The Hotel That Gave ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ Its Name
The Hotel That Gave ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ Its Name  
Podcast: The Atlas Obscura Podcast
Published On: Wed Jul 29 2026
Description: “Stockholm Syndrome” is a term in pop psychology that’s come to mean situations where hostages develop emotional bonds with their captors. But it comes from an actual hostage situation back in the 1970s, when a botched bank robbery in downtown Stockholm turned into a six-day long stand-off between the would-be robbers and police. Today, the bank is a hotel – and you can still see evidence of this incident inside. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.