500 Kronor 2016, Sweden
| in Krause book | Number: 73 |
| Years of issue: | 03.10.2016 (printed in 2015) |
| Edition: | |
| Signatures: | Susanne Eberstein, Stefan Ingves |
| Serie: | Kulturresan (2015-2016 Issue) |
| Specimen of: | 04.2012 |
| Material: | Cotton fiber |
| Size (mm): | 147 х 66 |
| Printer: | Tumba Bruk (Crane and Co.), Tumba, Sweden |
* All pictures marked 
are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.
** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.
Description
Watermark:
Birgit Nilsson. Denomination 500.
Avers:
The engraving on banknote is made after this photograph by official photographer of Swedish Royal Opera Enar Merkel Rydberg, which shows Birgit Nilsson in the role of Brünnhilde, taken in conjunction with a 1968 production of Richard Wagner's opera "Die Walküre".
"Die Walküre" ("The Valkyrie") is a music drama in three acts by Richard Wagner with a German libretto by the composer. It is the second of the four works that form Wagner's cycle "Der Ring des Nibelungen" ("The Ring of the Nibelung").
The story of Die Walküre is based on the Norse mythology told in the Volsunga Saga and the Poetic Edda. In Norse mythology, a valkyrie is one in a group of female figures who decide which soldiers die in battle and which live. Die Walküre's best-known excerpt is the "Ride of the Valkyries".
It received its premiere at the Königliches Hof- und National-Theater in Munich on 26 June 1870. Wagner originally intended the work to be premiered as part of the entire cycle, but was forced to allow the performance at the insistence of his patron King Ludwig II of Bavaria. It was first presented as part of the complete cycle on 14 August 1876 at Wagner's Bayreuth Festival. The work made its United States premiere at the Academy of Music in New York on 2 April 1877.
One can say, that Enar Merkel Rydberg is Sweden's, not to say the world's, most operative photographer. He worked as a photographer at the Royal Opera in Stockholm in 48 (!) Years - a hard-hit record.
Rydberg has worked under seven operas, photographed hundreds of opera sets and met all the great artists in the opera world: Birgit Nilsson, Jussi Björling, Benjamino Gigli, Nicolai Gedda... The list can be done long. His images were primarily intended for the press and the press, but the pictures have also been published on stamps and posters.
The portrait used on the new 500-kroner note was taken in 1968, in a studio at the Opera.
"- Birgit repeated Richard Wagner's Valkyrian and in a break she went to the studio for photography", explains Rydberg.
"-The pictures were taken with an old honorable Hasselblader and I would take about 25 exposures. After 10-15 minutes she said "Now you have so many pictures of me" and then the photography was over. I followed her entire career and we were good friends. Often she sent me letters from operas in different cities around the world. Of course, it is great, that now I can see my photo on the one of the new banknotes".
It is said, that Birgit learned to sing before she could walk and that she sang sometimes in sleep, throughout her life.
At Three years old, she began to take out melodies on a toy piano, which she received as the gift at the farm, in the village of Svenstad, in Skåne.
Birgit Nilsson (17 May 1918 – 25 December 2005) was a celebrated Swedish dramatic soprano who specialized in operatic works of Wagner and Richard Strauss, though she sang the operas of many other composers, including Verdi and Puccini. Her voice was noted for its overwhelming force, bountiful reserves of power, and the gleaming brilliance and clarity in the upper register. 
Right of the portrait of Birgit Nilsson is the image from a rehearsal of the first act of "Die Walküre" in scenographer Jan Brazda's production, 1968. Birgit Nilsson is seen in the role of Brünnhilde and Jerker Arvidson in the role of Wotan. Photograph by Enar Merkel Rydberg, former photographer at the Royal Swedish Opera.
Micro-text in Birgit Nilsson's hair - her opera roles.
"AGATHEAIDAAMELIAARIADNEBRÜNNHILDEDONNAANNA
ELEKTRAELETTRAELISABETHELSAFÄLTMARSKALKINNAN
FÄRGARFRUNISOLDEJUDITHLADYMACBETHLEONORELISA
MINNIEORTLINDEPENELOPEREZIASALOMESENTASIEGLINDE
SIGRUNTOSCATURANDOTURSULAVENUSWOGLINDE".
In English:
"Agathe, Aida, Amelia, Ariadne, Brünnhilde, Donna Anna, Elektra, Elettra, Elisabeth, Elsa, the Marschallin, the Dyer's Wife, Isolde, Judith, Lady Macbeth, Leonore, Lisa, Minnie, Ortlinde, Penelope, Rezia, Salome, Senta, Sieglinde, Sigrun, Tosca, Turandot, Ursula, Venus, Woglinde"
Micro-text near denomination 500, in lower right corner and on short sides of banknote: "SVERIGESRIKSBANK SVERIGESRIKSBANK SVERIGESRIKSBANK".
Denominations in numerals are in top left and lower right corners. In words at the top.
