Private Jewish Heritage

After departing the pier with your professionally-trained guide, you will make a stop at Fjällgatan. Pause briefly to snap photographs of impressive views encompassing eight of Stockholm's 14 islands before enjoying the scenic drive to the Old Town, where your discovery of Stockholm's Jewish history begins.

Follow your guide through the narrow cobbled streets, passing the Royal Palace on the way to Tyska Brunnsplan Square, named after the German community that once occupied this area. There you will see the exterior of the building which was Stockholm's first synagogue in 1790.

After walking out of the Old Town, you will rejoin your transportation and travel to the Jewish Community's Conservative Synagogue. Also known as the Great Synagogue, it was built in the ancient Eastern style and was inaugurated in 1870. The synagogue seats up to one thousand congregants, making it as impressive in size as it is in appearance. A memorial to the victims of the Holocaust is engraved on the wall leading from the entrance of The Great Synagogue to the Jewish Community office building on Wahrendorffsgatan 3. Carl XVI Gustav, King of Sweden, dedicated it in 1998. It records 8,500 victims who are relatives of Jews residing in Sweden.

Continue to the Judiska Museet, named the top museum in Sweden in 1994, and one of the only Jewish Museums in Scandinavia. The Museum was founded in 1987 and presents the history of the Swedish Jews, which has been traced back to the 700s AD. Through the permanent collection, learn of their adaptation into Swedish society and their contributions to culture, art, literature, trade, and industry. Another aim of the museum is to show the manner and customs in the synagogue and the home.

With a deeper understanding of Jewish history, learn more about the other aspects of Stockholm with a brief orientation drive around the city before being returned to your cruise ship.