Turn your attention to the right, where Arkaden stands, a blocky, light-brick building topped with a copper-colored roof and distinguished by a tall, dark vertical clock tower jutting out from its facade.
It looks thoroughly modern today, but the story of this exact spot is absolutely wild. It involves a massive financial gamble, Hollywood royalty, and the very birth of Swedish cinema.
Back in 1897, three wealthy merchants formed a company to do something unheard of. They bought up a rectangular city block, tore down the existing buildings, and carved a brand new, privately-owned diagonal street right through the middle of it. This new street was called Arkaden.
Pull up the first image on your screen. This was the original Arkaden building, completed in 1899. Just look at those magnificent brown-red brick towers and turrets. The architect, Frans Louis Enders, designed this eccentric building as just the first half of a much grander vision. The plan was to build a matching structure across the new diagonal street and connect the two halves with sweeping, vaulted arches overhead.
But there was a catch. They ran out of money. The company had an investment capital of six hundred thousand kronor in 1902, which is roughly forty-five million kronor today, but they still completely overextended themselves. The grand arches were never built. The funny thing is, the builders had already prepared for them. If you look closely at the towers in that old photo, you can see the stone ledges sticking out, waiting for arches that would never arrive.
Despite the financial drama, the Arkaden complex became a hub of pure magic. In March 1902, a Danish film pioneer and professional illusionist named Niels Jacobsen opened Sweden's very first permanent movie theater right down in a small basement room here. He called it Arkadens Kinematograf, using an early movie projector to dazzle audiences. Just two years later, a second cinema called Olympia opened in the very same complex. Jacobsen actually had to rename his theater to Alhambra just so people would stop going to the wrong movie.
Up above the cinemas, Arkaden was Gothenburg's premier shopping destination. In the nineteen fifties, a boutique called Bohus Stickning set up shop here. When Hollywood icon Ingrid Bergman and other international stars started wearing their elaborate knitwear in the United States, American tourists would literally flock to this store the moment their ocean liners docked in the harbor. They would completely empty the store's inventory in a matter of days.
The original fairy-tale building was controversial when it was built, and ironically, its demolition in 1972 caused just as much of an uproar. You can see the result in the second image on your app. The building standing in front of you today was designed by Anders Tengbom and opened in 1974, keeping the famous diagonal path and the Arkaden name alive.
From a grand, half-finished Victorian dream to a bustling modern hub, Arkaden has always been a place where Gothenburg goes to experience something spectacular. Feel free to explore the area before moving on to our next destination.
