Gustav III of Sweden - Contributions To Culture

Contributions To Culture

Although he may be charged with many foibles and extravagances, Gustav III is regarded one of the leading sovereigns of the 18th century being fond of performing and visual arts as well as literature.

His historical essays, notably the famous anonymous eulogy on Lennart Torstenson crowned by the Swedish Academy, which he established in 1786, are full of feeling and exquisite in style, his letters to his friends are delightful. Every branch of literature and the arts interested him, every poet and artist of his day found in him a liberal and sympathetic protector.

Gustav was also active as a playwright. He is largely credited with creating the Royal Theatre, (Kungliga Teatern), where his own historical dramas were performed, and he promoted the careers of many native singers and actors, among them the dramatic stars Fredrique Löwen and Lars Hjortsberg and the operatic stars Elisabeth Olin and Christoffer Christian Karsten, by letting them perform in his plays or in his commissioned operas, respectively. In 1773 he founded the Royal Swedish Opera and the Royal Swedish Ballet, under the umbrella of his Royal Theatre (Kungliga Teatern). A new opera house was built in 1775 and inaugurated in 1782, connected to the Stockholm Palace by the Norrbro bridge. Until 1788 also Drama was performed in the opera house; Gustav III then founded a separate entity for drama, the Royal Dramatic Theatre with a new building behind the Royal Swedish Opera house.

He became a Freemason in 1780, and introduced the Rite of Strict Observance into Sweden. That year, he named his brother, the Duke of Södermanland (later Charles XIII), to the office of Grand Master for the Grand Lodge of Sweden. The Grand Lodge conferred upon him the title "Vicarius Salomonis" (Vicar of Solomon).