Ludvika Town Hall
Encyclopedia
Ludvika Town Hall is the official Municipal Council
building for the City of Ludvika
in Dalarna County
, Sweden
. Situated centrally, the town hall is found in the corner of Bangatan and Dan Andersson
s gata, opposite Ludvika Ulrica, the local parish church. The town hall was designed in 1934 by architect Cyrillus Johansson, (city architect 1931-1941), with construction commencing in 1936. The building was completed in 1938 and remains in use as town hall to this day. Due to the small size of the building, the Municipal Council no longer convenes its meetings in the building but uses the local Peoples' House (Swedish
: Folkets Hus) instead.
, to his town hall design - one of three official buildings he designed for the municipality
. The west facing tetrastyle portico is in fact a folly
with the entrance off-set to the south-facing west corner. Sculptured in brick above each of the first floor windows are mural crown
s proclaiming the then City's Royal Charter (1919-1971). The building compromises of four floors with a square clock tower
rising centre above the ridged verdigris
copper roof. Giving the four columns of the portico a closer scrutiny will reveal a dog pattern in the tiled medallions - these were made by the builders in honour of their mascot, a stray they called Stella, who also stands immortalised as a statue in the town hall garden. The forecourt, located by the west gavel, is layered with large slate tiles on a bed of gravel long over-grown with grass.
copper column resting on the tower's square base. On top of the clock's roof stands the open-to-air bell tower
surrounded by a circle of eight copper pillars and a single bell hangs within. The bell tower is crowned with a circular copper roof upon which a copper spire rises with a dragon-head weather wane, also in copper. The turret clock
(mechanism) was manufactured by Linderoths Urverk (Stockholm
) in 1937 and after face design and adjustment by Stefan Anderson
was installed in 1938. All four dials and the bell were driven from the same mechanism. In 1976, the town council appointed local watchmaker
Karl-Arne Carlsson from Grängesberg
as the town's first official Timekeeper
, responsible for maintaining the Town Hall Clock. In late 2004 the mechanical turret clock was retired together with its keeper, and replaced with a self-maintaining digital timepiece controlling five independent electrical mechanisms, one for each dial and the bell.
Ludvika Municipality
Ludvika Municipality is a municipality in Dalarna County, central Sweden. It has its seat in the town of Ludvika.In 1971 the City of Ludvika was amalgamated with the adjacent municipalities of Grangärde and Säfsnäs, forming the present entity.- Localities :Figures as of 2004.#Ludvika ...
building for the City of Ludvika
Ludvika
Ludvika is a bimunicipal locality and the seat of Ludvika Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden, with 14,018 inhabitants in 2005.-Overview:The conurbation of Ludvika extends over the border of Smedjebacken Municipality, where about 400 inhabitants live....
in Dalarna County
Dalarna County
Dalarna County is a county or län in middle Sweden. It borders the counties of Jämtland, Gävleborg, Västmanland, Örebro and Värmland. It is also bordered by the Norwegian counties of Hedmark and Sør-Trøndelag in the west...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. Situated centrally, the town hall is found in the corner of Bangatan and Dan Andersson
Dan Andersson
Daniel "Dan" Andersson was a Swedish author and poet. He also set some of his own poems to music. Andersson married primary school teacher Olga Turesson, the sister of artist Gunnar Turesson, in 1918...
s gata, opposite Ludvika Ulrica, the local parish church. The town hall was designed in 1934 by architect Cyrillus Johansson, (city architect 1931-1941), with construction commencing in 1936. The building was completed in 1938 and remains in use as town hall to this day. Due to the small size of the building, the Municipal Council no longer convenes its meetings in the building but uses the local Peoples' House (Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
: Folkets Hus) instead.
Exterior
A student of National Romanticism architecture, Cyrillus Johansson applied a restrained form of Brick ExpressionismBrick Expressionism
The term Brick Expressionism describes a specific variant of expressionist architecture that uses bricks, tiles or clinker bricks as the main visible building material...
, to his town hall design - one of three official buildings he designed for the municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
. The west facing tetrastyle portico is in fact a folly
Folly
In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting by its appearance some other purpose, or merely so extravagant that it transcends the normal range of garden ornaments or other class of building to which it belongs...
with the entrance off-set to the south-facing west corner. Sculptured in brick above each of the first floor windows are mural crown
Mural crown
-Usage in ancient times:In Hellenistic culture, a mural crown identified the goddess Tyche, the embodiment of the fortune of a city, familiar to Romans as Fortuna...
s proclaiming the then City's Royal Charter (1919-1971). The building compromises of four floors with a square clock tower
Clock tower
A clock tower is a tower specifically built with one or more clock faces. Clock towers can be either freestanding or part of a church or municipal building such as a town hall. Some clock towers are not true clock towers having had their clock faces added to an already existing building...
rising centre above the ridged verdigris
Verdigris
Verdigris is the common name for a green pigment obtained through the application of acetic acid to copper plates or the natural patina formed when copper, brass or bronze is weathered and exposed to air or seawater over a period of time. It is usually a basic copper carbonate, but near the sea...
copper roof. Giving the four columns of the portico a closer scrutiny will reveal a dog pattern in the tiled medallions - these were made by the builders in honour of their mascot, a stray they called Stella, who also stands immortalised as a statue in the town hall garden. The forecourt, located by the west gavel, is layered with large slate tiles on a bed of gravel long over-grown with grass.
Clock Tower
As the middle section of the clock tower, where the dials are, is narrower than the base on which it stands and its roof above, the tower's square ridged copper roof has four overhanging eaves, each of which are supported by an exposed, exoskeletonExoskeleton
An exoskeleton is the external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to the internal skeleton of, for example, a human. In popular usage, some of the larger kinds of exoskeletons are known as "shells". Examples of exoskeleton animals include insects such as grasshoppers...
copper column resting on the tower's square base. On top of the clock's roof stands the open-to-air bell tower
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
surrounded by a circle of eight copper pillars and a single bell hangs within. The bell tower is crowned with a circular copper roof upon which a copper spire rises with a dragon-head weather wane, also in copper. The turret clock
Turret clock
A Turret clock is a clock mounted in a tower or turret, usually to show the current time on a dial with hand or to announce the time by strike, or both. It can also have more than one dial to show days, moon phases, and other astronomical data.-Sundials:...
(mechanism) was manufactured by Linderoths Urverk (Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
) in 1937 and after face design and adjustment by Stefan Anderson
Stefan Anderson
Knut Stefan Anderson was a Swedish industrialist, journalist and master craftsman watchmaker decorated with badges of chivalric orders by the Kings of Sweden, Denmark and Norway and the President of Finland.He published articles and a whole series of trade papers, often using the pseudonym...
was installed in 1938. All four dials and the bell were driven from the same mechanism. In 1976, the town council appointed local watchmaker
Watchmaker
A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since virtually all watches are now factory made, most modern watchmakers solely repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their parts, by hand...
Karl-Arne Carlsson from Grängesberg
Grängesberg
Grängesberg is a locality situated in Ludvika Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden with 3,532 inhabitants in 2005.The town was earlier dominated by iron-ore extraction at Grängesberg ore field from the 16th century to 1989...
as the town's first official Timekeeper
Timekeeper
A timekeeper is an instrument or person that measures the passage of time; in the case of the latter, often with the assistance of a clock or stopwatch...
, responsible for maintaining the Town Hall Clock. In late 2004 the mechanical turret clock was retired together with its keeper, and replaced with a self-maintaining digital timepiece controlling five independent electrical mechanisms, one for each dial and the bell.