39 Wonderful Vintage Photos Showing Life of Stockholm During the 1940s and 1950s

Stockholm is the capital of Sweden. It has the most populous urban area in Sweden as well as in Scandinavia. Approximately 975,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area,[6] and 2.4 million in the metropolitan area.[10] The city stretches across fourteen islands where Lake Mälaren flows into the Baltic Sea. Outside the city to the east, and along the coast, is the island chain of the Stockholm archipelago. The area has been settled since the Stone Age, in the 6th millennium BC, and was founded as a city in 1252 by Swedish statesman Birger Jarl. It is also the county seat of Stockholm County.

Stockholm is the cultural, media, political, and economic centre of Sweden. The Stockholm region alone accounts for over a third of the country’s GDP, and is among the top 10 regions in Europe by GDP per capita. Ranked as an alpha-global city, it is the largest in Scandinavia and the main centre for corporate headquarters in the Nordic region. The city is home to some of Europe’s top ranking universities, such as the Stockholm School of Economics, Karolinska Institute, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University. It hosts the annual Nobel Prize ceremonies and banquet at the Stockholm Concert Hall and Stockholm City Hall. One of the city’s most prized museums, the Vasa Museum, is the most visited non-art museum in Scandinavia. The Stockholm metro, opened in 1950, is well known for the decor of its stations; it has been called the longest art gallery in the world. Sweden’s national football arena is located north of the city centre, in Solna. Avicii Arena, the national indoor arena, is in the southern part of the city. The city was the host of the 1912 Summer Olympics, and hosted the equestrian portion of the 1956 Summer Olympics otherwise held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Stockholm is the seat of the Swedish government and most of its agencies, including the highest courts in the judiciary, and the official residencies of the Swedish monarch and the Prime Minister. The government has its seat in the Rosenbad building, the Riksdag (Swedish parliament) is seated in the Parliament House, and the Prime Minister’s residence is adjacent at Sager House. Stockholm Palace is the official residence and principal workplace of the Swedish monarch, while Drottningholm Palace, a World Heritage Site on the outskirts of Stockholm, serves as the Royal Family’s private residence. (Wikipedia)

These black and white photos from The Stockholm Transport Museum that documented everyday life of Stockholm, Sweden from between the 1940s and 1950s.

Spring flood in Stockholm, 1940
Work with tracks in Stockholm, 1941
Children on a swing in front of house in Stockholm, 1942
Tailor at tram depot in Stockholm, 1943
Installation of trolley bus wires with horse-drawn carriage assembly, 1944
Children playing in front of trolleybus in Stockholm, 1945
Children playing in Stockholm, 1945
Rowing boat at Långholmen, Stockholm, 1947
Traffic at Gustav Adolfs torg in Stockholm, 1947
Concrete mixer used when building the Stockholm metro in 1948
Cyclist in Stockholm, 1948
Melting snow at Stureplan in Stockholm, 1948
Tailors workshop at tram depot in Stockholm in 1948
Pleasure crafts at Långholmen in Stockholm, 1949
The fire brigade is training in Stockholm, 1949
The fire brigade is training in Stockholm, 1949
The fire brigade is training in Stockholm, 1949
Traffic in Stockholm in 1949
Tram on Södermalmstorg in Stockholm, 1949
Trams on Stureplan in Stockholm, 1949
Men waiting for the bus at Skeppsbron in Stockholm, 1950
Santa Claus at a tram in Stockholm, 1950
Diver in Stockholm, 1951
Man selling artichokes at vegetable market in Stockholm, 1951
Man selling artichokes at vegetable market in Stockholm, 1951
Man selling dill at vegetable market in Stockholm, 1951
Vegetable market in Stockholm, 1951
Men painting a tram at the Hammaby workshop, Stockholm, 1952
The workshop of Hammarby, Stockholm, 1952
Repairing a tram in Stockholm, 1954
Traffic in Stockholm, 1955
Woman feeding waterfowl in Stockholm in 1955
Women with pram in Blackeberg tube station, Stockholm, 1955
Woman helping daughters with homework in Stockholm, 1956
Chess players at Medborgarplatsen in Stockholm 1957
Storefront at Norrmalmstorg in Stockholm 1957
Stureplan, Stockholm in the winter of 1957
Cruise ships in Stockholm 1958
Police on motorcycle monitor traffic in Stockholm, 1959

(Photos via The Stockholm Transport Museum)


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