Military Monday - Swedes in WWI

Today is 100 years since the outbreak of World War 1 and there for my post will be about the Swedes who took part in the war.

Almost 20 000 Swedish born men were called in during World War 1. Not all of them were in the U.S. army. Some were in the Canadian army, where there were two Scandinavian bataljons, and some were in the German army. It all depended on where you happened to be at the time of the outbreak. It is believed that around 600 of the 20 000 died on the battlefields on the western front. Some were of course wounded and returned home with injuries others were not wounded but came home with terrible memories.

Many of the Swedish men in the American army had only been in the states a couple of years. Some had escaped Sweden in order to not have to undergo the obligatory military service. A few moved back to Sweden after the war but they did not like to talk about the war.

Three brothers from Falkenberg happened to be in Germany when the war broke out and ended up in the German army. On of the was captured and sent to prison camp in Siberia. He was released after three years and could then return home.

Taking part in war is not always about honour, duty or ideology. Sometimes you just happen to be in the wrong place. Sweden stayed out of the war and has not been involved in a war for over 200 years, but we have none the less been affected by it. 

Source:

Hallands Nyheter July 28, 2014

Picture:

Chesire Regiment trench Somme 1916

In the Public Domain

By John Warwick Brooke - This is photograph Q 3990 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums (collection no. 1900-13)

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Those Places Thursday - Figeholm

Figeholm is a village just north of Oskarshamn in Kalmar county. Today it is dominated by the paper mill and there is a nuclear powerplant close by. The village is otherwise known for its boat club and the beautiful archipelago. Figeholm is a part of the parish of Misterhult

There is a very active local history sociaty that arranges market days and takes care of the public area. They have cleaned up and restored the old canal and turned it in to a wonderful place to have a picknick or go fishing.

In the marin museum (above) is information about  the ships that were built in Figeholm and also lots of material from the boats. Like the seaman's chest below.

I and my daughter spent a night in a friend's cottage before our trip across the baltic to Gotland. We had our breakfast out on the small porch, enjoying the view and the early sun.

Part of the canal.

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Trip to Oskarshamn and Gotland

I have had very poor access to the Inernet for some days as I went across the country to go to Gotland. First stop was Oskarshamn on the east coast where I met up with a friend from work who has a cottage some kilometers north of Oskarshamn.

Oskarshamn is not a big town and the center has a lot of old charm buildings left. There are some really narrow streets and paths with beautiful old houses.

In the yellow house pictured below is a café. The owners live in a bigger house behind the small house and the garden is where the customers can sit and enjoy their coffe and cakes. Everything is home made and they are open 7 days a week.

After having fika (swedish word for having coffe, tea, cakes, cookies and anything else you would like for an afternoon, or before noon, snack), we went to a factory, Liljeholmen, where they make candles and bought some really cheap candles.

I will continue to write about my trip in the following posts, telling you abouth Figeholm and Gotland.


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Workday Wednesday - Swedish Iron Industry: Bergsmen

Definition

A Bergsman (I have note been able to find the English word for this) was originally a free farmer who along side farming produced pig iron in a smeltery and also mined for iron ore. These bergsmen worked together in so called Bergslag, meaning they each owned shares in the mines and smelteries, and did not have to pay taxes in return for there services in the iron industry. They did however pay taxes on the pig iron they produced, a tenth of the production. Depending on the value of the farm the farmer owned he could be a whole, a half or a quarter bergsman.

[edit]History

The custom of having bergsmen mining for ore on their property started during the middle ages and ended in 1859 when the handeling of ore became free in Sweden. The mining was regulated by law and the letter of privilages showed which rights and obligations the crown gave the people who extracted ore on their property. The value of the farm came to deside how many shares a Bergsman had in the smeltery.

The Bergregal stated that the crown had the rights to all land with ore. This ment that the Bergsman did not really own the land he was farming, but he owned the rights to farm it and also the buildings.

