City Hall sihouette in Blue, Stockholm, a photo from Uppland, Svealand

Photographer's Note

City Hall silhouette in Blue, Stockholm

The Stadshuset (City Hall) is the most famous symbol of Stockholm. The iconic landmark, with its signature brick tower, is possibly the most important architectural achievement of the 20th century in Sweden.

During the Middle Ages, Stockholm's city hall was located at Stortorget, the main square of the Old Town. In 1732 it moved to the Bonde Palace, at the edge of the Old Town. In the early 20th century the need arose for a larger and more modern city hall. A spectacular site at the bank of the Riddarfjärden bay in Kungsholmen was selected as the new location. It was formerly occupied by a steam powered mill that was destroyed by fire in 1878.

The City Hall

The Stadshuset is considered a masterpiece of Swedish National Romanticism, a modern architectural style with domestic roots. The architect, Ragnar Östberg, was also clearly influenced by Italian architecture.
A total of 8 million dark red bricks, many handmade, were used for the construction, which started in 1911. The new city hall was completed 12 years later - at three times the originally estimated cost - in 1923, 400 years after Gustav Vasa's triumphant entrance into Stockholm after liberating Sweden from Danish occupation.
The building is arranged around two large inner courtyards, of which one is completely covered. The open courtyard is accessed through a large round arch. An Italian Renaissance style colonnade separates the courtyard from the garden bordering the lake.
The city hall is decorated with numerous sculptures and paintings that depict legendary figures and scenes from the history of Sweden. For many years the building influenced the architecture of civil buildings, even outside Scandinavia.

The Tower

The 106 meter (348 ft) tall bell tower of the city hall stands as a beacon on the bay. Those who make the effort to climb its 365 steps are awarded with magnificent views over Stockholm and Gamla Stan in particular. The tower is crowned with a cupola, topped by a weathervane with three crowns (tre kronor) - the national emblem of Sweden. Inside the tower is the Tornmuseet or Tower Museum, which contains models of the many statues found in the city hall. Both the tower and museum are open during summertime. At the foot of the tower is the tomb of Birger Jarl, the legendary founder of Stockholm.

Interior

Östberg commissioned the best sculptors of his time to decorate the new city hall. This is not only visible on the exterior, which is adorned with plenty of statues but especially on the interior, where mosaics and wall paintings decorate the grand halls.
The Rådssalen, where the city council meets, has a painted wooden ceiling inspired by Viking architecture.
The blue hall (Blå Hallen), with a beautiful mosaic floor and magnificent staircase, is a banquet hall, best known as the scene of the Nobel Prize festivities that take place here every year on December 10. Despite its name, the hall is not blue. The original plans called for the walls to be covered with blue glazed tiles, but Östberg was so impressed by the dark red color of the bricks, that he changed his mind.
The most famous hall in the Stadshuset is the Golden Hall (Gyllene Salen). Its walls are covered with magnificent Byzantine style mosaics. The hall hasn't stolen its name: ten kilos of gold were used by the artist Einar Forseth for the creation of the mosaics.
The Prinsens Galleri, a long hall above the Italianesque colonnade facing the lake, is decorated with a fresco painting by Prins Eugen. (Source: aviewoncities/Stockholm)

lakshmip1949, timecapturer, Cricri, Cricri, vasilpro, prasun984, dip, amaryllis, saxo042, jlbrthnn, jhm, bona, Royaldevon, bukitgolfb301, ChrisJ, Sonata11, RhodieIke has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

besnard (48781) 2012-04-04 1:11

Bonjour George
L'heure bleue porte bien son nom avec cette photo nocturne qui laisse deviner l'architecture des constructions. Avis de grand calme.
Merci pour le partage et bonne journée.
Nicole

lousat (57610) 2012-04-04 1:20

Hi George,a magnificent cloudy blue hour! You play very well whit the shadows and lights of the city hall,magnificent camera settings for the best result! Have a nice day and thanks,Luciano

ChrisJ (86854) 2012-04-04 1:29

Bonjour George

A superb blue hour shot from Stockholm with good sharpness & graphism of the lighthouse jutting up against the sky. Good tonal range, saturation & lighting contrasts. The yellow lights contrast well against the blue. Tfs!

lakshmip1949 (19110) 2012-04-04 1:54

Hello Chris,

A beautiful blue hour shot . I like the color contrast between the blue sky and the brown facade of the city Hall. The City Hall looks so dominant. The management of light and shade are perfect. The whole place looks very quiet. Very lovely composition.

