Nalen is a truly unique venue. It has been carefully renovated to preserve all of its original charm while being adapted for modern concerts, parties, and conferences. At Nalen, the new meets the old, the grand meets the intimate.

Nalen is a subsidiary of SAMI – the Swedish Performing Artists and Musicians’ Association. Every year, Nalen hosts over a hundred concerts and club events, featuring everything from established Swedish and international artists to emerging talents who get the opportunity to reach a larger audience.

Beyond music, Nalen is a meeting place with conference rooms, event spaces, and its own restaurant – a Swedish bistro with a Nordic Swan Ecolabel kitchen that prepares meals for conferences and banquets. Nalen is a well-established player in Stockholm's event industry, collaborating with major booking agencies and event organisers.

Nalen is one of Sweden's oldest and most influential cultural venues, with a rich and fascinating history – a history that quite literally remains embedded in its walls.

Nalen, also known as the National Palace, was built in 1886–87 based on the designs of architect Gustaf Adolf Fristedt for the Order of Unity and Friendship. From 1888, Nalen housed restaurants and hosted public events such as cycling schools, Christmas parties, bazaars, political meetings, and sports events.

"A second home for many restless children"

In the 1930s, Gustaf Topsy Lindblom took over, ushering in Nalen’s grand jazz era. Until the late 1960s, Nalen was one of Sweden’s largest cultural venues, with dance, music, and all kinds of events where people from all over the world gathered. Nalen attracted older teenagers and young adults in large numbers, but also welcomed adults of all ages.

Under Topsy’s leadership, artist Erik Hermansson painted several murals in Nalen’s premises, which can still be seen today. These murals depict famous jazz musicians, the era's top athletes, as well as satirical and imaginative figures – images that were then seen as both tributes and explorations of the "exotic" and "foreign." Today, many of these motifs are recognised as examples of exoticism and racism.

Nalen was the place where "everything happens and much takes place" until 1967, when the venue closed, and the Lewi Pethrus Foundation was offered a demolition contract to run a rehabilitation centre and a warming shelter in the building.

In the 1973 song "Balladen om Nalen" (The Ballad of Nalen), Lalla Hansson sings of Nalen as "the house he remembers" and "a second home for many restless children," following the decision to demolish the building.

But ten years later, the foundation had purchased Nalen, and the planned demolition turned into an expensive renovation. The foundation had its headquarters at Nalen until 1997 when it went bankrupt, and the Swedish Performing Artists and Musicians’ Association (SAMI) purchased the building a year later. In 1998, Nalen was once again opened to the public, featuring a restaurant, banquet halls, clubs, bars, and meeting rooms.

Read more about SAMI at sami.se.

Today, the operations are managed by Nalen Events & Conferences AB, a wholly owned subsidiary of SAMI, with the mission of bringing the historic cultural venue to life. Each year, more than 100 concerts and club events are held, while the palace-like setting also hosts parties, meetings, and conferences.

At the corner of the building, you’ll find Nalen Restaurant, a Swedish bistro and neighbourhood eatery that serves a popular lunch menu daily and an à la carte menu in the evenings.