The rules and conditions could vary a lot from bergslag to bergslag but the general rule was that you payed a tenth of what you produced and you did not have to pay other taxes.

Some bergslag continued working together as usual even after their obligations had been taken away in 1859.

[edit]Daily Life

During the summer the bergsmen and their families extracted ore from bogs, lakes and red earth. From 1600 and onwards under ground mining took over. In the fall they took care of the harvesting and threshing before it was time to start working with the charcoal kilns. The winters were used for taking down trees and transport goods and materials. The snow made the job easier. To produce pig iron the smelteries needed the spring rivers. The bars were marked with the personal stamp of the bergsman and the number of the smeltery. Spring was also the time for sowing.

The pig iron was sold to the ironworks at markets during the year. There they could also sell hammered iron ware that they had produced on their own.

[edit]Inheritance

The farm of a Bergsman could, according to the letter of privilages, be inherited by the children of a Bergsman and therefor they often took over the farm and became Bergsmen themselves.

Sources:
Wikipedia on Bergsman
Wikipedia on Bergslag
Wikipedia on Bergsprivilegium

Picture:
Nordiska Museumet through Digitalt Museum
 Bergsmän, Falu koppargruva. Teckning av Hans Ranié, 1680-tal
License: CC BY-NC-ND 2.5 SE

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Tuesday's Tip - Family ads online

There are several places on-line where you can find obituaries/death notices for people who died in Sweden. One of them is Familjesidan.

Familjesidan started in 2007 so there is only material from that year onwards. There seems to be other limitations too because when I searched for my grandmother's obituary, who died in 2008, I could not find it. I think it is because the undertaker did probably not join the page until 2010. The obituaries can be saved or printed.

Local newspapers have also started to put their family ads such as obituaries on-line. To be able to access them, however, you need an account and a subscription to the paper. An online subscription costs around 120 SEK each month (around $18) but often you can get the first month for free. Hallandsposten has digitalizes all their newspapers from 1913 onwards while Hallands Nyheter (two newspapers in the county of Halland) has only material from 2003. Some material may be free, such as new family ads (pictures of children, birthdays, married, dead,).

My grandfather's obituary from the local newspaper.

The Royal Library as digitalized newspapers from the 18th century and onwards. It has limits and is fairly new but still worth a try. Under Titel you can see which newspapers that can be searched.

Webbisar is a service the Regions offer where a new born baby can have its picture online with information about name, weight, length, and parents. My daughter was only a day old when her picture was taken. Here is a link to Region Halland that has babies born in Halmstad and Varberg. http://www.regionhalland.se/vard-halsa/webbisar/

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HRH Crown Princess Victoria's 37th Birthday

HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden was born July 14, 1977. Today she turns 37. For Sweden it is a national flag day and canons will be fired from Skeppsholmen in Stockholm to celebrate the princess. But she is as usual spending it at the family's summer home Soliden Castle on the island of Öland in the Baltic. There people celebrate her infront of the castle by giving her flowers, cards and singing Happy Birthday. The king calls out four cheers for his daughter and trumpets are heard.

In the evening a consert is held not far from the castle. Famous artists entertain and prices are handed out to athletes who have done something extra during the year. Most of the royal family atend every year and the only time Victoria herself could not atend was when she was on her honeymoon. Everything is shown on national television.

If you want you can leave your own personal greating to the princess on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kungahuset?fref=ts

Picture:
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden
By Bengt Nyman
Under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Source: http://www.kungahuset.se/

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The Book of Me - Childhood Reading

The Book of Me, Written By You is a project created by Julie Goucher of the Anglers Rest blog. It is a series of blogging and writing prompts that help family historians to write down their memories about family and themselves. Prompt 46: Childhood Reading.

I used to read a lot as a child and a teenager. One of my favourites that has also been made into a film (in 1956 and 1986) is the story about the orphan Kulla-Gulla. It is like a Swedish version of Anne of Green Gables but has a much darker beginning since Kulla-Gulla ends up living with a poor crofter and his family for a time.

