During the past 50 years Skövde has changed a lot, and this becomes very clear when you look at old photographs – sometimes it even feels as if you are in an entirely different city! A town has to change to develop, and sometimes that means that some buildings must be torn down to leave space for new ones. When it comes to Skövde, after working with this series and looking at an infinite number of old pictures, I think that way too many houses were allowed to decay and become a victim for the excavators.
Anna Warner
In the 1850’s a new large hotel was built in Skövde. The arrival of the railway was estimated to increase the number of guests who visited the small town that at the time only had about 1500 inhabitants.
The hotel was situated where the Cultural Center is today, and when you are standing in the foyer of the cultural center you would be standing in the entrance of the old hotel. The street in front of the hotel no longer exists. In 1887-1888 Hotel Billingen was built. You can catch a glimpse of it behind Sköfde Hotel!
Källa: Småstadsliv på 1800-talet av Gunnar Linde samt Skövde av Eric Uggla