Category Archives: Scandinavia

Freddy’s Place

Frederiksborg is an amazing castle. What we see today is in fact the third incarnation of the palace. In 1550 Frederick II acquired the estate in an exchange agreement, renamed it Frederiksborg and began constructing buildings. His first son Christian spent much of his youth here and came to love it. When he became King Christian IV in 1558 he immediately ordered the existing building torn down and rebuilt in a Renaissance style. The project took just ten years, an enormous accomplishment at the time. It is still the largest Renaissance palace in the world.

Jacob Christian Jacobsen, the founder of Carlsberg Brewery, recognized the national significance of Frederiksborg and knew that the country alone could never afford to rebuild it. He embraced the project and using original plans and paintings from the period organized and funded the rebuilding of the entire structure. He also agreed to maintain and staff of the castle in perpetuity. The docents that greet and inform the millions of visitors all work for the Carlsberg Company.

Christian IV

In Frederiksborg there are at least 160 portraits of Christian IV. In this painting the crown sits on the right. It was considered too egocentric for a monarch, even one anointed by God, to be wearing the crown in a royal portrait. The visor of helmet is raised indicating that the country was at peace when the painting was made. Christian IV was not just interested in fine buildings, he loved wine, wars and women. He married twice and had 24 legitimate children. It is also thought that he had an additional 30 children with five different women, of which he acknowledged 26 who he provided for and dubbed his “Golden Lions”. When he died in 1648 he left the treasury completely depleted.

Throwing Down The Gauntlet

Karl Hansen Reistrup made this historic painting in 1909. It is titled “Niels Ebbesen avoids Count Gert” but I imagine what is really depicted is “Ebbesen Confronting Gert “. I was drawn to the picture because it is the first image I have seen that depicts the actual act of throwing down the gauntlet. Up until now I had imagined that the expression was a metaphor that simply referred to a challenge and not an actual act, but in the age of chivalry it was indeed a real thing and a grave insult so egregious that it could only be answered with personal combat.

In the painting we see that Ebbesen has enraged the entire group. Men are yelling, some are coming out of their saddles, everyone is tense and worried. Even the horses are pissed off. Not only has Ebbesen thrown down his gauntlet but has raised his hand in the classic three finger “up yours” gesture. He is definitely itching for a fight. I doubt that this encounter actually took place and that the painting simply expresses the conflict between the two men.

What really happened was that Gerhard III, a German Count from the house of Holsten, had levied exorbitant taxes on this part of Denmark. Ebbesen refused to pay. With an army of 11,000 men Gerhard advanced on Denmark to collect his debt by force. Gerhard set up his headquarters in the small town of Randers. On April 1, 1340 under the cover of darkness Ebbesen and just 47 knights advanced on the town. He took two of his most trusted men, snuck through the town and into the inn where Gerhard was staying. They made their way to his bedchamber, killed his guards, dragged Gerhard across the bed, lined his neck up with the bedstead and chopped off his head. The men then made their escape with the loss of only one man. This act solidified Ebbesen’s place in Danish folklore and made him Denmark’s first national hero. He will forever be a symbol of Danish resistance and rebellion against their German overlords.

His reputation was so powerful that in 1942, during the occupation, the author Kaj Munk wrote a play celebrating Ebbesen. Hilter so feared rebellion that the play and any writings about Ebbesen were outlawed.

Live Larsdotter

This portrait of Live Larsdotter was painted by P. van den Hulst in 1691. She was the famous astronomer Tycho Brahe’s housekeeper. This is the first time I’ve seen a royal portrait of a housekeeper. Her claim to fame was her longevity. She died in 1698 at the age of 123.

Dr. Johan Frederick Struensee

The German doctor Johan Frederick Struensee was King Christian VII’s personal physician. It seems that Christian VII was mad as a hatter. Historians suggest that he was schizophrenic and heard voices from an early age. The nobles were completely distraught until Dr. Struensee arrived at court and said he could cure the king. He couldn’t really cure Christian VII but he could keep him sedated and quiet which is really all the nobles wanted.

