Nobis Hotel is furnished in a timelessly modern and elegant style by the architect trio Claesson Koivisto Rune. The interior effectively contrasts with the magnificent, culturally protected original interiors of both buildings from the late 19th century, both serving as splendid examples of Stockholm's unique, high-quality, richly decorated bourgeois stone architecture. Both buildings are steeped in Stockholm's history.
Stockholm Syndrome has become a world-renowned phenomenon where hostages develop sympathy for or identify with their captors. On a summer day in August 1973, four employees of Kreditbanken at Norrmalmstorg, now Nobis Hotel, were taken hostage. This infamous bank drama held Sweden captive for nearly six days. At 10 AM on August 23, the robber Jan Erik Olsson entered Svenska Kreditbanken's Norrmalmstorg branch. He fired a pistol into the ceiling and took three women and one man, all bank employees, hostage. When the police arrived, the robber demanded three million Swedish kronor in cash and the release of inmate Clark Olofsson from Norrköping Prison. The government agreed to his demands but refused when the robber insisted on free passage with his hostages. The robber had barricaded himself in the bank vault with the bank employees. When negotiations between the robber and the police yielded no results, the police decided to gas out the robber. As the police drilled holes in the vault ceiling and released the gas, the robber immediately surrendered. The hostages were rescued, and the drama concluded after 130 hours. Today, the drill holes are filled but remain visible inside Nobis Hotel.
Until the mid-19th century, what is now Norrmalmstorg was known as Packartorget. It was a rather disreputable and highly malodorous place where fishermen brought their daily catch to be inspected and repacked in the Packarhuset, and where criminals and other unfortunates were punished with instruments such as the pillory and the stocks. The square was located at the mouth of Nybroviken, which, due to land uplift, had transformed into a foul-smelling, disease-spreading marsh called Katthavet. During the 1850s, the marsh was filled in and Berzelii Park was established. In 1853, the square was renamed Norrmalmstorg. In Albert Lindhagen's new city plan from 1866, Norrmalmstorg became the central hub of the growing royal capital's most prominent thoroughfare. From here, the shopping boulevard Hamngatan extended, which in the east led to Nybroplan and the emerging Strandvägen, Stockholm's most prestigious address.
In the 1890s, Albert Jones Grill Restaurant was located at the corner of Hamngatan. Grilled meat was a novelty in the restaurant industry. It became popular for idle young gentlemen, known as 'grilljannar,' to frequent Jones. Subsequently, restaurants such as 'Gillestugan vid Norrmalmstorg' and 'Blå Grottan på Capri' emerged, but the most notable was Restaurant Metropol, which became a gathering place for writers, artists, and actors. Metropol closed in 1917 when the building was slated for demolition and replacement by a bank palace. Metropol reappeared again in 1926-1927 at the corner of Sveavägen/Odengatan.
