Service is held every Sunday and holy day, and the royal family use the church for ceremonies. Before the old Tre Kronor castle burned down, the Royal Chapel was in the northern row, some benches and silver decorations from the old church are still preserved in the chapel. After fire in 1697, when Tessin planned the new palace, the Royal Chapel and the Hall of State were placed in the southern row and these, including the grand stairs, occupies the first and second floor. The chapel represented the divine power and the hall the worldly, or the king's, power. After Tessin's death, his work was completed by Carl Hårleman. The church was inaugurated at the same time as the rest of the palace in 1754.
The Hall of State
thumb|150px|Throne room, "Hall of State", Rikssalen in 2015
The Hall of State is in the west half of the southern row of the palace and is two stories high (first and second floor). It was introduced for the Riksdag of 1755. The hall was designed by Hårleman who modified Tessin's plans. The Silver Throne of Queen Christina is placed in the Hall. The main entrance of the Hall is in the South Portal (or Arch).
The Treasury
In the cellar of the southern row is the Treasury, where the Regalia of Sweden are displayed. The museum was inaugurated in 1970.
The Northwest (Chancery) Wing
The Chancery Wing is another name for the northwest wing of the palace. It was planned for the central parts of the government administration, the Royal chancery. The Spegelsalongen (the Mirror Hall), updated in 1866 by Fredrik Wilhelm Scholander, is in the wing as well as a Green and a Blue Drawing room. The Slottsarkivet, a part of the present National Archives of Sweden, is still in the cellars of the wing.
The Northeast Wing
Gustav III's Museum of Antiquities
The second oldest museum in Sweden is Gustav III's Museum of Antiquities in the cellars of the northeast wing, which open up for the public in 1794. The museum shows over 200 of the antique sculptures that King Gustav III bought during his journey to Italy in 1783 to 1784.
Gallery
<gallery mode="packed" heights="110px">
File:Rikssalen Stockholms slott 1976.jpg|Rikssalen<br />(The Hall of State)<br /><small>The southern row</small>
File:Bernadottegalleriet 800p 2011.jpg|Bernadottegalleriet<br />(The Bernadotte Galleries)<br /><small>The Bernadotte apartments</small>
File:Pelarsalen 800p 2011.jpg|Pelarsalen<br />(The Pillar Hall)<br /><small>The Bernadotte apartments</small>
File:Drottning Victorias våning - salong.jpg|Salongen<br />(The Drawing room)<br /><small>Queen Victoria's apartment</small>
File:27 gylden gang ved stockholms slott.JPG|Karl XI:s galleri<br />(Charles XI's Gallery)<br /><small>Festvåningen<br />(The State Apartments)</small>
File:Konseljsalen 800p 2011a.jpg|Konseljsalen<br />(The Cabinet Meeting Room)<br /><small>Statsrådssalen (Government meeting room, when such meetings are chaired by the King)</small>
</gallery>
Activities
The palace is a place of work for about 200 full-time employees, more than half of whom are female. The palace also hires more personnel for dinners, during the summer and as guides.
The Royal Court of Sweden
The palace houses facilities for the offices that are part of the Royal Court of Sweden; the organization affiliated to the Swedish head of state and the Royal House, and are also responsible for preserving and showing the cultural heritage of the Swedish monarchy. The Royal Court is led by the Marshal of the Realm and had 216 full-time employees in 2009.
Museums
The museums housed in the palace are: Livrustkammaren, Gustav III's Museum of Antiquities, The Treasury and The Tre Kronor Museum.
Archive and library
In the Chancery Wing at the palace is the Slottsarkivet. The archive was started in 1893, and since 1964, it is a depot sorting under the administration of the National Archives of Sweden. The archive also contains records from the Royal Court and the Crown palaces in Sweden.
The Royal Guards
The Royal Guards is a guard detail that is part guard of honour for the king and part guards for the castle. The guard is also a section of the military emergency management in Stockholm. The Royal Guards are present at state ceremonies, visits by foreign heads of state or fleets. The guards were established by King Gustav I in 1523, to keep the order in the entire city, the part that is now Gamla Stan. The changing of the guards is a ceremony and tourist attraction held at the Outer Courtyard of the palace, seen by approximately 800,000 people each year.
The Royal Gift Shop
The Royal Gift Shop is the gift and souvenir shop for the palace with products connected to the objects in the royal collections. A large part of the items are books about the royal cultural heritage on subjects such as history, architecture, biographies and research. The shop is in the southwestern curved wing and is accessed from the Outer Courtyard.
Other sources claim that the White Lady is Perchta von Rosenberg, daughter of Ulrich II von Rosenberg, a German noble woman from the 15th century, who unhappily married against her will to Jan of Liechtenstein. According to tradition she appears in the Český Krumlov Castle in southern Czech Republic. The portrait of her is said to be much like the descriptions of the White Lady at the palace.
Deaths of members of the royal family have occurred in connection to the appearance of the White Lady in the palace. In March 1871, Princess Eugenie saw the ghost and three days later Queen Louise died. The White Lady appeared again in 1907, and shortly after that, King Oscar II died. The last time she was seen was in 1920, when Princess Margaret lay dying. Suddenly the flag at the palace was lowered to half-mast and a guard is said to have seen the White Lady on the roof. Two hours after this the princess died.
See also
- Architecture of Stockholm
- List of Baroque residences
References
Citations
Sources
Further reading
External links
- The Royal Palace
- SFV Statens Fastighetsverk: The Stockholms Palace
- Interactive Panorama: Stockholm Palace