Jewish Stockholm tour

Stockholm has had presence of Jews since at least the 17th century. Sweden stands out as one of few European countries unaffected by the Holocaust, and much remains of the Jewish community's artifacts.

Understand

Walking tours in Stockholm

The first Jews in Sweden might have been Hanseatic merchants; records about them are however difficult to find. Gustav Vasa, the first king of independent Sweden, had a doctor who was in government documents referred to as "the Jew".

With the expansion of the Swedish Empire in the 17th century came immigration of Jewish merchants and scholars, in particular from German-speaking lands. The Protestant Church of Sweden had concerns that Jews challenged the state religion, and Judaism was prohibited until 1774, requiring Jews to be baptized at immigration. King Gustav III legalized the Jewish religion, still barring Jews from land ownership, many professions, and some civil rights. The Jews could only reside in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Norrköping.

In the 19th and early 20th century, Sweden gradually gradually increased civil rights for the whole population. Most of these rights were expanded to Jews, but as the Swedish bourgeois became more influential, they saw Jews as rivals, with anti-Semitic backlashes more than once. Since 1870, Jews and Christians are equal before the law in Sweden.

Sweden's reluctance to accept Jewish immigrants persisted through the rise of Nazi Germany. As the horrors of the Holocaust became commonly known by the end of 1942, and the tide turned in World War II, Sweden became more open to Jewish refugees. Around 2,200 Jews lived in Norway; around half of them escaped to Sweden. Out of the 7,000 Jews of Denmark, most managed to escape to Sweden, thanks to the Danish resistance movement.

Since 2000, Jews have been recognized as one of Sweden's national minorities, together with the Romani, Sami, Finns and Tornedalians, making Sweden the world's only country granting official status to the Yiddish language; spoken as a mother tongue by around 1,000 Swedish citizens. As of the 2020s, there are around 20,000 Jews in Sweden, many of them in Stockholm.

Destinations

59°19′37″N 18°4′12″E

Map of Jewish Stockholm tour

59.3238718.072971 Jewish Museum (Judiska museet), Själagårdsgatan 19. This 17th-century building was an auction chamber until it became Stockholm's first synagogue from 1795 to 1870; the year when Jews got full civil rights, and the Great Synagogue was inaugurated. The building has been used for many purposes, such as a police station. The Jewish Museum was founded in 1992 on different premises, and relocated to this building in 2019.

