Month: March 2024

On April 26th  it’s time for this year’s Culture Night! Stockholm’s museums and cultural life open their doors with free admission and programmes. The collaboration between the City of Stockholm and cultural life gives everyone in Stockholm the opportunity to explore much of the culture the city has to offer. Royal Djurgården is home to many attractions and this night you have the chance to visit old favourites and discover new ones.

Below you can read about many of the things happening on Djurgården.  Royal Djurgården Visitor Centre will be open until 24:00 and we will be happy to guide you through a magical evening.

Hope to see you here!

Djurgårdslinjen

In order to have time to experience all the exciting things during the Culture Night, it is important to be able to get around smoothly, but even your transportation must be special during this evening. For everyone who spends the cultural night at Djurgården, Djurgårdslinjen is the given choice. They will run their historic trams between Norrmalmstorg-Waldemarsudde with last departure as late as 22:35! In addition, they run their historic buses from the 1940s that run the between: Karlaplan – Liljevalchs – Thiel Gallery – Museum park – Karlaplan.

Restaurang och Bageri Stockholm 1897 and Royal Djurgården Visitor Centre

As soon as you cross the bridge, you’ll be greeted by the night of culture! Grab a bite to eat or a drink at the newly opened Restaurang och bageri Stockholm 1897 while waiting for everything to open, or take a well-deserved break in the evening. With several of our museums just a stone’s throw away, Stockholm 1897 is the perfect stop!

Here you’ll also find our tourist information centre – the Royal Djurgården Visitor Centre – which not only has brochures, maps and the Culture Night programme leaflet, but can also help you plan the perfect evening. Start your evening here, we’ll tell you what not to miss.

 Junibacken

Junibacken offers an experience for the whole family. Ride the Fairy Tale Train, play at Villa Villekulla, discover the exhibition ‘Step inside!’, play in the Moomin Playground and much more. In 2025, Junibacken will be open for the first time during Culture Night!

Skansen

Love is blooming at Skansen during Culture Night! How do the mating rituals of the animal kingdom work? How did people date in the old days via personal ads? How did you find a mate 100 years ago? How do moose date? At Skansen you can even get your own historical love advice! The Bollnästorget dance floor is filled with music and dance.

Backstage Bar

The new Backstage Bar will be open until 01:00 with DJ and live music. Perfect for a break with food and drinks or to lace up your dancing shoes.

Djurgården Church

Discover the small wooden church that was built in 1828 and is located between the entertainment centres Cirkus, Skansen and Gröna Lund. During the culture night, Djurgårdskyrkan offers both art with paintings by Jan Runefelt and Dorotea Ringberg and piano music with John Runefelt. Take the opportunity to see the church’s altarpiece painted by Prince Eugen.

Vrak – Museum of Wreck’s

See how Vrak, with the help of holograms, makes the cultural heritage under the surface accessible, join pop-up tours and try diving without getting wet with our VR glasses. Enjoy good food and drinks from Mackverket with DJ music. The museum also offers a brand new Viking exhibition and a majestic fire show..

The Maritime Museum:

The Maritime Museum invites you to an evening with the theme of tattoos and macramé, two common elements in the lives of sailors of the time. Robin and Isak from East Street Tattoo will be offering drop-in tattoos. The Maritime History Café & Bar will also be open during the evening with free macramé tying. You can also grab something good to eat or drink there.

The Nordic museum

Catch Finnish fever at the Nordic Museum during Culture Night 2025! Finissage of the design guest performance KÄÄPÄ, colourful artist Maija Kauhanen and dance floor with Finnish Disco. All exhibitions open and free admission until midnight. Tervetuloa!

Thiel Gallery

Head out to Djurgården and visit the Thielska Galleriet with buses from 1947 and 1948 that will serve the Karlaplan-Thielska Galleriet route every hour and a half. The museum holds tours all evening in the large art collection! Discover the splendid and beautiful setting or the exhibition ‘Together’. Café Monika Ahlberg is also open during the Culture Night and will offer a wide range of treats throughout the evening.

The Vasa museum

Welcome to the world of Vaasa during Culture Night! In purple light and with life and movement in the museum’s exhibitions! Take a break and enjoy a meal or a drink under Vasa’s magnificent galleon.

