Background
At the end of the 19th century, Stockholm city was responsible for new cemeteries in the municipality. In 1895, Södra begravningsplatsen was completed. As only one of two municipalities in Sweden, Stockholm has responsibility for cemeteries. In the rest of the country, it is the Christian Swedish Church that is responsible for cemeteries and burial sites.
In the early 1900s, Stockholm got many new residents. More land was needed for graves. Stockholm city decided to make Södra begravningsplatsen larger. The city also decided to hold a competition for the design of the new area.
The competition
In the fall of 1914, the city presented an idea competition for the new cemetery. The responsible parties thought completely new about the design of the site. The most important idea was that visitors should be able to experience that life and death are constantly ongoing, as an eternal process, life-death-life.
The task in the competition was also:
- The site should be aesthetic and artistic.
- The area should be dignified, without monuments and with equally large graves for everyone.
- Forest and nature should be preserved as much as possible.
Inspiration for the new ideas came from various sources: Romanticism in the 1800s, modern design, and even thoughts about equality.
The competition attracted many architects and landscape designers, and the city received many proposals. The young architects Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz won with their proposal “Tallum”.
During the 1910s, there were difficult economic times. Among other things, this is why architects had to redo and simplify their proposal several times. It wasn’t until 1917 that construction of the landscape could begin.