The good doctor came to realize that he could rule the country by keeping the king behind the scenes. Struensee got a little ahead of himself and staged a coup d’etat 1772, which got him executed. It’s truly unfortunate, apparently he was a pretty good ruler and most of his progressive ideas are part of Danish culture today.

Come On Up To The Square

4 Replies

The Stortorget, Malmo’s largest square, is adorned with a collection of the most playful and imaginative bronze statues we have come across.

*Charles XI –* *Stortorget, Malmö, Sweden*

*Emigranterna “The Emigrants” – Stortorget, Malmö, Sweden*

Arcades & Passageways

Arcades and passageways are an absolute necessity in all the older cities we’ve visited. With long blocks of four and five story buildings packed cheek to jowl they make passing from one block to the next much less burdensome and saves miles of circumnavigating city streets to get from one block to the next. They also create access to closed off courtyards and gardens.

Nyboder

Nyboder means new small houses. This historic row house district was the former Naval barracks. Construction of the district was begun in 1631 by Christian IV to house Navy personnel and their families. Nyboder is very much associated with their yellow color named “Nyboder yellow” to refer to the exact hue of yellow. Interestedly the original color of the development was red and white.

The neighborhood has had a bit of a grim past. On December 16, 1658 a gunpowder storage building just north of Nyboder exploded, damaging or demolishing many houses and causing numerous casualties.

In 1668 the city’s gallows were moved to the district. In 1677 another bleak neighbor moved in when the Copenhagen Stocks House or military prison was built just a little to the south. it was opened to civilian prisoners in 1741 and held people sentenced to “slavery”, meaning prisoners sentenced to penal labor in irons. Prisoners were classified as “honest” and “dishonest”. The latter were beaten at the whipping post, a punishment that connoted a severe loss of honor. In 1783 an even larger facility was opened when the Greater Stocks House was built next to the old building and held 600 “slaves”. The use of “severe examination” or torture was finally abolished in 1837.

From early on, the area also included a guardhouse which had an external bell used to gather people in the event of a military attack or fire. The building also contained a jail, where trouble-making residents were deposited.

Tjolöholm Castle – A Private Utopia

3 Replies

Now I’m really confused. They refer to Tjolöholm as a castle, but it seems to me to be the very definition of a palace or a mansion or even a country estate, but not a castle. It was designed in the Arts and Craft style to be the quintessential British country house by architect Lars Israel Wahlman, a man who never set foot in the British Isles. The project began in 1892 shortly after power couple James Fredrik and Blanche Dickson purchased this amazing piece of property. Planning the Elizabethan mansion took six years and then another six years to finish construction.

The Dicksons, of Scottish ancestry, were the third generation to make Gothenburg their home where James Fredrik ran the trading company Dickson & Co. founded by his grandfather in 1816. They were enormously successful and used their fortune to construct their idea of a utopian estate. The mansion itself offers everything the gentry could wish for, stables full of thoroughbred racehorses and scores of the most exquisite carriages of the day. Amazing views over the water of Kungsbacka Fjord to the small islands beyond. A lovely beach for swimming complete with a bath and boathouse. The house itself has all the modern conveniences of the day, including indoor plumbing, electric lights, central heating and even a vacuum cleaning system. Everything in the house and on the grounds is of the highest quality and the most pristine design.

The scrollwork above the stove reads: As Time Can Be Redeemed At No Cost – Bestow It Well – Let No Hour Be Lost

Blanche was convinced that a happy estate required happy workers and that called for quality housing in an idyllic setting. She designed and built a lovely little village where each family has a nice cottage with room for the children to play and a yard where each family could have a small vegetable patch. She even had a church built to insure the families got the necessary religious training.

At the end of the day this is sadly a bit of a cautionary tale. Shortly before construction began James Fredrik was celebrating at the Grand Hotel in Gothenburg. He cut himself opening a bottle of wine and wrapped the foil around his finger to stanch the bleeding. He died of blood poisoning a week later. A heartbroken Blanche toughened up, took control of the construction and finished the project. Not two years later she sailed to Ceylon to visit her brothers tea farm, ate some bad fruit on the ship and died of dysentery on the return trip to Europe. She was buried at sea in the Indian Ocean.

