Stockholm, being the capital of Sweden, has been the birthplace of the Swedish labour movement, including Landsorganisationen (LO) and the Social Democratic Party. Since Sweden had universal suffrage in the 1920s, the Social Democrats have been in govermenr for most of the time, with a notable streak from 1932 from 1976 (with a grand coalition during World War II). As of the 21st century, the party has lost their dominant role, but remains the largest party in the Swedish parliament.

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Destinations

• 1 Norra bantorget. From 1902 to 1940, the gathering place for May Day protests. The park has several monuments for politicians and activists; August Palm, Anna Sterk, Hjalmar Branting, and Olof Palme.  
• 2 LO-borgen. This building is the headquarters of LO since 1926.  

Thulehuset is the building at Sveavägen 44, and the end of this tour. In the right street corner, Prime Minister Olof Palme was assassinated in 1986. The building has hosted Klarna and King Digital Entertainment, some of Sweden's most famous tech startups, and trendy food retailer Urban Deli has both a store and a rooftop bar.

• 3 Olof Palme assassination scene (Skandiahuset), Sveavägen 42. On February 28, 1986, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme and his wife Lisbeth went home from cinema. An unknown man came up behind Palme, shot him to immediate death with a revolver, and escaped along Tunnelgatan. The police and the government led several failed investigations, creating a chain of top-level political scandals. As Palme was famous in international politics, outspoken against political oppression abroad and criticized at home, the suspects included South African spies, the Kurdish resistance movement, and the police themselves. In 1989, the lone criminal Christer Pettersson was found guilty by the Stockholm City court. The Svea Court of Appeal later found reasonable doubt, and acquitted him. In June 2020, the police close the case by settling for a new suspect: graphic designer Stig Engström (dead since 2000), who worked for the Skandia insurance company in the building at the murder scene.  
• 4 Adolf Fredrik's church (Adolf Fredriks kyrka), Holländargatan 16. A church named for King Adolf Fredrik (reigning 1751-1771), was built in 1768-1774. The style is Gustavian (Neoclassical) with elements of rococo. The church has a monument to the philosopher René Descartes, who spent his last years in Stockholm tutoring Queen Kristina, until dying of pneumonia. Prime Minister Olof Palme is buried in the cemetery, just south of the church building.  

Go next

• Stockholm environmentalist tour, for the green movement, which has been cooperating and at odds with the Social Democrats and the unions
• 1 Grand Hotel Saltsjöbaden (Stockholm archipelago, Sweden). A Grand Old Hotel, remembered in Swedish history for the 1938 Saltsjöbaden Agreement, Saltsjöbadsavtalet, an agreement between employers and unions to ensure peace on the labour market. Since that year, most workplaces in Sweden have had collective bargains, and strikes have been few and far between.