A Brief History of Berghs | Berghs School of Communication

Ever since it was founded nearly seventy years ago, Berghs has been at the forefront of education within the Swedish advertising and communication industry. Its constant evolution and effort to remain a leading school in advertising has pushed it to spearhead some of the most important developments within the industry.

In 1941 Gösta Bergh and his wife Irma established The Technical School of Advertising (Reklamtekniska Skolan). The first twelve students were taught decorative arts, design, life drawing, and illustration for fashion ads. The school also offered a one-year course for advertising assistants. The first student exhibition was a major success, and was largely echoed in the press and sparked excitement in the industry. In 1945 the school was granted state financing by King Gustav V. The name was then changed to Berghs School of Advertising.

Photo below: Gösta and Irma Bergh surrounded by teachers and students. Gösta is the tall, bespectacled gentleman in the middle, with Irma just in front.

In 1950 Berghs’ first crop of advertising consultants received their Professional Diplomas, and during the following decade ”Berghs Diploma” became the quality benchmark for Swedes entering the advertising business. 1963 saw the launch of the Marketing Consultant Program, and for the occasion the school was renamed to Berghs School of Advertising and Marketing.

1970's

The school gradually expanded, and by 1975 reports from its Board of Directors showed that all programs – Advertising, Copywriting, Marketing, Illustration – were fully booked with over 100 students registering in total. In 1977 Gösta Bergh retired and sold his school to TBV, a Swedish union-owned educational organization which already owned the RMI Institute of Advertising and Marketing. The two schools merged to become RMI-Berghs. During the next few years, problems brought on by the merger of two different school cultures were affected by the worsening of the general economic crisis. By 1982 the school neared bankruptcy, and TBV had in mind to close down RMI-Berghs. Students and teachers then approached the Swedish Advertising Association (Sveriges Reklamförbund), which became in the following year Berghs’ new owner. The school was incorporated, and Tore Nordlinder appointed as CEO and Head of School.

By 1990 RMI-Berghs had outgrown its central but cramped quarters on Riddargatan and moved into the old Münich Brewery: an enormous neo-gothic brick landmark on the shores of the Södermalm island in Stockholm. The school now had around 1000 students, 400 teachers and tutors, 30 different courses and programs with a turnover of SEK 30.000.000, and in 1991 the group launched the The RMI-Berghs Business School.

In 1997, when Tore Nordlinder retired, Elisabeth “Pyttan” Ström succeeded him. During her short, two-year reign, she oversaw some major changes. The Gothenburg and Malmö branches were closed while course-offer in Stockholm increased considerably in volume, and in early 1998 RMI-Berghs moved to its present location at Sveavägen 34, right in the middle of Stockholm. The name was yet again changed to RMI-Berghs Institute for Communication, and Malou Örner became Head of School.

In 2000 the school received its present name: Berghs School of Communication, which expresses the school’s new ambition to be an international meeting place for students and professionals within a broad range of communication disciplines, including Advertising, PR, Media, Journalism, and Design. Tom Andersson was Head of School from 1999-2002, and during this period the Norwegian corporation Anthon B Nilsen stepped in as main owner. In October of 2002 Manne Schagerström became CEO and Head of School, and shortly after that, Anthon B Nilsen became Berghs’ sole owner – the two jointly shepherding Berghs through the rough financial waters in the wake of the global IT bust and the post-9/11 downturn.

By 2008 Berghs School of Communication had around 200 full-time students in its Professional Diploma Programs; more than 5.000 part-time students in different introductory, corporate and continuing education courses; and 800 teachers and tutors. The school’s international efforts are represented by our three-year International Bachelor Program, as well as by our many Diploma Program intern positions in the United States and continental Europe, and also by our various corporate training assignments in Russia, Germany and the Ukraine.

With Camilla Wallander as new CEO, Joakim Thulin as new Head of School, Berghs keeps expanding and now offers more than 80 different courses and programs in a wide range of disciplines.