On 29 September 1681, the Israel Mendel och Moses Jacob families were baptized, with King Charles XI and Queen Ulrika Eleonora as godparents.
59.3240818.071842 German Church (Tyska Kyrkan), Svartmangatan 16A. Officially named Sankta Gertrud, this 1642 church is the home to the first German-speaking parish outside Germany. As most Jews in Sweden came from German lands, this was the site for baptizing Jewish immigrants.
59.32518.0679173 Forum för levande historia. A museum with exhibitions focused on human rights and crimes against humanity. Previous exhibitions have depicted Sweden's role in World War II in Europe and the Holocaust.
59.32602818.0720284 Charles XVI John Statue. King of Sweden and Norway from 1818 to 1844. In 1838 he signed a reformed Jew Reglement, expanding Jews' civil rights.
59.32569418.0751895 Sjöfartshuset. In the mid-19th century, this palace was the residence of Carl David Skogman, a bureaucrat who wrote the 1838 Jew Reglement. During summer 1838, a row of protests (the Crusenstolpe riots) against the government took place in Stockholm. A main reason for the protest was the imprisonment of liberal publicist Magnus Jacob Crusenstolpe. However, many people in Stockholm were also dissatisfied with immigration and integration of Jews, adding anti-Semitic elements to the protests. A mob smashed the windows of Skogman's home. Some Jewish homes in the Old Town were also attacked. Some of the proposed reforms for Jews were delayed.
59.327518.06756 Swedish Parliament building. Sweden's legislative building. Sweden's parliament traditionally had four estates: nobles, clergy, burghers and peasants. As women were normally not represented, and tenant farmers and workers were thought to be represented by the master of the house, only a fraction of the population could vote; among them were the aforementioned clergy, as well as guild-connected craftsmen who often saw Jews as rivals. By the 19th century, many businesspeople and scholars lacked representation, and an 1866 reform created a two-chamber parliament with the right to vote for wealthy men. From 1870, Jews could vote. The current parliament building opened in 1905.
59.32833318.0697227 Norrbrobasaren. The place which today is a lawn in front of the parliament building, hosted a market hall for fashion, books, and other goods during the 19th century. Well-dressed aristocrats paraded along the street to get attention. As Jews were barred from joining most craft guilds, many of them made a living as retailers, including the Bonnier family, who ran a bookstore here. In 1864, Sweden abolished guild privileges, allowing Jews to take on most professions.
59.33294418.0691088 NK (Nordiska Kompaniet), Hamngatan 18-20. The retail company Nordiska Kompaniet was founded in 1902 by Swedish-Jewish businessman Josef Sachs. From 1902 to 1915 they had their premises at nearby Stureplan. The current department store was finished in 1915. Josef Sachs also founded the low-cost retail chain EPA (Enhetsprisaktiebolaget), translating Unit price company in 1930, which raised protests from competitors, with anti-Semitic elements. While NK has arguably been Stockholm's most famous fashion retailer (see legacy retailers), the word EPA became a prefix for poor quality (one example being epatraktor, a geared-down automobile re-registered as a tractor).
59.3319118.074169 Great Synagogue, Wahrendorffsgatan 3B. Inaugurated in 1870, and since then Stockholm's largest synagogue. Since 2015 led by Ute Steyer, Sweden's first female rabbi.
59.33191718.07586110 Raoul Wallenberg Monument. A monument for Raoul Wallenberg. The aesthetics have been questioned, and a more traditional bust has been set up at Strandvägen 7. A pair of ornamental railroad tracks lead to the synagogue.
59.33189718.08062211 Strandvägen 7 (Hotel Diplomat). In World War II, Germany occupied Denmark and Norway in 1940, while Finland was co-belligerent with Germany. With Europe at war, Stockholm became a haven for diplomats, with an opportunity to spy on their enemies. The palace at Strandvägen 7 hosted several embassies; for the United States, Italy, Yugoslavia and Turkey, and the German military attaché. On the backstreet was the local branch of the German Nazi Party. In the early years of the war, Sweden made many concessions to Germany; however from 1942 the Holocaust became well known, and the tide of the war was turning. Sweden had to mend its reputation through humanitarian missions. Raoul Wallenberg travelled to Budapest, issued diplomatic passports to Jews, and housed them in Swedish embassy buildings, rescuing around 10,000 people from certain death. Wallenberg was detained by the Soviet Union in January 1945, was never found again, and was long rumoured to be alive. He was declared dead in 2016.
59.33472218.07583312 Adat Jeschurun. Orthodox synagogue. The interiors come from the Synagoge Bornstrasse in Hamburg, which survived the 1938 November pogroms (Kristallnacht) as it was in a tenement building. Due to the threat against the Jews, director Hans Lehmann, a German Jew residing in Stockholm, had the furnishing imported in March 1939. The pews, prayer books and the Torah Ark were labelled as "old furniture" to avoid suspicion from German authorities. Since 1940 the synagogue has been active in Stockholm.
59.33523918.0767471 Bajit, Nybrogatan 19 A. Jewish cultural centre and the site of the Stockholm Jewish Congregation, with a library, a school, a café, and a kosher grocer.
59.33518.077372 Schmaltz, Nybrogatan 19. A restaurant and deli inspired by the Jewish-American cuisine.

Go next

59.33706118.04260213 Swedish Holocaust Museum, Torsgatan 19. Sweden's first museum dedicated to Holocaust remembrance was founded in 2022, and opened its first exhibition in 2023.
59.31810218.06834314 Adrat Jisrael Synagogue, S:t Paulsgatan 13. The synagogue of an orthodox congregation founded in 1871, featured in the Millennium series; see Millennium Tour.
59.31355918.088515 Heckscherska huset, Klippgatan 19. Built in 1913 to accommodate Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. Received refugees during World War II.
59.33277818.03416716 Kronoberg cemetery. In use from 1787 to 1857. This cemetery was opened in opposition to Aaron Isaac's authority of the Jewish community.
59.33630618.0267517 Aronsberg cemetery. Named for Aaron Isaac, in use since 1782.
59.26511118.10108318 Southern Jewish cemetery. Part of Skogskyrkogården (the Woodland Cemetery), a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
59.35956618.028419 Northern Jewish cemetery. On the large Northern Cemetery in Solna. The chapel, in Moorish style, was inaugurated in 1857. The burial place for Holocaust survivors who died shortly after arriving to Sweden.

Stay safe

As of 2024, many sites of the Jewish community have elevated security routines, and might require advance booking.

Timeline

1557: First written record of an individual Jewish resident in Sweden; Gustav Vasa's doctor, known only as "the Jew"
1774: Aaron Isaac receives a Royal charter to live as a Jew in Sweden
1838: A new Jew Reglement expands civil rights of Jews
1870: Jews receive full civil rights. Great Synagogue opens
1945: End of World War II
2000: Jews recognized as a national minority