The story takes place during the beginning of the 20th century, from the time that Kulla-Gulla is seven and an orphan who is sold to the crofter that wants the least money for taking care of her, untill she is in her twenties and is about to get married. The story shows what it was like for a lot of poor people in Sweden only a hundred years ago. 

There are all in all twelve books plus the one in the picture which takes place when Kulla-Gulla is living at the orphanage, and a picture book for even younger children. Kulla-Gulla is called Goldie and Anna in English and there are several of the books to be found on Amazon, for example Goldie at the Orphanage and Goldie at the Farm which are for younger children. Anna at Bloom Farm is the first in the series for older children/teens. I also found the books at www.abebooks.com.

Treasure Chest Thursday

My grandmother's younges sister was named Linnéa which is the Swedish word for the twinflower and the flower of the province of Småland. She had a coffe and tablewear set with matching drinking glasses with the twinflower on them. She had ordered them from a company where you can either get a whole set at once or get some parts each month. When she passed away in 2000 my grandmother got all three sets and when she passed in 2008 I got all of them. They remind me of my great aunt who was a wonderful little lady. I do not use them ofthen though because I cannot wash them in the dishwasher due to the golden edge.


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Flea markets

Swedes love flea markets. Especially during the summer when they seem to be everywhere. Many are run by charity foundations and sport clubs. We saw it as a great way to get furniture for our friggebod. The table and five chairs had a note on them saying they cost 450SEK but one of the volenteers saw us looking at it and said we could have them for 300. A bargain we could not say no to. We still need a chest if drawers and some paintings or something like that to put on the walls.

Varberg Fortress

The rock that the fortress is built on has been used for guarding the inhabitants since prehistoric times. It was not untill the 13th century that a stronghold was built here when Jacob Nielsen, the owner of northern Halland, was accused of murdering the king. The northern parts of the castle is from that time.

 The wars between the Danish and the Swedes caused Varberg to change kingdoms eight times during the 14th century but the Danes won in the end and it remained Danish for almost another three hundred years. The defense of the castle had to improve and a fortress started to take shape in 1588.


The improvements contintued and about 1000 farmers worked each day, during 30 years. In 1618 it was one of the most modern defence buildings in Europe. It never had to be used as such however because in 1645 a peace treaty was signed between Denmarc and Sweden where Sweden got Halland.

The prison.

 The fortress was a military station untill 1830 when Karlsborg became a more important military base. The fortress had always housed prisoner but from 1548-1881 it was the home of around 400-500 interns at all time. In 1856 a real prison was built (see picture). The prisoners worked as stonemasons during their time in prison.

 During the 20th century the fortress became a museum but it also houses a bed and breakfast, a restaurant and buildings with apartments. The museum is the home of the famous Bockstensman (a bog man) and the button that supposedly killed king Karl XII in 1718.

One of the reenactors at the museum.

The outdoor café.

My personal connection to the fortress is my great great great [...] grandfather Mogens Mormand who was the commander on the fortress when it finally became Swedish. I do not know much about him but I plan to find out as much as I can.

My partner also has a personal connection. His great great grandfather was an intern after killing his wife with arsenic in hopes of marrying her sister. He was a prisoner in 1881 when it ceased to be a prison and was moved to Långholmen in Stockholm. I think he was finally let out as an old man. You can hear about him and also other prisoners in a short movie on the museum's web page, it is called Behind Closed Doors: http://www.hkm.varberg.se/english/

Sources:
http://veddige.nu/blogg/wp-content/uploads/VISKA_2006-3web.pdf
http://www.hkm.varberg.se/varbergs-fastning/

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Galtabäck - a Viking Ship

In 1928 the remains of a viking ship was found between the harbour of Galtabäck (just south of Varberg) and Gamla Köpstad (old merchant's town). The area is called Lerjan and during the middle ages it was a protected harbour. One more ship was found in the same area.