Once again the old wisdom rings true, don’t save your dreams for another day, do it now while fate allows.

A Quick Scandinavian Drive-By

4 Replies

We did a quick swing through Oslo and Helsinki. Unfortunately my camera froze up when I was leaving Scotland and I’ve been lost without it, like a ship without a rudder, like Lewis and Clarke without Sacajawea, Ying without Yang. It’s my guiding light, the thing that helps me keep the world in focus, no pun intended. Until I replaced it in Finland, I had to rely on my phone. Can you imagine, my phone! I’m a professional photographer not a telephone operator. Consequently, all I was able to put together was a sort of Mulligan Stew of images, but I have a new camera now so further crisis should be averted.

Oslo

Oslo Opera House

Founded in 1040, Oslo is the capital and most populous city of Norway. With just under 700,000 people, it is the fastest growing major city in Europe. The city is also the hub of Norwegian trade, banking, industry and shipping. In 2012 fDi magazine ranked Oslo number one in terms of quality of life among European large cities in the European Cities of the Future study. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)’s Worldwide Cost of Living study in 2013, it tied with Melbourne, Australia as the fourth most expensive city in the world.

The Nobel Peace Center

Oslo Harbor

Frogner Park

Frogner Park

Frogner Park contains bridges, fountains and the well-known Vigeland or sculpture installation created by Gustav Vigeland between 1924 and 1943.

The Monolith – Frogner Park

Frogner Park

The Norsk Folkemuseum

Oslo is dotted with an assortment of Museums from Fine Art to Vikings. We decided to spent some time at the Norsk Folkemuseum, one of the world’s oldest and largest open-air museums, with 155 traditional houses from all parts of Norway and a stave church from the year 1200.

Norsk Folkemuseum

While there I discovered a bit about the Norwegian weather. It seems that with the exception of a short window of normalcy in the spring and fall, Norway has essentially two seasons, light and dark. It seems to me that a long season of 18 to 22 hour daylight sandwiched with another long stretch of 18 to 22 hour nighttime would create a certain level of anxiety.

And like the small flame at the top of a gas well, people need a way to burn off the excess adrenaline created by long periods of sleeplessness juxtaposed with equally lengthy periods of nonstop activity. I suppose they could chain smoke cigarettes or drink obsessively, but the Norwegians are far more practical then that.

They have decided to keep themselves busy with knitting. That’s right knitting. It is apparently a national obsession. Everyone knits, young, old, male, female, everyone!

I joke but don’t think for a minute that this was just fun and games or an idle pastime to while away the long hours. For many this was a means of survival and a source of national pride and identity.

The Exhibition Selbuvotter

Called two-threading knitting, it all began in the winter of 1857 when Marit Emstad knitted her first pair of Rose Mittens and wore them to church in her village of Selbu. These exquisitely handcrafted little hand warmers caught everyone’s attention and the method quickly spread from farm to farm and village to village. Families started to develop and name their own patterns and designs. Knitting became an increasingly important part of village life.

Initially in black patterns on a white background, red, blues and violets also became common for weddings, christenings and other celebrations.

In 1905 the age old production of millstones came to a halt and the mountain villagers need a new source of income. The merchant Frederik Birch turned his extensive marketing and sales network from millstones to knitwear. By the 1930s the Selbu Husflidsentral, Mitten Central, was formed to maintain strict quality control and by 1957 the export of these goods was bringing in over one million NOK a year.

The exhibit shows over 500 pairs all knitted between 2013 and 2016 to aid in the production of the Sebuvotter Book published in 2016.

Helsinki

Located on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, Helsinki has an urban population of about 1 1/4 million. The capital is by far Finland’s most populace city as well as it’s political, cultural, financial and educational center. It has one of the highest urban standards of of living in the world and was ranked the world’s most livable city by the British magazine Monocle in 2011. The 2016 the Economist Intelligence Unit’s livability survey ranked it ninth out of 140 cities. As you would expect it has great museums, terrific parks and very expensive restaurants.