THE ODD FELLOW HOUSE

The Main Entrance

The odd fellow house was once a complex of buildings. First created for Count Svante Gustavsson Banér in the 1620s, it was built and rebuilt, and is now fused into one.

The magnificent main entrance leads us through an elegant outer hall to the Copper Portal and the world within. For nearly 100 years, here has been the home of Odd Fellows lodges and encampments in Stockholm.

Beyond the Copper Portal we meet the Reception and cloakrooms, where one wall proudly displays the seals of the house’s 26 Odd Fellows institutions, a spectacular sight.

The elevator takes us up to the top floor, where we will find two lodge halls, the Little Lodge and the Middle Lodge.

The Little Lodge

The little lodge is considered by many to be the loveliest and most impressive of our lodge halls. Its mild colors, the large Persian rug on the floor and the low ceiling all evoke a reverent, almost sacred feeling. The chairs of the Chaplain and the Past [Noble] Grand, together with their overarching tapestries, are all part of the original furnishings preserved from Stockholm’s former Lodge Hall (near the Klara Church in central Stockholm). Here, as in the other lodge halls, the bronze and ebonylike candlesticks also stem from the old Lodge Hall.

The Middle Hall

The middle hall benches and officers’ chairs also come from the old Lodge Hall. The wooden furnishings originally had a dark stain, but it feels correct to alter their hue in their new environment. The present color scheme is typical of Sweden in the 1920s. On the walls, the Charters of the House’s five Rebekah Lodges are proudly displayed.

The Foyer

In the foyer outside the hall entrance, the old harmonium, or pump organ, also from the old Lodge Hall — and still serviceable — has found a new home!

On one of the walls in the gallery hang portraits of the Presidents of the former Rebekah Assembly, while in a glass cabinet, beautifully bound in leather, the membership rolls from the oldest lodges are on display. 

On the floor below is the Degree Candidates’ Room, as well as a number of well-appointed meeting rooms. There are also two lit display cabinets, somewhat tucked away in a corner, that illustrate inter alia the regalia for brothers and Rebekahs all the way from Initiatory Degree to the Grand Sire and erstwhile Assembly President.

Half a flight down, on the next landing, we see a door labeled ”Library”.

The Library

The library was previously the dining room for the Bäckström family, their food being delivered from the kitchen below via a dumbwaiter in the back room. The beautiful windows and wooden décor all date from the Bäckström renovation of 1898. During its early days as an Odd Fellows lodge, this room was its library, with an appointed librarian, and was filled with works on philosophy, literature and a great many books about the Order, according to a Stockholm newspaper article from October 11, 1948. The walls housed its then-fashionable oaken glass bookcases. By the 1970s, private book collections of this type had become obsolete, and both the books and the bookcases have long since disappeared. Today the Library is used as a meeting room whose walls are decorated with paintings of previous Grand Officers and benefactors.

We can easily imagine how, after a generous dinner in the dining room, the Bäckström family and their guests withdrew to the reception rooms beyond, with their magnificent views of the Royal Gardens, the ladies retiring to the smaller salon (the Royal Room) and the gentlemen to the larger one (the Grand Salon), there to converse, smoke a good cigarr or cigarillo and enjoy a brandy snifter or two.

The Royal Room

Formerly called the Little Salon, the Royal Room is used for mingling at major events, and for small meetings. We see a portrait of our current King on one wall, and the royal couple on another.

The Bäckström Salon

Originally called the Grand Salon, this room was redecorated as a donation to the Odd Fellows by J. Walter Bäckström, whose portrait hangs on its wall, where he keeps an eye on his former domains. The salon is dominated by the magnificent fireplace, in polished porphyry from Älvdalen (Dalecarlia). Designed by the architect Knut Nordenskjöld, it boasts of having a copy in the Royal Palace, Stockholm. 

