It is over a year since the show restaurant at Kungsträdgården in Stockholm was forced to close, largely due to the high rent costs undermining the economy. Now the entertainment palace is making a new attempt where the main focus will no longer be on restaurant shows but on concerts and other live events gathered under the brand Börsen Live.
This will become an arena for all generations seven days a week and my personal mission is that it will annually provide 1,000 to 1,500 cultural work opportunities, says Mikael Gordon Solfors, CEO of Wallmans Group Nordic where Hamburger Börs is now included.
Adapted premises
The past few months have been spent adapting the premises in collaboration with the property owner Vasakronan.
We should be able to go from a comedy show with seated audience to a rock concert with The Hellacopters in one day. Then 800 chairs need to be carried away somewhere and that is the infrastructure we have worked intensively with, says Mikael Gordon Solfors.
Already from November 10, the arena for concerts, clubs, comedy, shows, and entertainment will be ready with a capacity of 1,300 visitors.
Stockholm needs an event arena in the middle of the city. When I was young, there were 20-25 live arenas, today there are hardly any. Stockholm has been affected by a stage death over the past ten years, says Mikael Gordon Solfors.
Proud history
The news last autumn that Hamburger Börs would close stirred up strong emotions in the entertainment industry and in a petition, over 30 renowned Swedish entertainment profiles appealed for "Börsen" to be saved.
"A meeting place where thousands and thousands of people, both Stockholmers and visiting guests from all over Sweden, have been able to laugh, dance, and enjoy good food and drink, will reasonably leave a large void", wrote, among others, Helen Sjöholm, Tommy Körberg, Danny Saucedo, Björn Skifs, and Pernilla Wahlgren.
We carry an incredibly proud history with over 250 years of national and international quality entertainment and that pride we need to take forward into the future and that's why we create Börsen Live, says Mikael Gordon Solfors.
In the premises on Jakobsgatan next to Kungsträdgården in Stockholm, restaurant operations have been conducted since the mid-18th century. From 1811 under the name Hamburger Börs.
An anecdote says that the name comes from a restaurateur who hung up a sign with Hamburg's city coat of arms over the entrance to the cellar.
In 1981, the business changed its name to Börsen, to again become Hamburger Börs from 1996.
The entertainment palace has been home to restaurant shows and concerts with artists such as Lill Lindfors, Monica Zetterlund, Povel Ramel, Cornelis Vreeswijk, Björn Skifs, Lill-Babs, Lena Philipsson, and Jerry Williams, as well as foreign guests such as Sammy Davis Jr, Jerry Lewis, Chaka Khan, Liza Minnelli, U2, Depeche Mode, Johnny Cash, and Frank Sinatra.
