Where Stockholm Syndrome was born

On August 23, 1973, what began as a routine morning at Kreditbanken on Norrmalmstorg in central Stockholm turned into one of the most infamous hostage situations in history.

Jan-Erik Olsson, a convicted criminal on temporary leave from prison, entered the bank armed with a submachine gun. Firing shots into the ceiling, he announced, “The party has just begun.” Within minutes, chaos erupted as he took four bank employees—three women and one man—hostage.

Olsson demanded money, weapons, and safe passage out of the bank. In a bold move, he also requested that his old prison friend, Clark Olofsson, be brought to the scene. Authorities complied, hoping Olofsson might help calm the situation, but instead the two men barricaded themselves inside with the hostages.

For six tense days, the standoff gripped Sweden and the world. Police drilled holes into the bank’s walls to communicate and deliver supplies, while the hostages remained trapped in the vault. What shocked observers most was not just the endurance of the captives, but their shifting emotions. As the hours stretched into days, the hostages began to identify with their captors, expressing fear of the police rather than the robbers.

When the siege finally ended on August 28, the hostages emerged alive—and astonishingly, defended Olsson and Olofsson. They refused to testify against them in court and even raised money for their legal defense.

This strange psychological phenomenon, where victims form emotional bonds with their captors, soon became known worldwide as Stockholm syndrome, forever linking the city’s name to the event.

Today, the former Kreditbanken building has been transformed. It houses a hotel and an upscale restaurant. Yet traces of that dramatic week in 1973 remain—inside the hotel, visitors can still spot the boreholes drilled by police snipers more than 50 years ago.

From a botched robbery to a global term in psychology, the story of Stockholm syndrome is a reminder that even the most ordinary places can carry extraordinary histories.