Press release
15 August 2012
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Inauguration of Raoul Wallenberg memorial outside the Ministry for Foreign Affairs
A new memorial to Raoul Wallenberg will be inaugurated outside the Prince Royal's Palace at Gustav Adolfs Torg on 16 August, almost two weeks following the 100th anniversary of his birth.
Time and place
Place: Gustav Adolfs Torg 1
Time: 19.00
Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt will speak, as will Stockholm City Commissioner for Culture and Real Estate Madeleine Sjöstedt (Liberal Party). Raoul Wallenberg's sister Nina Lagergren will also participate in the ceremony.
The sculpture was designed by artists Ulla and Gustav Kraitz, who also created the Wallenberg monument outside the UN in New York. The memorial consists of a bench made of black diabase with a briefcase of bronze placed diagonally on top. The bench has a text about Raoul Wallenberg engraved on its side.
"It is natural to have a memorial to Raoul Wallenberg just outside the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, where he was formally employed," says Olle Wästberg, the Government's coordinator for Raoul Wallenberg Year. The monument has been realised thanks to the generosity of Marcus Storch and the helpfulness of the City of Stockholm and the National Property Board. This is the 34th memorial to Raoul Wallenberg.
"It suits the site very well and enriches Gustav Adolfs Torg. It may well become one of Stockholm's much-loved sculptures," says Ms Sjöstedt.
The inauguration ceremony is a partnership between the City of Stockholm, Stockholm cultural services and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
