Röhsska Museum

Why go

Named objects give the broad subject a practical focus: an Ericofon telephone, a Charlotte Perriand kitchen and a Vivienne Westwood wedding dress invite very different comparisons. Chairs in the open storage gallery show changing furniture design across centuries. The range makes this a useful alternative to a museum centred mainly on painting.

What to look for

• Architecture Hall contains Babylonian lion and dragon reliefs beneath a painted wooden vault.
• The open storage gallery traces changes in chair design.

The full story

The museum was founded in 1904, following a donation from Wilhelm Röhss’s estate, and opened to the public in 1916. Carl Westman designed its original building in the National Romantic style. The handmade red brick makes the architecture part of the experience before you reach the collections: this is a building with a strong material character, housing objects whose materials and manufacture also matter. The collections connect Swedish and European design with arts and crafts from Japan and China, extending from early archaeology to contemporary Scandinavian work. Fashion adds another way to consider how practical objects communicate taste and identity. Reading the museum across those categories can be more revealing than treating furniture, garments and decorative objects as unrelated collections. The common thread is the relationship between an object’s use, the way it is made and the ideas it expresses.

Useful to know

• Use Valand as the public transport stop for the Vasagatan entrance.

Your next visit

Estimated · Declared scenario and planning estimates; no live opening, weather, queue or booking service.