A light-flooded summer dream or a cozy winter fairy tale: Stockholm's Old Town with its orange, red and yellow houses makes such an enchanted impression that you would almost expect to see trolls and elves pop up out of nowhere.
German author Kurt Tucholsky said in his novella "Castle Gripsholm": "Stockholm is beautiful. Towns on the water are always beautiful." That, in a nutshell, is a perfect simple description of the city. Stockholm is one of the numerous cities nicknamed "Venice of the North", and it definitely deserves it: about 30% of the urban area are covered in water. 24,000 small islands - the Stockholm Archipelago - and numerous bridges dominate the townscape. There is heavy industry, so the "little island of tree trunks" (the literal translation of "Stockholm") is one of the world's cleanest cities. Stockholm and the Swedes are almost too good to be true: keen on exemplary environmental protection, child-friendly, emanicapted, social and a perfect role model for hospitality and tolerance. There is no other European country that, in proportion to its population, accepts that many asylum seekers and war refugees. 15% of Stockholm's population are immigrants. They have contributed a lot to the city's development in recent years: the Capital of the North became one of the most dynamic and diverse cities in Europe.