The fireplace is flanked by portraits of King Gustaf V and the then-Crown Prince, later Gustaf VI, both of whom were in their day our Order’s Grand Patron, and who both visited our Lodge House. On the opposite wall is a portrait of King Carl XVI Gustaf.

On the ceiling we can see a resplendent chandelier in Bohemian crystal.

If we go down another half-flight of stairs, we reach the Long Gallery leading to the Grand Hall.

The Long Gallery

On the walls of the Long Gallery we see the portraits of the Swedish Grand Sires. To the left of the entrance to the Grand Hall is the portrait of the current Grand Sire Björn Boström, while on the long wall, Sweden’s first Grand Sire Wilhelm Laurentz begins the procession. 

Here we also have several display cases containing ceremonial robes and details from Odd Fellows activities in England, the US and Sweden – the embryo of a future Odd Fellows museum.

The Grand Hall

The most impressive lodge hall in our House is surely the Grand Hall, with seating for nearly 200. It originally had a wooden ceiling, but after discussions with the fire authorities in the 1950s, it was replaced by the current gypsum ceiling, which has starlike lighting — the Northern skies — as well as a fluorescing group of constellations. On the walls the Charters of the brother Lodges, brother Encampments and Rebekah Encampments are all to be found. At the official dedication of the House on October 21, 1926, King Gustaf V was present, signing the Bible that thereafter was placed on the Chaplain’s rostrum. After being restored and rebound, the Bible was subsequently moved to a less vulnerable site.

On the ground floor, where the inner courtyard (with its stables, carriage sheds and storage sheds) once gave access to Kocksgränd Mews,  we now find the Banquet Hall and the Golden Room.

The Banquet Hall

The Banquet Hall is impressive, indeed, with its high ceiling and four magnificent chandeliers. They replaced the previous wrought-iron ones, one of which had come loose and fallen down — although fortunately no one was in the hall at that point. According to the original plans, the walls were to be covered with high wooden paneling, but this was not to be. On one side, there is a raised stage, while opposite it there are a row of pillars which mark the so-called Knights’ Gallery.

The Banquet Hall can seat up to 250 at a time. Its parquet floor has recently been sanded and refinished.

The Golden Room

The Golden Room, formerly called the Little Room, was rebuilt at the end of the 1990s, when it took on its current form. Brothers Gunnar Carnemyr (Brother Lodge 13) and Anders Hedenskog (Brother Lodge 121) were responsible for this wonderful metamorphosis. It can now serve 80, and is frequently subdivided into two rooms, via a moveable partition. It was renovated at Christmas time 2018, with new wallpaper and color scheme, thus acquiring its new name, the Golden Room.

The Terrace

Close to and above the Golden Room is the Terrace, which at first had openings into it. The Terrace has since been rebuilt into rooms for meetings, but even today can be used as an extra dining room whose low ceiling and Chinese wall hangings give it an intimate impression.

The Pillar Gallery

During summer 2010 glass partitions were placed between the Banquet Hall and the Knights’ Gallery, thus creating a new small dining hall. Thanks to its spectacular open fireplace at the end and its beautiful lighting and draperies, it creates an enticing impression, so that it has become very popular.

The Guest Dining Room

This small and intimate dining room, which seats 14, was created in 2007. It is often used for committee meetings, as well as for lunches.

The Bar

With its well-appointed rooms for socializing, the Bar is one of the most popular rooms, frequently visited by members. Here our House’s own champagne is only one of the items served.

Behind a heavy iron door a stone staircase from the 1600s leads down from what was the yard into the cellar of the street-facing house, to the so-called VAULT, whose rooms have served a number of purposes, such as kitchen pantry and furnace. Today, the restored Vault serves as yet another dining room , as well as for meetings, where its sofas and chairs produce a quite pleasant atmosphere.

Further into the depths of the cellar, we find ourselves facing the old 17th-century vault, with the original stone walls facing the street bordering the Royal Gardens. Ghosts? Why, naturally!