Spritmuseum – Swedish drinking culture and history

The Spritmuseum welcomes you to an intoxicating evening with guided tours of the exhibitions, light meals, oysters & champagne in the restaurant, cocktails in the bar and cultural history throughout the building. The roaring 20’s meets Warhol’s Factory

The Museum of Ethnography

See the popular ‘Yokai’ exhibition and look for creatures in the park. You can also listen to Japanese spooky stories, go on a night walk, play video games and try an escape room. If that’s too intense, calm your nerves with karaoke or jam in the world orchestra!

The Museum of Science and Technology

On Culture Night, the Museum of Science and Technology is transformed into a vibrant Art Tech club night with live installations, audiovisual works and interactive games where the boundaries between art and technology are blurred and the Wisdome presents two works uniquely created by students from the Royal College of Music’s Artistic Interdisciplinary Master (AIM) programme.

The Snus and Match Museum

The Snus and match museum inside Skansen offers an evening themed around fire tools and ash production. In the museum’s fantastic collection, you will find objects throughout the ages that have been used to make fire. Hear the story of the history of matches and design your own matchbox!

Police Museum

Curious about the police profession? Have a police coffee and meet police officers from the past and present. There will be nostalgia with police vehicles from the 60s, 70s and 80s and a fashion show with police uniforms. Was it better in the past? Take part in a police history quiz and join the museum as it pits two traffic police officers against the wall.

National Sports Museum

Take a cultural tour with a focus on sport and culture and be inspired by Hanna Sjöstrand’s exhibition “Taverna geometrica” – a series of conceptual paintings, reliefs and sculptures exploring the structure and idiom of football. You can also create your own artwork in the workshop.

The Museum ships

The Maritime History Museum has a fantastic collection of museum ships on display on the pier outside the Vasa Museum on Djurgården Beach. Here you can step aboard the historic ships and join walks around all its corners.

ABBA the museum

ABBA the museum is visited by none other than Owe Sandström, ABBA’s very own designer! The man behind the music group’s iconic and glittery costumes will be there to talk about his creations and his creative process. In addition to that, there will of course be lots of singing and dancing all night long!

Liljevalchs

Just as Culture Night is a sign of spring, Liljevalch’s Spring Salon is also an important sign. During the evening, you can explore all the exhibitions and take part in guided tours of the various works.

The Viking Museum

Meet the Vikings at The Viking Museum. Explore the exhibitions where you can delve into who the Vikings actually were. Take a ride in Ragnfrid’s Saga where you travel through Europe with Harald who, in the hope of saving his farm and honour, sets out for the East on a raid. The restaurant is also open during Culture Night.

You can read the full programme for Culture Night 2025 here.

Art has always had a natural place at Royal Djurgården. Art is everywhere. Venture out into nature and you’ll find monuments and sculptures. There is always something new to discover. For example, year after year, an exciting new piece is added to Princess Estelle’s Sculpture Park.

Every museum houses art, but here you’ll also find beloved art museums.

Photo: Urban Jörén, the grand Munch room at Thiel Gallery.

Thiel Gallery 

At the very end of Djurgården at Blockhusudden you’ll find the beautiful art museum Thiel Gallery, created for banker Ernest Thiel and his wife Signe Maria Thiel’s outstanding art collection. The building was completed in 1907 and is beautifully situated in a park surrounded by walls. The architect behind this masterpiece was Ferdinand Boberg.

The museum’s magnificent collection primarily consists of works by Nordic artists from the turn of the last century, such as Bruno Liljefors, Edvard Munch, Eugène Jansson, Carl Larsson, August Strindberg, and Anders Zorn. But it also includes works by European masters like Paul Gauguin and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

According to Ernest Thiel’s vision, the museum’s upper floor was designed with two large halls whose walls would be adorned with artworks, while also serving as a dining room and salon. Later, an extension was added on the upper floor, called the grand Munch room. Two rooms on this floor are named after Thiel’s friends, Carl Larsson and Hjalmar Söderberg. At the top of the house in the tower room, there are two rooms displaying Nietzsche’s death mask and prints, as well as works by Edvard Munch.

After the Second World War, Ernest Thiel lost almost his entire fortune, and in 1924, the state purchased the palace with its furnishings and art collection. The following year, in 1925, the palace became a museum and has been open to the public ever since.

On the ground floor, various temporary exhibitions are presented, and in the old superintendent’s residence, the food creator Monika Ahlberg and her café are now located. Don’t miss the lush park with sculptures and beautiful views of the surroundings when you’re there.

Prins Eugen’s Waldemarsudde

Prins Eugen’s Waldemarsudde, originally Prince Eugen’s residence, is now one of Sweden’s most popular art museums. The museum offers a rich variety of exhibitions and programs year-round, including Prince Eugen’s own works, collections, and temporary exhibitions.

