Norra Vallgatan 64
in Malmö

Norra Vallgatan 64 i Malmö — Norra Vallgatan 64

Three Iconic Canal-Side Buildings

These three buildings are best admired from the opposite side of the canal. At just the right distance, you can see them presented as a spectacular architectural triptych. The Savoy Hotel, crowned by its distinctive tower, lines Hamngatan leading toward Stortorget. The beautiful yellow house (IDstory) is the oldest. In the center stands one of Malmö’s grandest buildings, where the flourishes of stucco are worth a closer look. Discover more about its history ↓

Ownership Information

Vacant premises
Contact Tel. 040 - 611 34 00
Owner: Fastighets AB Trianon

The Skåne Palace

This building is often called the Skåne Palace, both because the Skåne Insurance Company built and had offices here, and for its undeniably regal appearance with countless stucco ornaments and details. What is she holding in her hand? Discover more about the decorations ↓

Interiors

A hundred years ago, visitors could step inside this elegant space to handle their insurance matters. pt-30 door, clerks worked in long rows. What does the room look like today? Have the ceiling panels disappeared, the columns been covered, and the chandeliers replaced by spotlights? See more of the interior ↓

Views from Malmö’s Old Shoreline

For years, Norra Vallgatan marked the edge of the sea. Come up to the fifth floor ↓

Norra Vallgatan 64 c:a 1905 — Circa 1905. Courtesy of Centrum för Näringslivshistoria. Sky by IDstories.se

A Canal-Side Gem

Nowadays, ships need to be smaller and de-masted to dock outside Vallgatan 64. In the mid-1800s, the Western Canal Harbor was about 4 meters deep – perfect for schooners and small steamships calling at this central pier.

Savoy Hotel, just left of Norra Vallgatan 64, hadn’t yet been built in those days. It was still called Horn Hotel, famously described in Frithiof Nilsson Piraten’s classic “Bock i Örtagård” for its legendary feasts. Nor had the statue of Frans Suell – sculpted in 1915 to honor the initiator of Malmö’s first real harbor – been erected to the right of the building.

This house was designed by two renowned Skåne architects: Alfred Arwidius and Fredrik Sundbärg ↗ svW, who later became city architect of Landskrona. It’s a twist of fate that his successor, Frans Ekelund, would redesign what is now Hotel Savoy.

Unlike today’s prefabricated concrete structures, a house from the turn of the last century was faced with Bohus granite in bold, baroque-inspired high renaissance style, with soaring towers and unusually rich ornamental stucco. Yet, behind the heroic reliefs – see photo below – there’s surprising “modernity” in the form of reinforced concrete. This innovation, according to French sources, was invented in 1879 by François Hennebique ↗ enW.

A Portal with Distinction

Imagine Malmö in 1914. The Baltic Exhibition is about to open. Celebrations are still uninterrupted by the fateful events in Sarajevo, and guests from all over Europe and Russia arrive by boat or train at Malmö Harbor.

They admire canals lined with boats, elegant Hotel Savoy, the expanded Hamngatan (IDstory), and this majestic gateway as they arrive at Stortorget (IDstory).

Is Stucco Still Visible?

Nowadays, stucco and ornamentation aren’t considered markers of power, style, or boldness. Instead, these artistic details tend to blend into the background, rarely drawing the eyes. Should we paint them blue? Perhaps not!

Norra Vallgatan 64 boasts many figures worth a closer look. Before rushing on, note that at least one holds an hourglass – a reminder of life’s transience. Sic transit gloria mundi – “thus passes the glory of the world” – as the famous Latin saying goes.

Hamngatan to the left hadn’t yet been widened, and Hotel Savoy was not yet renovated.

Norra Vallgatan 3 — Norra Vallgatan 64 seen from Frans Suellsgatan

Expressive faces carved in stone

More History

The year 1904 is inscribed on the facade. A year later, the first owner moved in – the Skåne Insurance Company. Its full name: Brand- och Lifförsäkrings Aktiebolaget Skåne. Founded in 1884, the business had grown rapidly and needed additional office space.

Related insurance companies – Malmö and Aurora – also moved into the building. Today, these would be best known under the united brand Skåne. The companies were eventually merged into Skandia, which owned the building until 1999.

Locals often called the house the Skåne Palace.

The block is named Mercurius, after the Roman god of commerce – fitting as Frans Suell’s statue stands below, honoring the city’s commercial legacy.

Early in the 20th century, Café Continental occupied the corner of Hamngatan and Norra Vallgatan. If you have a photo of its interior, let us know! The café was run by Fritz Lendrop; his son Lars Lendrop later ran both the Savoy across the street and Kockska Kroger, just around the corner and a stone’s throw away.

Parta tuere. Memento mori

This inscription appears on several plaques in the entrance and facade. It was also found on insurance documents, alongside a fine logo featuring an eagle clutching a banner with the Latin text. (Thanks, Jon Westergren.)

What does it mean? According to “Boken på Malmös fasader,” it’s roughly translated as Care for your possessions, remember you must die.

My three semesters of Latin don’t suffice to truly explain the motto. Thanks to correspondence with Professor Anders Piltz at Lund University, I’ve learned the following:

The lines come from a prayer book written by Anglican churchman Ambrose Bonwicke ↗ enW (1655–1722), with the translation provided by Anders Piltz. Our motto is in the final line.

Fide Deo, dic saepe preces, peccare caveto,

Trust in God, pray often, beware of sin,

Sis humilis, pacem dilige, magna fuge.

Be humble, love peace, avoid grandeur.

Multa audi, dic pauca, tace abdita, scito minori

Listen much, say little, keep secrets, know your position.

Parcere, maiori cedere, ferre parem.

Be kind to those beneath you, defer to those above, endure your equal.

Propria fac, persolve fidem, sis aequus egenis,

Mind your own, be faithful, treat the poor fairly,

Parta tuere, pati disce, memento mori.

Care for your property, learn to endure, remember you must die.

It’s fascinating to consider why these lines were chosen for this particular building. Since the motto is featured several times, especially at the entrance, there was likely a wish to communicate a deeper message. But to whom? And what exactly was the message?

The company that built the house specialized in fire and life insurance. Perhaps the motto was meant as a moral call to customers – but how many of them could read Latin?

Norra Vallgatan 64 — Circa 1905. Courtesy of Centrum för Näringslivshistoria.

Norra Vallgatan 64 2007 — Same room as above. 2007. Photo JS/IDstories.

The Same Room?

The columns and door to the left are easy to recognize. The light blue walls may be painted plasterboard panels over the old woodwork. The photo has been slightly retouched.

Stairs or Elevator?

Older buildings with both stairs and an elevator offer a choice: squeeze into a tight lift with an interior that hardly matches the building’s grandeur, or enjoy a refreshing walk up with elegant windows as your companions. Now let’s head up to the top floors for views over the harbor and the Öresund.

Malmö Börshus takes center stage. To the left, Malmö University’s rector’s office; to the right, the Central Station. The bridge to the right is called Mälarbron. Built as a drawbridge in 1841, converted to a swing-and bascule bridge in 1865, and made permanent in 1914 for the Baltic Exhibition. Designed by Harald Boklund, renovated in 2002.