HAGAPARKEN

Description

Essentials about Hagaparken in brief

Located in the north of Stockholm, Hagaparken (Haga Park) is one of the largest and most popular parks for locals and tourists alike. Not only is it a great place to relax, go for a walk, play sports, go boating and have a picnic. The park also has numerous sights to offer. Here you can see royal castles and pavilions, visit curious buildings such as copper tents, Finnish huts and a Turkish kiosk and discover butterflies and sharks. And if you’re lucky, you might even catch a glimpse of the heirs to the Swedish throne.

The history of Hagaparken

The idea for the design of Hagaparken goes back to the Swedish King Gustav III. During a trip to Italy at the end of the 18th century, he made the decision to turn the area around the inland lake Brunnsvikken into an Italian landscape in the style of the Campagna Romana (the hilly surroundings of Rome). During Gustav’s lifetime, however, only the park at Haga Manor itself was created.

The actual Hagaparken was only created in the years after his death. The general plan for the park was drawn up by architect Fredrik Magnus Piper. He envisaged the design of an English garden with soft transitions. Two tree nurseries were even created to create Hagapark and over 25,000 trees were planted on the site by 1800.

The park has been open to the public since the middle of the 19th century. Since then, Haga Park, with its many sights and recreational opportunities, has been a popular excursion destination for the people of Stockholm. The large lawn, which slopes gently down from the Copper Tents towards Brunnsviken, is open to the public. In summer, the locals meet there for barbecues and in winter they go tobogganing.

Hagaparken has been part of Sweden’s and the world’s first national city park, Ekoparken, since 1994. In the 1960s, the approximately 100-metre-high hill Hagakullen was built, from where you have a good view of Stockholm.

The sights in Hagaparken

Haga Castle

Haga Castle (Haga slott) was built between 1802 and 1805 for King Gustav IV Adolf. The building is in the style of an Italian villa. For many decades, no members of the royal family lived in Haga Castle. Since the end of the 1960s, it has been used as a guest house for the Swedish government. In 2009, however, the Swedish government decided to give Haga Castle to Crown Princess Victoria and her husband as their residence. Since their wedding in 2010, the royal couple have lived in the castle.

The Copper Tents

The Copper Tents (Koppartälten) are one of Stockholm’s most architecturally unusual buildings. Consisting of three buildings, the complex is modeled on military tents of the Roman army and is made of painted sheet copper. Originally, they served as guard and supply buildings for the royal family’s mounted bodyguards. Today, the Copper Tents house cafés, restaurants and the park museum.

The Upper Haga

The Upper Haga (Övre Haga) was originally an inn with two kitchens, three dining rooms and several guest rooms. King Gustav IV Adolg had the building converted into an orangery. While the main building has been used as an artist’s workshop since the 1960s, the eastern extension is now used by the Butterfly House.

The Butterfly House and Haga Ocean

The Butterfly House (Fjärilshuset) was opened in 1983 and is primarily a facility for tropical butterflies. Visitors can observe hundreds of free-flying exotic butterflies in a beautiful rainforest setting at temperatures of over 25 degrees and high humidity. In addition to butterflies, there are also turtles, quails, lizards and lots of fish to see.

In Haga Ocean, visitors can experience life below the surface of the water. The highlight is undoubtedly one of the largest shark aquariums in Scandinavia. Blacktip reef sharks, sandbar sharks and shark rays do their rounds here. Haga Ocean also has several smaller saltwater aquariums with clownfish, seaweed, starfish and much more.

Gustavs III Pavillion

Gustav III’s Pavilion (Gustav III:s paviljong) was built from 1787 to designs by Olof Tempelman. There was already an older building on the site of the Pavilion, which today forms the central section of the new Pavilion. King Gustav III was personally involved in the planning and construction process. In the 1840s, King Oskar I had the building restored and partially redesigned. Further restoration work was carried out between 1937 and 1946, returning the interior to its original appearance. A large part of Gustav III’s library is housed in the building. Although the building is not called a castle, it is one of Sweden’s ten royal castles.

