Join us to a Visitor's review of the fantastic Nationalmuseum in Stockholm and you will not be disappointed!
The Swedish National Museum is a great example of how royal private collections grow into national museums of a world class. It was King Gustav III who felt as early as in the 1810's that he needed a new proper location for the then Royal Museum and in 1845 the parliament decided to have a new building with a budget that was the biggest individual investment in the country in the first half of the 19th century as the new museum would host all royal collections: antiquities, coins and medals, clothes and fabrics as well as the exhibition on the history of the Swedish royalty and possibly even the royal library, sculptures and paintings.
The different theme of the museum's different floors can be seen in the sculptures on the front facade of the building with works from Ehrenstrahl, Sergel, Fogelberg, Linné, Berzelius, Tegnér and Wallin. Soon the King unfortunately found out that the royal library would not have enough space in the building but the sculptures stayed on the facade. Since then, some other collections such as he coins and medals, modern art, antique sculptures and the East Asian collection have also moved to separate museums.
Today the museum’s collection include paintings, sculptures, drawings and graphic prints from early 1500 till early 1900 with a total of some 700,000 objects. The State’s portrait gallery starting from works from Gustav Vasa’s court in the 15th century, on show in the Gripsholm castle and partly in the Swedish Institute in Paris, also belongs to the museum, which is also responsible for art deposited in the Drottningsholm castle, one of the royal residences, too.
The museum is fully accessible. The main entrance is on the sea side. There is a lift at the street level, large enough to take wheelchairs and prams. There is a handicapped parking area to the right from the entrance, next to the lift. All lifts are large enough in the museum and have automatic doors. The museum is free for all visitors except some special exhibitions. Persons accompanying handicapped persons get a free ticket to these, too.
There are lockers for bags and coats. There are large loo areas in the basement and loos for the handicapped in all floors.
There is a restaurant in the ground floor serving lunches and snacks. In the evening, the view to the Strömmen bay and the Royal Palace guarantee an ambiance beyond pair in Stockholm, definitely worth a visit!
The museum shop at the entry level proposes all sorts of stuff related to the permanent collection and also the temporary exhibitions, including books crafts and design, maybe worth a visit!
Visit and photos by Vesa Turunen.
Nationalmuseum
Södra Blasieholmshamnen 2, Stockholm
Comments