Join freelance writer Cari Simmons as she, armed with curiosity, peeks into some of Stockholm’s secret spaces. When doors to normally closed buildings and sites in Sweden were opened for the public on May 24, more than 60,000 visitors turned up.
The empty corridors of the Skeppsholmen bunkers echo with the sound of dripping water — a sharp contrast to the lush garden of the Tessin Palace. Photos: Christian Pedersen/SFV and Cari Simmons.
Ivan is revisiting a place he has not been to in 64 years. It is dark and damp and tucked under the rocky surface of the island of Skeppsholmen in Stockholm.
We are in the underground bunkers that were once the secret site of the Swedish military command center and where the Navy plotted war-time maneuvers.
“I remember it so well,” Ivan says, his eyes shining. “This was the place where we enlisted during the war, and I came here to pick up my uniform.” I ask him if he lived here as well but “No,” he says, “I lived on the ‘af Chapman’,” indicating toward a nearby ship, which today is a popular youth hostel.
Before I can ask him any more questions, he has scurried down a tunnel in the 4,300 square meter (46,000 square foot), usually closed bunkers.
Hidden treasures
“Secret Spaces” is a one-day event organized by the Swedish National Property Board (Statens fastighetsverk, SFV). Normally closed buildings and sites all over the country open their doors to the public for one day.
Although the bunkers’ offices, living quarters and ticking of telex machines are long gone, traces of what was undoubtedly a place filled with activity remains. A handwritten, rust-encrusted floor plan indicates the whereabouts of numerous rooms, electrical outlets and light sources, and at my feet are half-buried tracks that were once used to transport heavy goods and artillery. A collection of underwater mines, which never faced the enemy, are on display.
Even though I have only been in the cave-like bunkers for less than an hour, it feels good to leave and see the blue sky again. I head over to the Old Town (Gamla stan).
Garden extravaganza
As I enter the spacious courtyard of the Tessin Palace, it is easy to imagine how this peaceful oasis once served as a welcome escape from the noise and dirt of the streets outside.
A little piece of gardening magic plays out behind the Stockholm County Governor’s residence, the Tessin Palace. Photo: Åke E:son Lindman
The palace, located near the Royal Palace, was built in the late 1600s by architect Nicodemus Tessin the Younger, who felt obliged to produce a residence for his wife of higher nobility, Hedvig Stenbock, in the style she was accustomed to living in.
Tessin and his wife must have strolled around here enjoying the pleasing scent of jasmine, the singing of birds and the sight of a well-manicured Baroque garden. I wonder how the couple would have reacted today, seeing their oasis swarming with camera-wielding visitors. Nonetheless, it is breathtaking, with its intricate pattern of perfectly clipped hedges and soothing scent of lavender.
With the exception of a few small changes, all has been preserved, says guide Anna Sundquist, speaking to a rapt audience. “There was a collection of sculptures here that disappeared sometime between 1757 and 1775, and the large bird cages are gone now, but otherwise the garden is much the way it was back in Tessin’s day,” she says.
Open access
“It’s an Italian gem,” sighs my friend Stefan Gustafsson, who I bump into here. Stefan has an impressive garden of his own and he is enjoying this one immensely. But he is disappointed that the garden, which is now a part of the County Governor’s residence, is normally closed to the public. “It’s a scandal that most people never get to see this,” he says, a sentiment shared by other Tessin garden visitors.
I reluctantly leave the impressive garden and wander over to a palace that never lived up to its calling.
Construction of the Roman style Oxenstierna Palace began in the 1650s, but only one wing was completed before its owner, statesman Axel Oxenstierna, died in 1654. When his son Erik passed away just two years later, the project was abandoned.
Tall for its time, the five-storey red building was built to be seen. “This was a flashy era for Swedish nobility,” says Torun Hammar of the National Property Board. “It was important for palaces to stand out.”
One single tenant still lives in the Beijer House. The rest of the building is crying for company. Photo: Cari Simmons
Stately connections
Oxenstierna’s stately palace wing eventually became the headquarters for the Swedish central bank, the Riksbank, and has continued to be in the hands of a number of state institutions. In 1918 it was connected to the neighboring Beijer House, which has seen a great deal more life than the palace turned office.
The Beijer House is named after Berlin-born postmaster Johan von Beijer who, in 1642, bought what were originally two buildings from the Middle Ages. This was his home and Stockholm’s only post office.
In the 1700s and 1800s the Beijer House became a fairly typical apartment building, with tradesmen living on the bottom floors, noisily hawking their wares in what is today an extremely well-preserved 17th-century courtyard.
The Beijer House is a maze of rooms, corridors and stairs. In addition to having many upper floors, it has an expansive subterranean cellar, something quite common under the streets of the Old Town.
The stone cellar vault dates back to the Middle Ages, and as I descend into its depths I slip on the dirt floor, nearly knocking down another visitor. I grab for the stone wall and a chunk of it comes off in my hand.
What was it like here in Stockholm's Old Town in the 17th century? Cari Simmons wonders. Photo: Michael Wallin
Past meets present
It has been difficult for the National Property Board to find a suitable business or institution to occupy these two historic buildings and keep everything intact. Modern living does not always go hand in hand with preservation and they have been sitting empty for quite some time. “Today’s tenants require handicap access, air conditioning and better ventilation systems,” Hammar says.
But wait, what is that cluttered window on the bottom floor of the Beijer House, overlooking the dark courtyard? “There’s still one tenant living in an apartment here,” says Hammar. Apparently, the retired machinist has stayed on after all other occupants have left.
At four o’clock the day of visiting “Secret Spaces” is over. A visitor wonders if the National Property Board will repeat this event next year. “Nothing is planned yet,” says Hammar, adding that if they do it too often, there won’t be any secret spaces left.
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Cari Simmons
Although freelance writer Cari Simmons has been living in Stockholm for 15 years, she continues to discover new places tucked away in the corners of this fascinating city.
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