The Echo Temple

The Echo Temple (Ekotemplet) was built in 1790 as a summer dining room for King Gustav III, who loved to dine outdoors. Under the direction of architect Carl Christoffer Gjörwell, a specially made oval table was placed in the middle of the building. During a renovation in 1846, a ceiling painting with erotes and birds was added, which can be seen today in the Park Museum. The temple owes its name “Echo Temple” to its ability to create an echo under the vaulted roof of the building.

The ruins of the Great Castle

The ruins of the Great Palace (Stora Haga slottsruin) are the remains of a huge pleasure palace planned by Gustav III. It was intended to form the end of a clear line of sight to the southeast, across Brunnsviken, through the northern parts of Stockholm to Stockholm Palace in the old town Gamla stan, a distance of almost five kilometers.

The foundation stone for the Great Palace was laid by the king himself in 1786. Construction work began on the plans drawn up by architect Olof Tempelman. King Gustav III, himself a great fan of architecture, envisaged a palace building with a theater, ballrooms and apartments for the entire court. The palace was also to contain an art museum in which the king wanted to exhibit his considerable collection of paintings and Roman sculptures. Gustav III was inspired by the Vatican Museums, which he had visited on a trip to Italy at the end of the 18th century.

However, after Gustav III’s assassination in March 1792, all work on the Great Palace was stopped. The unfinished foundations were covered with wooden planks, and the bricks that had already been delivered were used for the wings of Karlberg Castle (Karlbergs slott) in the same year. Large quantities of finely chiseled granite for the skirting boards of the building were later used in the construction of Drottningens paviljong (The Queen’s Pavilion). The only things that have been completed are a gigantic cellar without a ceiling and a detailed model of the castle complex, which can be viewed in the Haga Park Museum. The ruins of the Great Castle are now a popular backdrop for theater performances.

The Chinese Pavillion

The Chinese Pavilion (Kinesiska paviljongen) was completed in 1787 under King Gustav III. The dragon heads decorating the roof originally carried small bells that rang in the wind. In the center of the Pavilion was an octagonal table surrounded by four Chinese figures on stone pedestals. Only three empty pedestals remain. During a renovation in 1974, the painted wooden dragons were replaced by dummies made of fiberglass-reinforced plastic. Some of the original dragons can be seen in the park museum.

The Turkish Kiosk

The Turkish Kiosk (Turkiska kiosken) was also built by order of Gustav III between 1786 and 1788 and was the first new building in Hagapark. Gustav III sometimes held meetings here with his closest followers. In order not to freeze, the Swedish king had a temporary corridor built between the kiosk and the royal apartment (now Gamla Haga), which was protected by fir branches and heated by tiled stoves.

The Finn Huts

The Finn Huts (Finnstugorna) are a group of buildings in the southwestern part of the park, not far from the Turkish Kiosk. Stora Finnstugan (the Large Finn Hut) is a residential building that was already on the park grounds when Gustav III bought it in 1771. Gustav III is said to have enjoyed himself in the mystical “Haga Inn” when he was crown prince. Lilla Finnstugan (the little Finn Hut) originally consisted of two simple wing buildings, of which the western part still exists. The wings were rebuilt in 1810 to give them their present appearance.

The Stable Master’s Yard

The Stable Master’s Yard (Stallmästaregården) is located in the southernmost part of Hagaparken at Brunnsviken, right on the outskirts of Stockholm. It is the oldest surviving country inn in the Stockholm area and has been in continuous operation since the mid-17th century. Ebbe Håkansson, equerry to the Imperial Admiral Karl Karlsson Gyllenheim, built his farm here. Queen Christina of Sweden enjoyed hunting in the area around Brunnsviken. In 1645, she passed by the stable master’s farm with her retinue and spontaneously decided to celebrate Midsummer there. Word quickly spread and Ebbe Håkansson opened an inn here in the same year.

The current buildings were built around 1740, when four lime trees were planted, two of which are still standing today. Despite countless changes, Stallmästaregården has retained much of its 18th century character. The original wall and ceiling paintings, for example, have been preserved.

Today, the Stable Master’s Yard, also known as “Stallis” for short by the people of Stockholm, is a popular upmarket restaurant with hotel facilities and conference rooms due to its beautiful location on Brunnsviken.