View on Stockholm's Gamla Stan on the banks of the Norrström, 1880 and today. On the left you can see Stockholm Castle, the Swedish royal residence. To the right of it is the Riksdag building, which has been standing since 1904, so construction had not yet begun at the time of the old photo. On the far right is the Arvfurstens palats, which was originally built for the sister of King Gustaf III and which today serves as the seat of the Swedish Foreign Minister.

The ship is the SS Vega, built in Bremerhaven in 1872. It is the first ship to sail the Northeast Passage in the Arctic Ocean and the first to sail around the Eurasian continent. Here you can see the Vega during its stopover in Stockholm, returning from the Polar Sea expedition. Today, tourist cruise ships often dock here.