page_title: History of Stockholm
section_title: Late industrial era (1850–1910)
hierarchical_section_title: History of Stockholm / Late industrial era (1850–1910)
context_page_description: The history of Stockholm, capital of Sweden, for many centuries coincided with the development of what is today known as Gamla stan, the Stockholm Old Town. Stockholm's raison d'être always was to be the Swedish capital and by far the largest city in the country.
context_section_description: In the second half of the century, Stockholm regained its leading economic role. New industries emerged, and Stockholm transformed into an important trade and service centre, as well as a key gateway point within Sweden.
  While steam engines were introduced in Stockholm in 1806 with the Eldkvarn mill, it took until the mid-19th century for industrialization to take off.  Two factories, Ludvigsberg and Bolinder, constructed in the 1840s were followed by many others, and the economic development that succeeded resulted in some 800 new buildings being constructed 1850–70 — many of which were located in the Klara district and subsequently demolished in the Redevelopment of Norrmalm 1950–70.
  During the 1850s and 1860s, gas works, sewage, and running water was introduced.  Many streets were paved, including Skeppsbron and Strandvägen, and the railway brought Stockholm closer to continental Europe — an event which additionally lead to the creation of the first suburb Liljeholmen where railway workshops were located.  As the railway was extended further north, Stockholm Central Station was inaugurated in 1871.  The first horse-pulled trams were introduced in 1877.  Long before the railway, steam engines became common on boats which resulted in many summertime residences being built around Stockholm.  But the booming urban development was also notable in central Stockholm where several prominent Neo-Renaissance buildings were built, including the Academy of Music and Södra Teatern.
  In 1866, a commission led by Albert Lindhagen produced a city plan for the ridges (malmarna) designed to offer citizens light, fresh air and access to Swedish nature by mean of parks and plantations.  To this goal, he proposed a system of esplanades culminating in Sveavägen, a 2 km long and 70 m wide boulevard inspired by Champs Elysées. 1877–80 new city plans were finally passed for central Stockholm, which made the city well-prepared for the major expansion that followed.  During the 1880s more than 2.000 buildings were added on the ridges and the population grew from 168.000 to 245.000.  At the end of the century, less than 40 per cent of the residents were born in Stockholm.
  While this demand for housing was mostly dealt with by private entrepreneurs who built on pure speculation, street width and building heights were strictly regulated by the new city plans which ensured the city that evolved was given a uniform design.  A trend initiated by the Bünsow House at Strandvägen, the 1880s saw many monumental brick buildings evolve, including Gamla Riksarkivet and the Norstedt Building on Riddarholmen.  Before the end of the decade most new buildings were equipped with electricity and telephones were increasingly common.  During the 1890, the Neo-Renaissance plaster architecture was replaced by structures in brick and natural stone, largely inspired by French Renaissance architecture.  Around what still was factories outside the customs of Stockholm, shacks whose sanitary conditions defied all description evolved.  Before the end of the century, however, these were transformed into municipal societies, which facilitated regulation of health and construction, and by the turn of the century the expansion had continued far beyond the city limits, with villa suburbs initiated by individuals adding a mix of purely speculative structures and more qualitative ambitions.  The new century saw the introduction of Art Nouveau with the Central Post Office Building by Boberg (1898–1904) and Neo-Baroque with the Riksdag (1894–1906).  Throughout the 1910s, trams were electrified and cars were rolling on the streets of Stockholm.
  During this period, Stockholm further developed as a cultural and educational centre.  In the 19th century, a number of scientific institutes opened in Stockholm, for example the Karolinska Institutet. The General Art and Industrial Exposition, an international exhibition of World's Fair status, was held on the island of Djurgården in 1897.
caption: 1888 German map of Stockholm
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