Revers:
The main image on banknote is the Øresund Bridge, which connecting Denmark and Sweden since 2000. It is located in lan Skåne, Sweden, where Birgit Nilsson used to grow up.
The Øresund/Öresund/Oresund Bridge (Danish: Øresundsbroen, Swedish: Öresundsbron, hybrid name: Øresundsbron) is a combined railway and motorway bridge across the Øresund strait between Sweden and Denmark. The bridge runs nearly 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the Swedish coast to the artificial island Peberholm in the middle of the strait. The crossing is completed by the 4 km. (2.5 mile) Drogden Tunnel from Peberholm to the Danish island of Amager.
The Øresund Bridge is the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe and connects two major metropolitan areas: Copenhagen, the Danish capital city, and the Swedish city of Malmö. It connects the road and rail networks of the Scandinavian Peninsula with those of Central and Western Europe. A data cable also makes the bridge the backbone of internet data transmission between central Europe and Sweden/Finland.
The international European route E20 crosses via road, the Oresund Line via railway. The construction of the Great Belt Fixed Link, connecting Zealand to Funen and thence to the Jutland Peninsula, and the Øresund Bridge have connected Central and Western Europe to Scandinavia by road and rail. The Øresund Bridge was designed by the Danish engineering firm COWI. The justification for the additional expenditure and complexity related to digging a tunnel for part of the way, rather than raising that section of the bridge, was to avoid interfering with air traffic from the nearby Copenhagen Airport, to provide a clear channel for ships in good weather or bad, and to prevent ice floes from blocking the strait. The Øresund Bridge crosses the border between Denmark and Sweden, but in accordance with the Schengen Agreement and the Nordic Passport Union, there are usually no passport inspections. There are random customs checks at the entrance toll booths entering Sweden, but not when entering Denmark. Since January 2016, checks have become significantly more stringent due to the European migrant crisis.
Construction began in 1995, with the bridge opening to traffic on 1 July 2000. The Øresund Bridge received the 2002 IABSE Outstanding Structure Award.
The concept of a bridge over the Øresund was first formally proposed in 1936 by a consortium of engineering firms who proposed a national motorway network for Denmark. The idea was dropped during World War II, but picked up again thereafter and studied in significant detail in various Danish-Swedish government commissions through the 1950s and 60s. However, disagreement existed regarding the placement and exact form of the link, with some arguing for a link at the narrowest point of the sound at Helsingør-Helsingborg, further north of Copenhagen, and some arguing for a more direct link from Copenhagen to Malmö. Additionally, some regional and local interests argued that other bridge and road projects, notably the unbuilt at that time Great Belt Fixed Link, should take priority. The governments of Denmark and Sweden eventually signed an agreement to build a fixed link in 1973. However, that project was cancelled in 1978 due to the economic situation, and growing environmental concerns. As the economic situation improved in the 1980s, interest continued and the governments signed a new agreement in 1991.
An OMEGA center report identified the following as primary motivations for construction of the bridge:
to improve transport links in northern Europe, from Hamburg to Oslo;
regional development around the Øresund as an answer to the intensifying globalisation process and Sweden's decision to apply for membership of the European Community;
connecting the two largest cities of the region, which were both experiencing economic difficulties; improving communications to Kastrup airport, the main flight transportation hub in the region.
A joint venture of Hochtief, Skanska, Højgaard & Schultz and Monberg & Thorsen, began construction of the bridge in 1995 and completed it 14 August 1999. Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden met midway across the bridge-tunnel on 14 August 1999 to celebrate its completion. The official dedication took place on 1 July 2000, with Queen Margrethe II, and King Carl XVI Gustaf as the host and hostess of the ceremony. Because of the death of nine people, including three Danes and three Swedes, at the Roskilde Festival the prior evening, the ceremony opened with a minute of silence.The bridge-tunnel opened for public traffic later that day. On 12 June 2000, two weeks before the dedication, 79,871 runners competed in Broloppet, a half marathon from Amager, Denmark, to Skåne, Sweden.
Despite two schedule setbacks – the discovery of 16 unexploded World War II bombs on the seafloor and an inadvertently skewed tunnel segment – the bridge-tunnel was finished three months ahead of schedule.
Although traffic between Denmark and Sweden increased by 61 percent in the first year after the bridge opened, traffic levels were not as high as expected, perhaps due to high tolls. However, since 2005, traffic levels have increased rapidly. This may be due to Danes buying homes in Sweden to take advantage of lower housing prices in Malmö and commuting to work in Denmark. In 2012, to cross by car cost DKK 310, SEK 375 or €43, with discounts of up to 75% available to regular users. In 2007, almost 25 million people travelled over the Øresund Bridge: 15.2 million by car and bus and 9.6 million by train. By 2009, the figure had risen to 35.6 million by car, coach or train.