 In 2004 a team started building a copy of the original Galtabäck ship. It took them three years before they could go on their maiden voyage. This weekend marked the ten year annevarsary of when they started building the ship. To celebrate the anneversary Galtabäck and three other ships entered Varberg Harbour last Friday.

The celebrations ended when all the ships left the harbour at four o'clock this afternoon. They were magnificent! The Galtabäck sail from April to November and can be found in the harbour of Varberg every other wednesday if the weather permits and if it is not there it is probably at the harbour in Galtabäck where there also is a museum where you can see the original.

Vidfamne up front and Sigrid Storråda in the back.

Two of the other ships were also Viking ships. Vidfamne is an interpretation of Äskekärrskeppet that was found in 1933 in Göta Älv. The original sailed during the 900's.

Vidfamne,

Sigrid Storråda is the second ship. The name is taken from the woman Sigrid who is said to have been a very beautiful, rich and powerful woman who lived in Västergötland (a province in the southwest of Sweden) during the 10th century. She was married to two of the most powerful Viking kings; Erik Segersäll and Sven Tveskägg. She was also the mother of Olof Skötkonung, our first christian king, and Knut the Great.

Sigfrid Storråda

The last big ship was Arwen, a copy of a French fishing boat.

A French Fishing Boat

Links to visit:
http://www.vidfamne.se/ The Viking Ship Society

Sources:
Pamhlets from the ships.

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A friggebod - a cottage you do not need a building permit for.

In 1979 the minister of housing, Birgit Friggebo, abolished the need for a building permit for small sheds up to 10 square meters. In 2008 the size was changed to 15 sq. meters and July 2014 to 25 sq. meters. The hight can not be more than 3 meters. There are more restrictions, on how far it has to be placed from the neighbour's yard, on what kind of lot it can be placed on and it has to follow the laws on how a building should be constructed.

The building can be used as an outhouse, a garage, a tool shed, a green house, a guest house, a sauna or a boat house. As long as it is just a complement to the regular house.


Source:
http://www.boverket.se/Bygga--forvalta/Bygglov-och-anmalan/Friggebodar/
http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friggebod

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Stavsjö in the county of Södermanland

My mother's cousin passed away in cancer so I want to write about something that is connected to him. I am going to write about the village where he, his father, and my grandfather grew up in.

The village of Stavsjö, situated between Norrköping and Nyköping south of Stockholm, mainly exists because of the ironworks that started its production in 1662. The ironworks was placed by the lake Stavsjön because of the natural resources of the area. In 1666 the production of canons started and became the main product for 200 years. Today the factory is still running and produces knife gate valves.

Stavsjö bruksmuseum - model of the village around 1900

The Russians attacked and burned down almost all of the village in the early 18th century but the ironworks was soon rebuilt. My great grandfather used to work at the ironworks and it was where my grandfather had his first job as a young teenager.

During the years 1898-1902 3000 arcres of forest was damaged by the black arches butterfly and a railroad was built to transport timber from the Kolmården woods down to the bay in the Baltic sea. The railroad-trasportation ended in 1939 when cars had become more common. Today you can walk or go by bike where the rails once were.

Kolmården station down by the bay.

Stavsjö station

The old canteen, that had also worked as an inn, of the ironworks was moved at the end of the 19th century and served as living quarters for the workers as well as housing a store on the bottom floor.

The old original part of the inn.

In 1947 the building once again became an inn under the current owner, counseler Julius Lindström. The mian road to Stockholm passed right outside the inn and it became a popular place for travellers to stop and have a bite to eat at. Traffic became heavier and heavier and the highway was moved a kilometer and the inn started to have troubles. It has stood empty for many years but in February renovations were being made in order to turn the inn into a place to house newly arrived immigrants who are waiting to know if they can stay or have to leave.

The restaurant

The conference and hotell section that was added in the early 1980's.

My grandfather's brother used to run the local gas station, right next to the inn, and my mom's cousin took over. When the highway moved so did the gas station and is one of Sweden's most visited gas stations.


