Page 113 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Sweden

M ALM ARNA & FUR THER AFIELD  111

n Vita Bergen
Södermalm. @ 3, 57, 66, 76.
Famous today for its popular
open-air theatre performances,
this park is also an opportunity
to see houses originally built for
workers at Söder’s harbours and
factories. They were simple
homes, often with a small
garden and surrounded by a
fence. In 1736 the building of
new wooden houses was
forbidden because of the fire
risk, but slum districts, as this
was then, were exempted. Chapel of the Holy Cross by Gunnar Asplund at Skogskyrkogården
Around 1900, when Sofia
Kyrka was built, the area was , Skogskyrko- Chapel), featuring a steep
turned into a leafy hillside park gården shingled roof, was opened at the
with allotment-garden cottages same time as the cemetery in
to the east. The park has a 6 km (3.5 miles) S of Stockholm. Tel 08- 1920, and was decorated by Carl
bronze statue, Elsa Borg, by 508 317 30.  Skogskyrkogården. Milles. This was followed five
8 Jul–Sep: 10:30am Sun (call
Astri Bergman Taube (1972), 08-508 316 20). - 7 years later by Uppståndelse-
wife of the great troubadour ∑ skogskyrkogarden.se kapellet (the Resurrection
Evert Taube (see p66). Chapel), designed by Lewerentz.
Nature and architecture In 1940 Asplund’s last
have combined to give the masterpiece, Skogskrematoriet
m Ericsson Globen Skogskyrkogården Cemetery a (Woodland Crematorium),
3 km (2 miles) S of Stockholm. place on the UNESCO was completed, along
 Globen. @ 168, 195. World Heritage list. with its three chapels
Tel 08-600 91 00. Open during The cemetery is the representing Faith,
events. & gondola ride. 8 by appt. creation of Hope and the
- 0 = 7 ∑ globen.se architects Gunnar Holy Cross. John
Asplund (see p105) Lundqvist’s The
In 1989 Stockholm acquired a and Sigurd Resurrection stands
new symbol in the shape of the Lewerentz, winners in the pillared hall
indoor arena Ericsson Globen, of a design competition Epitaph to Gunnar of Heliga Korsets
which has a circumference of for the site in 1915. It is Asplund Kapell, the largest of
690 m (2,260 ft) and a height of set amid pinewoods the chapels, where
85 m (279 ft). The arena offers which provide a framework for there is also a mural painted by
a wide programme of events, the various chapels and cremato- Sven Erixson. Adjoining the
from international sports to rium, all of which are examples chapel is Asplund’s black
performances by musicians and of Sweden’s National Romantic granite cross. The Hill of
bands from around the world. and Functionalist styles. Meditation lies to the west.
The spectacular Skyview ride Asplund’s first work, Skogskyrkogården is the final
enables visitors to travel up Skogskapellet (Woodland resting place of Greta Garbo.
the outside wall of the arena
in glass gondolas. Greta Garbo
The legendary Greta Garbo, one of the 20th century’s outstanding
film stars, was born in 1905 in a humble part of Södermalm. At the
age of 17 she joined the theatre academy of Dramaten and made
her film debut in Peter the Tramp. Her
breakthrough came in 1924 in Mauritz
Stiller’s film of Selma Lagerlöf’s book The
Atonement of Gösta Berling. The
following year she moved to Hollywood,
where she soon became the reigning
star. Garbo appeared in 24 films,
including Anna Karenina (1935) and
Camille (1936). She never married and
lived a solitary life until her death in
Key 1990. Her ashes were interred at the Garbo in As You Desire
Skyview’s glass gondolas taking visitors to Skogskyrkogården Cemetery in 1999. Me (1932)
Suggested route the top of the Ericsson Globen

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