In January 2016, amidst the European migrant crisis, Sweden was granted a temporary exemption from the Schengen Agreement in order to mandate that all travellers across the bridge had photographic proof of identity. A fine of SEK 50,000 would be the punishment for travel companies serving travellers without such identity documents. The move marked a break with 60 years of passport-free travel between the Nordic countries.
At the bottom is The ox-eye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare) as provincial flower of lan Skåne.
Leucanthemum vulgare, the ox-eye daisy, or oxeye daisy, is a widespread flowering plant native to Europe and the temperate regions of Asia and an introduced plant to North America, Australia and New Zealand. It is one of a number of family Asteraceae plants to be called a "daisy", and has the additional vernacular names common daisy, dog daisy and moon daisy.
L. vulgare is a typical grassland perennial wildflower, growing in a variety of plant communities including meadows and fields, under scrub and open-canopy forests, and in disturbed areas.
Leucanthemum is from the Ancient Greek λευκός (leukós, "white") and ἄνθος (ánthos, "flower"). Symbolic meaning of Oxeye daisy: Patience (Plant symbolism).
Map of Sweden with the province of Skåne marked, where Birgit Nilsson grew up on a farm on the peninsula of Bjäre.
Denominations in numerals are in top right and lower left corners. In words at the bottom.
Comments:
I got this banknote in Karlshamn, Sweden, at 6 of May 2017.
Banknote paper: Manufactured of cotton fibres that are not fluorescent, which is to say they do not emit any light under ultraviolet light (other types of paper may emit a bluish glow).
Banknote numbers: The letters indicate the year in which the banknote was printed. A = 2013, B = 2014 etc. The two first digits indicate where on the printing sheet the banknote was printed. The final seven digits are a serial number.
Safety features:
Vertical green security ribbon with three windows. The windows feature images that move and alternate motif between KR and a royal crown when you tilt the banknote. The placement of the security strip may vary by up to 2 cm.
Colour-shifting image linked to the person portrayed on the banknote, in this case a G-clef. The banknote's denomination, 500, is also shown in the image. The image and the denomination gradually change colour between gold and green when you tilt the banknote.
Intaglio print, which makes the paper feel like a banknote and gives it a noticeable raised surface. Run your thumb over it or scrape lightly with a fingernail. Intaglio printing has been used for the portrait, denominations and the text SVERIGESRIKSBANK.
Watermark with the banknote's denomination and portrait that are visible when you hold the banknote to the light. The denomination appears significantly lighter than the rest of the paper.
Security thread embedded in the banknote paper. Visible as a dark line when you hold the banknote up to the light.
A pattern that, together with a matching pattern on the reverse, forms the denomination when you hold the banknote to the light.
UV image (three crowns) that fluoresces (glows) yellow and blue under ultraviolet light. On reverse same feature has denomination 500 in square, but fluoresces (glows) green.
UV fibres spread across the entire banknote that fluoresce (glow) yellow and blue under ultraviolet light.
In spring 2011, the Riksbank announced a competition for the design of Sweden’s new banknotes. The competition was open to artists, graphic artists, designers and architects and was concluded in April 2012.
After a jury had assessed all entries, the General Council of the Riksbank decided to appoint Göran Österlund's entry Kulturresan (Cultural Journey) as winner. It thus formed the artistic base for the new banknotes.
The competition jury consisted of four members of the General Council of the Riksbank and two artistic experts. The General Council members were Peter Egardt (Chairman), Anders Karlsson, Sonia Karlsson and Allan Widman. The artistic experts were Jordi Arkö and Karin Granqvist.
The portraits on the banknotes were engraved by Gunnar Nehls. The composition of the banknotes was created by Crane AB's design team under the leadership of Karin Mörck Hamilton. The composition is based on the artistic starting point developed by Göran Österlund.
The main substances in Swedish banknotes are cotton (cellulose), synthetic polymers, such as polyester, water and titanium dioxide. The notes are printed using banknote printing inks on banknote paper. The paper is made from cotton fibres that contain various security features, such as security bands, an embedded security thread and invisible UV fluorescent fibres.
The printing inks for offset printing, intaglio, UV fluorescent printing and screen printing contain pigments (organic and inorganic), resin, mineral oils, vegetable oils, waxes (natural and synthetic) and drying agents (cobalt acetate).
The embedded security thread contains iron and aluminium, among other substances.
The banknotes also contain very small amounts of other additives that make the paper stronger. These include, for instance, CarboxyMethylCellulose, epichlorohydrin resin and N-Methyl-2-Pyrrolidone.
The banknotes have special details in intaglio print which makes it easier for visually-impaired people to tell them apart.
N-Methyl-2-Pyrrolidone is harmful in concentrated form but the banknotes contain very small quantities. According to investigations made by the Riksbank and the banknote supplier, there are no health risks in handling banknotes.
The submission proposed providing the banknotes with GPS coordinates and so-called QR Codes. However, the jury deems that this proposal is neither practical nor appropriate from a security standpoint, and thus assumes that it will not be realized. (www.riksbank.se)
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