Pictures:
Stavsjö bruksmuseum by Masugn  under license CC BY-SA 3.0
Kolmården station, Stavsjö station and the inn by Your Swedish Herigage

Sources:
http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stavsj%C3%B6
http://www.stafsjo.com/index.php?id=233
http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Stavsj%C3%B6_V%C3%A4rdshus

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Battle of Vyborg Bay 1790

Today in 1790 king Gustaf III ordered and carried out a successful attempt to break through the Russian naval fleet in order to break free.

Gustav III had destroyed the Russian naval fleet that was stationed at Fredrikshamn on May 15 the same year and had moved on to Viborg with the intention to do the same there. Parts of the Swedish naval fleet had failed at Reval on the 13th and moved east as well to meet up with Gustaf III. By June 7 the Swedish naval force had reached the Vyborg Bay and the Russian fleet cut of the entrance the following day. The Swedish fleet had 34 ships, along wiht some samller ones, and had 16 000 men. The Swedish archipelago fleet had around 200 ships and 13 000 -14 000 men, both crew and land troops.

Both sides made plans and on the night between July 2nd and 3rd The prince of Nassau a small part of the Swedish archipelago fleet. At the same time 4 divisions sloop-of-war attacked 5 Russian ships.

During the night the wind changed and made an breakout possible. Gustaf III wanted to go east but Nordenskjöld, an officer who had taken part in the American Revolutionary War on first the British side and then the French, advised the king to go west instead. Which they did.

When the Swedish fleet reached the harbour at Sveaborg July 5 the naval force had lost 5 000 men and several ships. The archipelago fleet did not loose many ships and reached Svensksund on the 4th and 5th. There the king was joined by Cronstedt and retaliated on the 9th and 10th which ended the war in Swedish favour.


Source: http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viborgska_gatloppet

Picture: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/Russian_victory_vyborg.jpg/1280px-Russian_victory_vyborg.jpg

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Swedes in America - Henry Ericsson and skyscrapers

Home Insurance Building

Axel Henry Ericsson and Carolina Maria Johnson both grew up in Moheda just north of Växjö in the province of Småland in Sweden. When Carolina Maria, who later called herself Lena, moved to chicago in the early 1880's Henry was already there. They met, got married and had seven children.

Henry had already become a building contractor in Chicago when they met. There was a shortage in housing and there were plenty of investors who wanted to hire Henry. Lande was however getting scarce.

- Why not build houses upwards instead Henry! Lena exclaimed one day. On the farm she grew up is still a small house with two floors, which looks like a mini skyscraper, that probably was her inspiration.

The architect William Le Baron Jenney was Henry's friend and he came up with the idea to use a scelleton of thin steel beams. Their first joined creation was the Chicago Home Insurance Building which was finished in 1885, 10 stories high.

Henry and Lena had a long life together and he was at 81 still the head of the board of Henry Ericsson & Co.

Picture: Le Home Insurance Building à Chicago construit en 1885
Exterior of the Home Insurance Building by architect William Le Baron Jenney in Chicago, Illinois

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Tuesday's Tip - Web-site about Swedes and Norwegians who emigrated to Africa

There is a site about the Swedes and Norwegians who emigrated to the southern parts of Africa from the 1600's to 1902 when the second Boer war ended. It is called Afrikafararna and is a result of several years of research on Nordic entrepreneurs, hunters, merchants, researchers and cattle merchants in southern Africa.

The site is not complete and so far there are only a few people listed. There are also maps and general information about life in Africa. In September there will be an exhebition in Vänersborg about the emigrants who moved to Angola.

All the information is so far in Swedish only but there is a tab for contacts (kontakt) so if you know that you have relatives who moved from Sweden or Norway to Afrika I suggest you contact them and ask for information.


Linka:
http://www.afrikafararna.nu/

Picture:
Sydafrika Giraff Afrika Natur Djur Safari
Public Domain CC0

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