Stockholm City Hall is the municipal council building of the City of Stockholm. It is located on the eastern tip of the island of Kungsholm, near the northern shore of the Riddarfjord and opposite the islands of Riddarholmen and Södermalm. The building houses offices and conference rooms, as well as ceremonial halls and the luxurious Stadshuskallaren restaurant. The Town Hall is rightly considered one of Stockholm's main attractions, as it is here that the annual Nobel Prize banquet is held. It is worth noting that it is possible to get into the halls only as part of a tour, but independent visitors will be able to pass only in the courtyard of the Town Hall.
In 1907, the city council decided to build a new house for the Stockholm City Council. An architectural competition was held, and the winner was Ragnar Östberg, while his main competitor Carl Westman was commissioned to build the courthouse. In the process, Estberg changed his original design considerably, using elements of Westman's design, such as the tower. Construction took twelve years and nearly eight million red bricks. The building was opened on 23 June 1923, exactly in time for the four hundredth anniversary of Gustav Vasa's coronation in Stockholm.
Stockholm City Hall is considered one of the most outstanding examples of Swedish National Romanticism in architecture. The unique location overlooking the Riddarfjord was the inspiration for the central motif of the building - the juxtaposition of urban architecture and water, which also represents a feature of Stockholm's cityscape as a whole. The style of the town hall is an example of refined eclecticism, incorporating massive, austere, Northern European brick construction and playful elements of Eastern and Venetian architecture.
The small park between the town hall and the shore of Lake Mälaren is decorated with works by famous sculptors. To the south-east of the town hall stands a twenty metre high monument dedicated to Engelbreckt Engelbrektsson, leader of Sweden's largest popular uprising.
