Sweden Guide
Gothenburg
Stadsmuseum
Opening time: May– Aug daily 10am–5pm; Sept– April Tues– Sun 10am–5pm, Wed until 8pm
Price: 40kr
Website: www.stadsmuseum.goteborg.se
Address: Norra Hamngatan 12
The Stadsmuseum (City Museum) is Gothenburg's primary museum. It's housed in Ostindiska Huset, the offices, store and auction house that were constructed in 1750 for the enormously influential Swedish East India Company. Granted sole Swedish rights to trade with China in 1731, the company monopolized Far East commerce for over eighty years, the only condition being that the spices, silk and porcelain it brought back were to be sold in Gothenburg. The museum itself is well worth a browse, not least for its rich interior, a mix of stone pillars, stained glass and frescoes. Head first to the third floor, where there are exhibitions on the East India Company, allowing a look at the renovated auction hall. The section devoted to industry here is also impressive, a well-designed exhibition relating Gothenburg's twentieth-century history, with displays on shipping and working conditions in the textile factories at the beginning of the century.