Den Gyldene Freden
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Den gyldene freden (English: The Golden Peace) is a restaurant in the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. It's one of Sweden's most well-known restaurants and the oldest restaurant in the world to have the same surroundings which is noticed in the Guinness book of records. The surroundings and environment are more or less unchanged since the day the restaurant started in 1722 and it is a unique example of an 18th century tavern.
'Freden' as it's locally called received its name from the famous peace of Nystad in which Russia won the most provinces but strangely and to a great joy (hence the golden) let Sweden keep Finland.
It has gained its reputation and fame through songs written by the national poet/songwriter Carl Michael Bellman who lived in the end of the 18th century and Cornelis Vreeswijk, a famous songwriter in the 20th century.
Freden has during the centuries been a central place for many of Sweden's famous writers, painters and songwriters; most significant for its story is Anders Zorn because he bought Freden and saved it from shutting down in 1919.
The house hosting Freden is nowadays owned and thus secured for the future by The Swedish Academy. The academy, known for awarding the Nobel Prize in Literature, meets occasionally to eat lunch at Freden.