Lakshmi

Didi (48896) 2012-04-04 2:23

Hi George
Best time for taking picture in the blue lights.
I note a very good management of the lights
Best regards

erhan1958 (13053) 2012-04-04 3:28

Selam GEORGE
very nice dark blue hours shot
warm regards
ERHAN

Bluejeans (64227) 2012-04-04 4:56

Ola George ,
Que lindo céu com estas nuvens em tons de azul escuro, gostei muito da silhueta da torre , bons detalhes das luzes , parabéns!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

Sergiom (39184) 2012-04-04 5:09

Bonjour George,

Une utilisation parfaite de l'heure bleue sur Stockholm.Le point de vue est impeccable et le rendu des détails très net par cette belle fin de journée.

Amicalement

Serge

timecapturer (30300) 2012-04-04 5:24

Hi Gyorgy
lovely blue hour shot. Excellent composition with perfectly placed fg diagonal that makes the tower all the more distinct and attractive. Wonderful!

Regards - Brian.

jemaflor (68867) 2012-04-04 10:11

Hi George,
Nice result with the good light management, interesting mood with this blue tone, perfect to show this view of the town.

Cricri (86391) 2012-04-04 11:12

Hi George
Belle silhouette de l'hôtel de ville a l'heure bleu, les lumières ajoute une ambiance agréable, bon POV et réalisation
Belle soirée
cricri

vasilpro (40192) 2012-04-04 14:05

Hello George,
Wonderful composition, beautiful atmosphere, lovely light and blue color tones, excellent POV, very nice framework, TfS!
Have a nice evening, Vasilis.

siamesa (27449) 2012-04-04 17:19

Boa noite George

A photo with a magic mood. Splendid capture of this blue sky.
Beautiful composition.TFS
Abraços
maria

prasun984 (5590) 2012-04-05 0:17

Hi George,
delightful blue hour shot, with a fascinating skyline and atmospheric sky. Beautiful!
Great light management.

Enjoy the week,
Prasun

Royaldevon (17791) 2012-04-05 0:55

Hello George,

This 'blue hour' really is blue! The sky is magnificent with its blurring tones and makes a wonderful backdrop to the imposing tower. I particularly like how your lower third is so well composed with the two interlocking triangles of water and quayside.

Have a lovely day,
Bev :-)

cornejo (18020) 2012-04-05 3:52

Szia György, egy nagyon jó kép nagyon jól sikerült, az élesség és mélység, hogy megmutassa nekünk ezt a szép képet ezen a helyen a kék órában. Nagyon jó és szép munka nagyon jól sikerült barátom, gratulálok ezért. Jó napot és boldog hétvégét. TFS.

Minden jót.

Angel.

Hi György, a very good picture very well made, with sharpness and depth, to show us this lovely picture of this place in the blue hour. Very good and nice job very well done my friend, my congratulations for that. Good afternoon and happy weekend. Tfs.

Best wishes.

