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Southern City Hall, copper engraving by Willem Swidde, from Suecia Antiqua et Hodierna. But we see that it is before the fire — look at the lantern on the roof!
The City Museum’s historic home at Slussen tells a vibrant story of prison cells, Russian merchants, and playing-card factories. Discover the building’s long and colourful history!
Located in the former Southern City Hall (Södra stadshuset), this landmark is Stockholm’s oldest surviving public building. Its history officially began with the completion of the Southern City Hall in 1680 — though its origins stretch back even earlier.
Tessin the Elder’s vision of a magnificent general factor office. National Museum’s archive.
The grand trading palace that never was
The original 1662 drawings by Nicodemus Tessin the Elder reveal plans for a structure twice the size of what stands today: a monumental Baroque palace crowned with four towers. It was designed to house a general factory office, intended to drive Swedish exports. However, these ambitious plans never materialised. Instead, the city intervened, commissioning a smaller building: a main wing facing Götgatan and two flanking wings projecting towards the Russian trading quarter, Ryssgården.
Devastated by fire
Almost immediately after the building's completion in 1680, a fire broke out at Ryssgården and quickly spread. Among other damage, the distinctive lantern on the roof of the Southern City Hall was destroyed. Under the direction of Nicodemus Tessin the Younger, the building was painstakingly restored, emerging with a refined new appearance.
Witch trials and pub life
By this time, the lower court (Södra kämnärsrätten) and its feared city prison had moved into the premises. It was here, during the witch trials of 1675–1676, that eight women were condemned to death for witchcraft. Today, that part of the prison on the second floor houses our exhibition on the Münchenbryggeriet brewery.
Directly adjacent and below the court lay the popular tavern Södra stadshuskällaren (also known as Malmens källare), a favourite haunt of the famed poet Carl Michael Bellman and his companions. Today, visitors can experience a recreation of the tavern as it appeared in 1748 at the Källarstugan exhibit on the first floor.
On October 30, 1842, a large brawl broke out at Malmens källare between officers and guests. When the city guard arrives, the battle is in full swing and so violent that they dare not intervene. Contemporary illustration: Ferdinand Tollin.
Graffiti
On one of the prison walls, a captive carved a bleak phrase in Russian: “It is miserable to dwell in a stone house”, meaning that prison life is hard. These prisoners were later exiled to Visingsborg castle on the island of Visingsö in Lake Vättern.
The Russian influence
Ryssgården was ravaged by fire again in 1694 and 1759. In the aftermath, Russian merchants took over the wing warehouses and the courtyard, and the area was considered Russian property until the 1870s.
However, the merchants also faced turbulent times. Following the Battle of Narva in 1700, Russian prisoners of war were confined within the building's cells. Today, their historic graffiti can still be viewed in the shop’s stockroom, half a floor up from the courtyard.
Anatomical theater with a dissection table in the middle and an amphitheater along the walls. (Pictured: The Anatomy Theatre at the Gustavianum in Uppsala)
Dissections and Freemasons
In 1685, an anatomical theatre opened on the first floor of the southern wing facing Peter Myndes backe (an area now used for offices). Here, spectators gathered in an amphitheatre around a central dissection table to watch educational anatomical examinations of executed criminals.
When the building later needed to house Russian prisoners of war, the theatre was relocated to the third floor, in a space now reserved for temporary exhibitions. A Russian Orthodox church subsequently moved into the vacated premises. Meanwhile, a grand hall that had variously served as a Masonic lodge, a ballroom, and a concert venue was transformed into a Catholic church — the very room that serves as the museum’s auditorium today.
“Sausages” preserve order on the city’s streets. Or rather, they do the job a notch better than the guards called “paltar”. Illustration: Hjalmar Morner.
The Corps de Garde
In 1730, the newly established fire brigade Corps de garde, nicknamed “the sausages”, got a room in the corner of Götgatan and Peter Myndes backe. Remnants of their stay can still be seen today in the staircase hall towards Götgatan, on the balustrade where swords were sharpened.
Dance party in Stadshussalongen which can be reached via a stone staircase from today’s Södermalmstorg. Advertisement in Stockholms Dagblad February 16, 1847.
Dance, schools and housing
In 1846, Södra Theatern opened in the former Catholic church and provided dance evenings and performances for 20 years. Another chapter is all the schools, one was a navigation school in today’s exhibition room about the Kungstornet café; the last one moved out in 1935. There have been tenants in the building since 1711 but even they now had to move — like the Pihlqvist family who we can visit in the exhibition at the top of the building.
Wine shop on the corner of Götgatan 1 and Hornsgatan. Photo: Larssons Ateljé, year 1913—1914.
Silk and coffins
For others, the building was a workplace. A silk weaving mill started already in 1687 in the southern wing’s attic where many children got to work. However, it all became a big loss for the city. Later there were workshops for playing-card and coffin manufacturing among other things. To this were added various kinds of shops, with entrance from Götgatan and Brunnsbacken (today’s Södermalmstorg). In the wing towards Södermalmstorg there was Dalheim & Engström’s well-known wine shop with its own punch production.
Seaside location: Southern City Hall and Brunnsbacken. Copy by Einar Uggla after Ince’s original from 1833.
Strict Control Authority
In the eyes of the public, however, Southern City Hall was primarily a government building. In 1739, the Hall and Manufacture Court was added, in the southern wing where we can try on hats in the exhibition today. The court governed and controlled the city’s craft industry and remained until 1846. Upstairs in the attic, they had two arrest rooms for those who opposed the factory owners. A few years later, Södra kämnärsrätten was replaced by other courts, along with more efficient tax offices.
Southern City Hall is not doing so well. In front of the building we see the train tracks. Photo: Axel Malmström, 1918.
Trains, manure and decay
In 1871, the railway trains began to chug past, the building was cut off from the sea side and deteriorated more and more. The open arcades on the lower floors were closed and vault arches on the ground floor closed with boards and become toilets. The sewage treatment plant moved in and sold manure in a room where later hot lunch food was served at low prices, on the half-floor above today’s main entrance. The old Russian warehouses became a punch factory, food storage and municipal laundry.
Performance at Stadsmuseets gård. Photo: Lennart af Petersens, 1972.
The building is saved
In view of the impending Slussen reconstruction in the early 1900s, demolition of the building was discussed. To save Southern City Hall, one of the proposals was to turn it into a railway station. Fortunately, a committee was formed that would rather see a city museum. So it happened too. After a preparatory 1930s, the City Museum opened its doors to the public in 1942. In 1963, the main entrance was moved from Götgatan to the museum’s courtyard and the stairs down from Ryssgården were added.
