Gothenburg in the late 1890s

The Vasa street.

The 19th century was a period of fast growth in Gothenburg, Sweden's second largest city. During the second half of the century its population grew from 26,000 to 130,000. Already in the 1840's Gothenburg became the most important port city for imports, and by the end of the 1850's the it also became Sweden's largest export port (mainly timber) . (The Port of Gothenburg is still the largest port in Sweden - and Scandinavia).

Mighty merchant houses, like Dickson & Co, founded by the Scot James Dixon, who had emigrated to Sweden in 1807, soon also became important players in the shipping industry. 

As shipping became more important, also the Gothenburg shipyards experienced a fast growth. Among the other industries, the textile industry was the most important since to middle of the 1850's.  

The affluence brought by the fast growing economy also was reflected in the general development and architecture of the city, as can be seen from these photographs from the end of the 1890's. 

Västra Hamngatan.

The port of Gothenburg, with the customs building in the foreground.

Kungsportsavenyn

The Gustaf Adolf square and the City hall.

The concert hall in the Trädgårdsföreningen (garden society).

Hotel Haglund.

The Cathedral

Östra Hamngatan

The new concert hall (picture from 1905)

The Swedish America Line´s S/S Drottningholm on its first arrival in Gothenburg in 1920

The S/S Drottningholm was built in Glasgow for the Allen Line in 1905. The 164,4 x 18,3m,  11,285 gross ton ship originally sailed between Liverpool and Montreal under the name "The Virginian". 

The classic ocean liner S/S Drottningholm, which the Svenska Amerika Linjen (The Swedish America Line) had acquired from its Canadian owners, was warmly welcomed to its new home port Gothenburg on February 20th, 1920. 


On the following day, the local newspaper Göteborgstidningen published an enthusiastic report: 

"The Drottningholm in Gothenburg"


"It will be the fastest Scandinavian America steamer"


"There are two smoking lounges and two meeting lounges for third class passengers"


"The Swedish America Line´s new steamer Drottningholm yesterday arrived in Gothenburg on its first voyage under the Swedish flag. At eleven in the morning it glided up the river and was greeted in the usual manner. The steamer was met at Bottö by a Swedish America Line tugboat, with managing director Lagergren, a couple of journalists and a cinematographer on board. The slender hull with the white topside decks were quite imposing." 

--

"The furnishing of passenger cabins, lounges and other areas is most elegant. Particularly, the hall, with a three floor high double staircase, catches one´s attention, as does the music lounge, the luxury of which is almost dazzling".

The  first class music lounge

The navigation room

The state of art radio room - the "Marconi station"

A first class cabin

"The first class dining room is also luxurious. It has comfortable seating for about 200  passengers.  In addition to the  side portholes, daylight is streaming down from a dome, richly decorated with gryphon ornaments and allegorical figures  composed of marine designs".  (Göteborgstidningen)

The second class smoking lounge

The third class music lounge

A third class cabin

"The steamer has altogether six decks, with the the promenade decks  more than  a couple  hundred  feet  long" (Göteborgstidningen)

The Drottningholm still painted with the Allen Line colours

The S/S Drottningholm, which sailed under the Swedish flag for 28 years, became a favourite of the Gothenburgians, who called it "the most beautiful ship of the harbor". In 1948 the Drottningholm was sold and began sailing between Genoa and South America under the name Brasil. A couple of years later it again had a new owner, which operated it on the route Hamburg - New York until 1955, when it was scrapped. 


More information on the S/S Drottningholm here and here

(The pictures above are from the book "Sveriges sjöfart", published in Stockholm in 1921)

Le Corbusier´s kitchen in Sweden

Yesterday, I had a chance to revisit the Röhsska Museum, Sweden´s renowned design museum in Gothenburg (Göteborg). Among the many objects you can see there, one of the most interesting is Le Corbusier´s kitchen from the famous Marseille 
Unité d´habitation building (1947- 1952). 

Le Corbusier´s kitchen at the Röhsska Museum in Gothenburg

With the Unité Le Corbusier introduced the world to raw concrete, which - regrettably - later led to the "beton brutalism" style, so prevalent all over the world. No doubt Le Corbusier - and Charlotte Perriand, who actually designed the kitchen - wanted to create better homes for ordinary people during the the housing crisis in France in the 
1920´s and after the World War II.  But, at least in hindsight, their idea about the home as a machine to live in is not very appealing. 

Unité d´habitation in Marseilles (image by wiki)