At the beginning of 19th Century, Oakhill height was called Ryssbacken and used to be a site for summer houses. In 1820 famous planner Fredrik Blom, who had previously been working at several buildings in Stockholm, built here his first transportable house, which had been commissioned by British Admiral, Thomas Backer married to the daughter of Earl Erik Ruuth, Finance Minister and Governor General of Pomerania. It was Sir Erik who gave this site the name of Oakhill.
At the end of the Century, after repeated property transfers, the summer houses were turned into permanent residences, to be further demolished in 1907, as soon as Prince Wilhelm bought the site.
The following year, Prince Wilhelm married Russian Princess Maria Pavlovna and commissioned architect Ferdinand Boberg the present 40-rooms palace as a wedding gift to the Princess, on behalf of her step-mother, Great duchess Sergius-Elisabeth Feodorovna. The Princes lived in this palace from 1910, when it was completed, till 1914, when they divorced, leaving it empty until United States Minister Plenipotentiary, Mr Morris, rented it a few years later.
In 1926 the land of Oakhill was bought by the Italian Government. Since then, its building has been the headquarters of the Italian Diplomatic mission in Sweden.
How to reach the Embassy and the Consulate Chancery
The Embassy of Italy in Sweden is located in Stockholm at Oakhill, in the southern part of the island of Djurgården, not far from the Skansen open air museum.
Please note: The main gate on the top of the hill is the entrance to the Embassy building. Most of the time you probably wish to reach the Consulate Chancery, a green building on the western side of the hill, with a separate entrance (just 100 metres after the main gate of the Embassy).
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
Tram number 7 direction Waldemarsudde stops at the foot of Oakhill and at “Bellmansro”, just in front of the Embassy.
Bus number 67, heading towards Blockshudden or Manilla, stops at Waldemarsudde, from where it is possible to easily reach the Embassy and Consular offices by walk.
See the SL web site ( www.sl.se ) for more information.