Discover Stockholm: Following the Nobel Prize trail

The Nobel Prize’s Stockholm

Heleneborg: map
Vinterviken:map
Nobel Museum: map
National Museum of Science and Technology: map

Alfred Nobel (1833–1896) was born in Stockholm, but spent much of his life outside Sweden’s borders. The family moved to Saint Petersburg when Alfred was nine years old, but he returned to Stockholm in 1863.

Upon returning to Stockholm, Alfred concentrated on developing nitroglycerin as an explosive. After an accident at the Heleneborg factory in 1864 in which five people died, including Alfred’s younger brother Emil, the authorities decided to ban experiments and production of explosives within the city limits. Production was moved to a factory that was built at Vinterviken, where explosives testing was carried out on barges in the bay. The factory began to produce explosives in 1865 and continued to do so for more than 50 years.

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences: map

During his lifetime, Alfred Nobel started many companies and factories all over Europe and North America. In 1873 Nobel moved to Paris, where he lived for almost 20 years before he left the country following a dispute with the French authorities. Nobel spent the last five years of his life in San Remo, Italy, where he died in 1896.

Despite Alfred Nobel’s cosmopolitan lifestyle (author Victor Hugo is said to have called him “the wealthiest vagabond in Europe”), the prize he established is strongly associated with Stockholm and its scientific and cultural institutions.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is responsible for the prizes in physics and chemistry. When the organization was formed in 1739, the membership roster included both major international figures of the time, as well as Uppsala residents, such as Carl von Linné, Anders Celsius and Christopher Polhem. The Academy currently has about 420 Swedish and 175 foreign members. The Royal Academy of Sciences has had its home in a specially designed building in Frescati for nearly a century.

Karolinska Institutet: map

Karolinska Institutet, one of the top-ranking medical universities in the world, is responsible for the prize in physiology or medicine. This institution of higher learning was founded in 1810 by Swedish King Karl XIII, in part as an “academy for the training of skilled army surgeons”. Chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius was a professor when Karolinska was founded and contributed to its scientific focus. Today, Karolinska Institutet is Sweden’s largest center for medical research and education, with about 30 per cent of education and about 40 per cent of all medical research in the country.

The Nobel Library of the Swedish Academy: map[website]

The Swedish Academy is responsible for the prize for literature. The Academy was founded in 1786 by Gustaf III, with the Académie française as a model, to preserve and develop the Swedish language.

Royal Swedish Academy of Music: map
Stockholm Concert Hall: map
Blue Hall, Stockholm City Hall: map

The first Nobel Prize was awarded in 1901 at a ceremony held at the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in Stockholm. Since 1926 the ceremony has been held in the Stockholm Concert Hall for all prizes except the Peace Prize, which is awarded in Oslo. His Majesty the King presents diplomas and medals to the Laureates. The award ceremony is then followed by the traditional Nobel Banquet in the Blue Hall at Stockholm City Hall, where with few exceptions, the event has been held since 1930.

Restaurang Stadshuskällaren: map

Orrefors Kosta Boda Showroom: map

People who are not among the approximately 1,300 guests invited to the festivities at City Hall may still enjoy some of the menus served at the Nobel Banquet since 1901 at the Stadshuskällaren Restaurant. Meals are served on the genuine Nobel dinner service. Orrefors Kosta Boda created the glassware used at the banquet, which can be purchased at the company’s shop on Birger Jarlsgatan.

2011 Nobel menu
Lobster with pickled winter vegetables and Jerusalem artichoke purée
Guinea hen with porcini mushrooms and lingonberries, poached pearl onions with parsley roots and velouté sauce
Mandarin and white chocolate mousse on a cinnamon-spiced cake with raspberry marmalade and fresh raspberries

For more information:
Per Holmlund, PR Manager, Stockholm Business Region
+46 70 472 80 69, per.holmlund@stockholm.se