One of Sweden’s oldest (initial) neon signs is without a doubt the NK Clock in Stockholm’s Stureplan district.

Constructed in 1939 for the NK (Nordiska Kompaniet) department store, the NK clock has become a permanent fixture of Stockholm’s cityscape since then. It was built by Ingenjörsfirman Technology ASEA with the participation of Ruben Morne, a lighting engineer who was quickly becoming Sweden’s “neon champion” at that point in time.

At one time, the clock was officially Europe’s largest rotating plate. Since its creation, it has been switched off two times: In 1953 when the telephone tower on which it was initially installed was demolished, and in 1983 when the clock underwent renovation.

In 2012, the NK Clock’s neon tubes were replaced with LED lighting.

The NK clock has been an icon of Stockholm for nearly eight decades now!

Links:

• https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/NK-klockan (The NK Clock at Swedish Wikipedia.)
• http://www.avblixten.info/e/esnas31sap751uzx.html (A webpage devoted to Sweden’s neon signs.)

(Image copyright: Holger.Ellgaard. Used via Wikimedia Commons per CC Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.)