The House of Nobility

Welcome to visit the House of Nobility.
Riddarhuset is a palace and an organization for the nobles in Sweden. Its objective is to preserve and maintain a historical heritage.

Opening hours

Monday-Friday 11.00–12.00

Closed during spring 2023: 26/5, 1/6, 5-6/6, 8/6, 23/6

Closed due to renovation from Sept 2023- Dec 2025. 

Admission fee: 60 SEK adults/40 SEK students and seniors

Please note that the House of Nobility is cash free. We accept all major credit cards.

Guided tours in English and German

Groups are welcome to book a guided tour of the palace. We recommend you to book well in advance. Please contact visning@riddarhuset.se or call +46 8 723 39 97.

The price for a guided tour is

1 200 SEK + entrance fee/person during Monday-Friday 09.00-17.00
2 000 SEK + entrance fee/person during evenings and weekend

Find us here
Map >

Address
Riddarhuset, Riddarhustorget 10, 111 28 Stockholm

Contact
Phone: +46 8 723 39 90
E-mail: kansli@riddarhuset.se

Visitors with mobility needs
The House of Nobility welcomes all visitors, but we are sorry to inform that there are no elevators installed in this historic building. Wheelchair access is very limited.

The Swedish Peerage Book

List of members since 1854

The Swedish Peerage Book (Adelskalendern) documents the lineage of living families that have been introduced into the House of Nobility. It catalogues the aristocratic families still living  and includes a brief introduction into the historical background of each family as well as their coats of arms

If you have any questions, please contact: ak@riddarhuset.se

The Palace

The House of Nobility was erected during the period 1641-1672. The two wings were built in 1870.  The palace was designed by Simon de la Vallée (1641-1642), Heinrich Wilhelm (1645-1652), Joost Vingboons (1653-1656) and Jean de la Vallée (1656-1672). Joost Vingboons and Jean de la Vallée can be said to have given the palace its final shape. The construction of the roof, the portals and the staircase are entirely the work of Jean de la Vallée.

The great hall of the House of Nobility was used by the aristocracy for meetings of Parliament during the Diet of the Four Estates (1668-1865). Today, the Nobility gathers here for the Assembly of Nobles, which occurs every third year. At the Assembly, each family that is introduced in the House of Nobility can be represented by one delegate. The Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Literature (among others) celebrate their anniversaries here. The great hall is also used as a meeting place for the Swedish noble families as well as for chamber concerts. Hanging on the walls of the hall are the coat of arms, painted on copper plates, of noble families who have been introduced at the House of Nobility. Altogether 2 331 families are thus represented. Of these, 663 still have living members in Sweden and abroad. The coat of arms of the Counts can be found on the west wall on either side of the bust of King Gustavus II Adolphus; those of the Barons are on the sides of the same wall, and those of the Gentry are on the other three walls. The coat of arms are arranged in numerical order according to the year of introduction. Those of the oldest families are placed on the south wall, sector X. The last person to be ennobled in Sweden was the explorer Sven Hedin in 1902, whose coat of arms can be found in sector XXXC.   On the ceiling is “the allegorical painting” by David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl, painted during the years 1670-1675. Mother Svea, who symbolizes Sweden, is seen in the middle, seated on a golden throne. Above her the three graces are hovering holding the Swedish coat of arms, the Three Crowns. Fama, with her trumpet, proclaims the glory of Sweden and Eterna brings eternal life to the country. Placed at the west side of the hall is a bust of King Gustavus II Adolphus (1594-1632). There is also the remarkable Chair of the Lord-marshals (1625), carved in ivory and ebony, depicting hunting scenes and scenes from the Holy Bible.

The ante-room downstairs to the left has four portraits of prominent Swedish statesmen and warriors from the seventeenth century. The Lord-marshals’ room was the meeting place for the so-called Secret Committee of the Swedish Riksdag (Diet) during the eighteenth century. The walls are embellished with the portraits of the Lord-marshals from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Lord-marshal was the chairman of the House of Nobility during the Diet of the four Estates, appointed by the King or elected by the Noble estate. Among the most prominent of the Lord-marshals are the counts Per Brahe, Johan Gyllenstierna, Arvid Horn, Karl Gustaf Tessin and Axel von Fersen.

In the reception-room can be seen portraits depicting the land-marshals from the nineteenth century. The last land-marshal was count Gustaf Lagerbjelke (1865).   The staircase-hall was designed by Jean de la Vallée and completed in 1668. On the eastern wall there is a painting by Baron Gustaf Cederström (1912) depicting King Carolus X Gustavus crossing the Great Belt over the ice to Zealand (Denmark) in 1658.   The chancellery on the upper floor includes the Blue Room with a unique collection of some 300 pieces of china adorned with coat of arms belonging to Swedish noble families.