House of August Strindberg, Stockholm

Descending from the August Strinberg monument in Tegnerlunden Park, you can see the house where the famous writer spent the last years of his life, from 1908 to 1912. The building was built in 1907 in the Art Nouveau style by the architectural company Hagström and Ekman (founders Georg Hagström, Fritiof Ekman).

The writer called his house the Blue Tower (Blå tornet). Why he gave the yellow building such a name is still being speculated and there are many versions. Although there is the simplest explanation: the walls of the stairs in the entrance were blue in color.

Strinberg was very popular, and on his birthdays, crowds gathered in front of the house to pay their respects to him. On his sixtieth birthday, a fundraiser was announced and 45,000 kronor was awarded to the writer on behalf of the Swedish people.

The house has an address of Drottninggatan 85, but the number 5 is painted on the corner of the house, framed by plant decorations. Now the house houses an apartment-museum of the writer, thematic exhibitions are also held here, and sometimes theatrical performances are arranged. On the ground floor of the building there is a cafe, the interiors of which are dedicated to the writer.

Well, I went on to Drottninggatan, looking on the map that Observatorielunden Park is located nearby.

Across the street from Strinberg's house is the classic English pub Queen's Head. Then I saw the manhole of the telephone network and decided to add it to my collection of sewer manholes from different cities.

After walking two blocks, I reached the park, for some reason not paying attention to the People's University (Folkuniversitetet Stockholm). Instead, my attention was drawn to an office building in the style of Scandinavian rationalism.