Jarnpojken (Iron Boy)

You are going to have to look carefully for this one, because Stockholm's most beloved resident is only fifteen centimetres tall. Tucked into a tiny courtyard behind the Finnish Church, sitting on a stone plinth with his knees pulled up to his chest, is Jarnpojken, the Iron Boy. His real name is actually Pojke som tittar pa manen, which means Boy Looking at the Moon. The sculptor, Liss Eriksson, created him in nineteen fifty-four, inspired by his own childhood memories of sitting on his bed during sleepless nights, staring up at the moon through his window. The statue was not installed until nineteen sixty-seven. Since then, something beautiful has happened. Stockholmers have adopted him. In winter, locals knit tiny scarves and hats and dress him up against the cold. In summer, someone might leave a tiny parasol. Nobody organises this. It just happens. Visitors rub his head for good luck, which is why the top of his skull is polished smooth and shiny while the rest of him is dark with patina. People leave coins at his feet like offerings to a very small god. Here is the lovely part. The Finnish Church next door collects all those coins and donates them to a fund for needy children in Finland. So this fifteen-centimetre statue, sitting alone in a courtyard, quietly raises money for kids. He has been doing it for decades. If you leave a coin, it actually goes somewhere good. He might be tiny, but he is probably the most generous thing in Gamla Stan. If you visit in winter, do not be surprised if he is wearing a little red scarf and a knitted cap. Someone out there is always looking after him.