Hallwylska Museet (Hallwyl Museum)

The Stockholm city center has many beautiful buildings dating back hundreds of years, constructed for various purposes. 

However, slowly over time these buildings were updated and modernized, often only sporting an old exterior. The Hallwyl Museum is the rare exception as the interior acts as a time capsule of sorts to how the wealthy lived in the 19th-century. 

The house was constructed between 1893 and 1898 to suit the needs and interests of the count and countess. The building was designed to look old, taking inspiration from medieval and renaissance architecture, but contained all the modern luxuries of the time such as electricity, central heating, bathrooms, and even an elevator. 

The building was always meant to be a museum, filled with rare and exquisite art from all over the world collected by the countess during her travels. But today, the historical significance lies more around the well-preserved 19th-century house than the art. 

The countess donated the house and all its belongings to the Swedish state in 1920, several years before dying. The house was opened to the public nearly two decades later in 1938.