Strömsborg
is a small islet in central Stockholm, Sweden, located north of Stadsholmen, and west of Helgeandsholmen, between the bridges Centralbron, a motorway passing through central Stockholm, and Vasabron. Administratively, Strömsborg is part of Gamla Stan, the old town of Stockholm and is connected to the rest of the city by the bridge Strömsborgsbron leading over to Vasabron.
History
The earliest known owner of Strömsborg was a merchant named Berge Olofson Ström. He bought the island in 1740, and, according to a description from 1896, ten years later he had a "suitably-sized" stone house surrounded by lime trees built on the island. Whenever the small island received its present name, it must have been in reference both to Strömmen, the stream surrounding it, and to the merchant "Ström" and his building with the appearance of a castle. Further, Nordensvan tells the island has been the site for several restaurants, skittle alleys, and public baths, and "was a small idyllic spot, particularly at that time, when no bridge led to the islet, but one had to travel by rowing boat with a motley woman from Dalarna at the oars."Arthur Sjögren, mostly remembered for his illustrations of the novels of August Strindberg, also studied the history of Strömsborg in great detail. In a report in 1926, he concluded that the present circular-shaped island dates back to the end of the 19th century and described the island before then as a thickly wooded and irregularly shaped island with a set of various small buildings; a charmingly picturesque view that saw its fate finally sealed with the demolition of the main building in 1895. The idyll described by both two men vanished with the construction of the current palace in 18951997, designed by the builder Johan Andersson and the architect Claes Grundström and then redesigned by architect Ragnar Östberg in 19291930.
Even before then, the isolated idyll was tied closer to the rest of the city with the construction of Vasabron in 18721878 and what remained thereafter definitely disappeared with the construction of Centralbron in 19611967.
The islet remained the headquarters of Swedish Sports Confederation for many years, and the ground floor was used as a restaurant. In 1953, a renowned dance hall was built on the island, and the upper floors were used for offices until 1994. Since 1996, the entire building has been restored to its pre-1953 appearance, but it is used exclusively for offices. From 1998 to 2010 the building hosted the Secretariat of the Council of the Baltic Sea States. The island is currently devoted entirely to the offices of IDEA, an international intergovernmental organization that supports democracy building worldwide. Since September 2023, the Ukrainian Institute in Sweden has also been operating there.