Stadshuset (City Hall)

Today we took a guided tour of the Stockholm City Hall (Stadshuset).  The city hall's primary function is to serve as the home to Stockholm's municipal government.

The city council chamber

A council member's desk with voting machine

Council Chamber ceiling

But the Stadshuset also serves another very important purpose.  Every December 10th, the Nobel Prize banquet is held here in the Blue Room.  Why is it called the "Blue Room" when it is so clearly red?  Our guide told us it was because the architect decided not to plaster/paint over the pretty red bricks.

The Gold Room's moniker was much more apt.  The entire room is covered in mosaic tiles that have a thin layer of gold sandwiched between the glass.  This is where the ball is held every year after the Nobel banquet. Fancy!

The Gold Room was very controversial when it was first completed in 1923.  At the time, people thought the images were too modern, but now the room is celebrated for its stylized depictions of Swedish history.  I liked that the image of Gustav II Adolphus shows the Vasa still floating...