Angel.

dip (21875) 2012-04-05 4:45

Hello George,
a beautiful blue hour shot with nice details of the town,
very good point of view,well composed!
greetings,
Dimitris.

amaryllis (30149) 2012-04-05 10:00

Bonjour George

une superbe photo de la City à l'heure bleue, de plus des filets de nuage, c'est superbe
on aperçoit un gros bateau à quai à droite
belle composition
Juliette

saxo042 (31794) 2012-04-05 11:47

Hi György,
This is a very good capture of the blue hour. This is indeed the late, late show!. A beautiful building and even more beautiful background sky.
Kind regards
Gunnar

jlbrthnn (79773) 2012-04-05 12:55

Hello George,
The sky to the blue hour, shows the silhouettes of the city. The wharf is used skillfully. The exposure is perfect. Good sharpness. Bravo.
Have a nice evening
Cordially
Joël

mauro61 (52527) 2012-04-05 14:33

ciao George,
una bella colorazione di azzurro accompagna l'arrivo della sera sul porto della città.
Bellissima come sempre l'inquadratura con l'imponente City Hall.
saluti
maurizio

dkmurphys (36759) 2012-04-06 3:46

Hi Gyorgy,
Splendid night capture of the Stockholm City Hall. Well done, enjoy a fine day.

Daniel

jhm (122410) 2012-04-06 5:00

Hello György,

You took these picture during blue hour.
I like the color contrast between the blue sky and the brown facade of the city Hall.
Lovely building in background.
Nice choice of your angle this provides depth and perspective.
Excellent composition, lovely presentation. TFS.

Have a Happy Easter weekend,
John.

bona (10142) 2012-04-06 5:53

My dear George,

very beautiful place and photo. I like the blue hour here and the forms of the city hall. Good point of view and use of ending day light.

Have a nice holiday,
Andre

abmdsudi (26215) 2012-04-06 10:47

Hi George
It's the stark contrast between the cityhall buiulding and dark blue sky that makes this shot stand out, for it accentuates the overall strenght of this picture. Good filled frame so well highlighted effectively in mixed lightings and sparkels of colors are wonderful, pleasantly exposed and pin sharp as well. Nicely done low light shot.
Congrats, Happy Easter
Best regards

Silvio1953 (98093) 2012-04-06 11:06

Ciao George, fascinating blue hour with fantastic light, lovely composition, magic atmosphere, splendid sky, very well done, my friend, have a good Easter week end, ciao Silvio

SWEETFREEDOM (18411) 2012-04-07 0:01

Hi György,
magic light and sky, i love colors and the beautiful view.
regards
Alessandro

vrabieionut (2189) 2012-04-08 12:15

Hi George,

Perfect job with very good sharpness and light... Blue sky also very nice... congratulations.

Regards,
Ionut

bukitgolfb301 (30063) 2012-04-08 18:21

Hello my dear George

A great twilight shot with great gorgeous mood!
Very well considered and perfect framework.
Thanks for your sharing with your good work and have a good new start of week,
best regards,

Takero in Tokyo

Schnappilic (7927) 2012-04-09 11:06

Hello György,

Huge composition and realization during the blue hour with splendid colors. I like so much!

All the best,

Ovidiu

John_F_Kennedy (41368) 2012-04-11 2:49

Hello George,
Beautiful picture. I love the light and the colours. Well done.
best wishes,
Achim

Sonata11 (28289) 2012-04-11 20:54

Hello George,
Wow!!! what an impressively beautiful view and surroundings at blue hour. Great management of light, natural colors, sharpness, perfect clarity, POV. I love this image with nice POV, which let us see and admire the picturesque image. Well done.
Best regards,
Barbara

npecanhuk (53889) 2012-04-12 4:23

Hi George!
Pretty interesting blue hour photograph!
Special regards to the chosen pov, composition, management of light and colors!
TFS - congrats,
Cheers,
Neyvan

TopGeo (37994) 2012-04-13 23:58

Hi George,a magnificent cityscape of blue hour!from Stockholm with good sharpness & graphic contrast Have a Happy Easter weekend,Georgios

macjake (39227) 2012-04-23 7:23

Hi George
we don't often see photo's of Stockholm in Blue Hour, so this one is a pleasant surprise.
its great how the blue dominates the frame and there are hints of yellow and white around the scene.
great shot.
cheers
craig

RhodieIke (9207) 2012-04-24 1:12

Hi George, Great moody blue hour of Stadshuset, like you Pov, giving us scale of the City hall against the boat docked. Splendid management and presentation. Trust you are well, Cheers Iain.