The main building, “The Castle,” and the gallery building were designed by architect Ferdinand Boberg in collaboration with Prince Eugen. The prince, son of King Oscar II and Queen Sophia, was a prominent landscape painter and art collector.

On the ground floor of the Mansion, you can visit the common areas of Prince Eugen’s home, which are preserved as they were in his time. The upper floors of the building and the Gallery show work from the collection and temporary exhibitions. These exhibitions include works by both contemporary artists and artists who were contemporaries of Prince Eugen. The park and garden feature sculptures by artists such as Carl Milles and historic buildings like the Linseed Oil Mill, from 1785.

Through Prince Eugen’s will, Waldemarsudde was bequeathed to the Swedish state in 1947 and is now managed by a special board. The museum’s mission is to preserve the facilities and collections and make them accessible to visitors, in line with the prince’s desire for a vibrant operation that promotes art and culture.

Liljevalchs 

Liljevalchs offers one of Stockholm’s most enchanting exhibition environments and presents art and design in several major exhibitions each year. The program caters to a wide audience as well as those with a specific interest in various artistic expressions.

At Liljevalchs, each new art year begins with the popular exhibition “Spring Salon” which is juried and well-known. In 2021, the extension Liljevalchs+ was completed, allowing for more exhibitions per year and making art accessible to a larger audience. This expansion ensures that Liljevalchs can continue to be an important art venue and provide art experiences for another 100 years.

Konsthall 16 

Konsthall 16 is an exciting collaboration between Tore A Jonasson Foundation and the National Sports Museum. This unique art gallery combines art and sports, showcasing temporary exhibitions of contemporary art as well as a selection of works from Tore A Jonasson’s collection. Each year, the gallery also acquires sports-related art and awards scholarships to artists and sports professionals.

You can find Konsthall 16 at the National Sports Museum in the Museum Park here at Djurgården.

Spritmuseum 

By the beautiful Djurgårdsstrand here at Djurgården, you’ll find, among other things, Spritmuseum. A museum dedicated to Swedish drinking culture. The museum houses three exhibition spaces. In one of them, you’ll find the permanent exhibition “Sweden: Spirit of a nation” – an interactive exhibition, focusing on the Swedes’ bittersweet relationship to alcohol. The exhibition is designed as a walk through the seasons of the year, given shape through sceneries, scents, tastes and music.

The second exhibition space showcases cultural-historical exhibitions, featuring displays on subjects like Champagne and the comic character Rocky. In the third area is the museum’s art gallery, dedicated to the Absolut Art Collection, which has been housed at the museum since 2008. Here, two exhibitions are presented annually: one thematic exhibition featuring works from the collection, and one solo exhibition featuring an artist from the collection.

Princess Estelle Sculpture Park

The Princess Estelle Cultural Foundation was founded in autumn 2019 on the initiative of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel.

The purpose of the foundation is to make cultural available for everyone and to establish a permanent sculpture park in the Rosendal area here at Royal Djurgården. Each year, a new artistic creation is introduced.

This year, in 2024, the fifth artwork The Inner Flow of Life by Giuseppe Penone will be inaugurated in the sculpture park, which will be included in a permanent collection already consisting of works by Alice Aycock, Elmgreen & Dragset, Yinka Shonibare CBE and Charlotte Gyllenhammar. The foundation’s goal is to make contemporary art accessible and they work to arouse interest and curiosity, as well as spread knowledge about art.

Every summer, Princess Estelle’s Cultural Foundation offers guided tours in the sculpture park at 1 pm. The tours are held daily and run from June 1st to September. The tours are free of charge.

Djurgården Church (Djurgårdskyrkan)

Here at Royal Djurgården, you’ll find a charming white wooden church, beautifully situated between Gröna Lund and Skansen. Djurgården Church is a part of the Oscar parish, is the oldest church in the parish and was built in 1828 by shipowner John Burgman. Originally used as a school and later as a cholera hospital, since 1880 it has served as a place for services and other activities organized by the parish.

For art lovers, Djurgården Church offers a rich experience through temporary art exhibitions  with everything from paintings to photographs and textile art. A special highlight is the beautiful altarpiece, a generous gift from Prince Eugen and painted by the prince himself.

So when you visit Djurgården, take the time to explore art in all its forms. You can find even more information about our art museums, monuments, and sculptures here.