The illegitimate son's namesake

Hessensteinska palatset stands on Birger Jarls torg as a sturdy example of Baroque architecture. While it looks established today, its history began in the 1630s as a smaller castle for Bengt Bengtsson Oxenstierna. It was his successor, Bengt Gabrielsson Oxenstierna, who gave the building its current character, commissioning a major remodel around 1680 likely following designs by Nicodemus Tessin.

The palace was a place where the widowed Queen Hedvig Eleonora spent the night after the castle fire of 1697. It later became a residence for Hedvig Taube, the mistress of Fredrik I. When she died, the property passed to her illegitimate son, Fredrik Vilhelm von Hessenstein, who is the man whose name the palace now carries.

By the 18th century, the building shifted from a private residence to a space for political life. It was rented by the diplomat Carl Gustaf Tessin during the long years of the reconstruction of Stockholm Palace. For much of the 19th and 20th centuries, it moved away from private ownership, housing Riksgäldskontoret from 1835 to 1906, and later Socialstyrelsen until 1965.

Today, the building remains a piece of active history. Following a major restoration in 1983 that recovered many of its 17th and 18th-century interiors, it serves as the headquarters for Svea hovrätt.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons