Visit to the Amazing Vasa Museum

Monday October 2, started out cloudy with a bit of rain, but ended up with blue skies. A high of 16C. Our destination for the day was the Vasa Museum which is located on the island of Djurgården, about an hour walk from our apartment. We decided to walk, rather than take a complex mix of Metro and bus. We would of course make stops along the way.

First stop was Vete-Katten, the buzzy bakery and café, to pick up a cinnamon and cardamon bun.

Outside Vete-Katten (founded in 1928)

Take out counter with freshly baked treats

We have learned the importance of fika in Sweden. While fika is often translated as "a coffee and cake break", it is much more than that. It is a concept, a state of mind, an attitude and an important part of Swedish culture. Many Swedes consider that it is almost essential to make time for fika every day. It is a time to socialise and catch up with friends and colleagues. Fika cannot be experienced at your desk by yourself. That would just be taking coffee and cake.

Lovely café with folks enjoying their early afternoon fika

We passed a number of cafés and bakeries with signs for Oct 4 kanelbullens dag (cinnamon bun day)

We stopped for an early fika at Café Pascal, where we had stopped on Saturday.

Time for fika

We shared a chia pudding with granola and lingonberries

We also bought some espresso beans, as the coffee was so good.

We walked down to the waterfront and started down Srandvägen, Stockholm's grandest boulevard, which stretches along the Östermalm waterfront to the Djurgården bridge. The north side of the street is lined with turreted Art Nouveau buildings from the late 19th and early 20th century. Along the south side, a waterfront promenade follows a quay dotted with a few cafés.

Starting down the part of Strandvägen we hadn't walked before

Bünsowska Building- built 1886-1888 for R. Bünsow, a timber magnate from the north of Sweden. The architect was Isak Gustaf Clason (1856-1930), who won an architectural competition. It was his first major work. He also designed the Saluhall, Östermalmshallen indoor market (1889).

We crossed to the water side of the street.

Interesting seating

The view back to the wonderful apartments on Srandvägen.

Boats with the looming Nordiska Museet on the other side of the bridge

Crossing the bridge- view back to Strandvägen

Allan on the bridge

We stopped at the Visitor Centre on Djurgården. The island is known for its many museums, including the Nordiska Museet and the Vasa Museum (where we were headed). There is also an ABBA museum, which we are going to skip. Djurgården was once a royal deer park, it has extensive woodlands and meadows crisscrossed by walking and cycling paths.

Map of Djurgärden

Nordiska Museet opened in 1907 (also designed by Clason)

Our destination was the Vasamuseet (Vasa Museum) which is a must-see in Stockholm. This custom-built museum tells the story of one of Sweden's greatest failures; the sinking of the warship Vasa, just 20 minutes after setting sail with great fanfare from central Stockholm in 1628. Although built as an expression of Swedish military power, Vasa was fatally unbalanced and a strong gust of wind was enough to cause her to list. Water flowed in through the open gunports and she sank in minutes just 1.3km into her journey. For over three centuries, Vasa lay submerged before being raised from the seabed in a dramatic salvage operation in 1961. The preserved ship is the museum's star attraction, but exhibits provide background and context to the ship, people and society in early 17th century Sweden. There is also a section on the Vasa's amazing recovery 333 years later.

Approaching one side of the museum

Another side view as we were leaving the museum

We saw an introductory 17 minute film which set out the history of the ship and the 1961 recovery operation. We were in time for a 25 minute guided tour, which was very helpful in pointing out the details of the hundreds of sculptures on the boat. Today, the Vasa is the world's best-preserved 17th century ship, magnificently adorned with hundreds of carved sculptures and 98% original.

The Vasa Museum opened in 1990 and is the most visited museum in Scandinavia. Between 1961 and 1983, Vasa was housed in a temporary structure. The construction of the new building began in 1987 and it officially opened in June, 1990.

The museum is kept dimly lit--- our guide would shine a flashlight on some of the carvings. The main hall contains the ship and various exhibits relating to the archaeological finds of the ships and early 17th century Sweden.

First view of the Vasa (it is 4 stories high)- The museum has 7 levels. The entrance level is floor 4.

Statue detail

Lots of lions- part of Swedish heraldry, originating with the House of Vasa and now incorporated into the Swedish Coat of Arms. Gustav II Adolf (1594-1632) was King of Sweden from 1611 to 1632
and was known as "the Lion of the North." He died in the Battle of Lutzen in November 1632.

When Gustav II Adolf acceded to the throne in 1611, he inherited three wars: with Russia, Denmark and Poland-Lithuania. He was at war during 18 of the 21 years of his reign, both wars he inherited and wars he sought. There was a map detailing the various wars and battles that were being waged in Northern Europe in the summer of 1628.

Lots of battle activity

King Gustav II Adolf took an active part in building up his navy. In 1625, he commissioned Master Shipwright Henrik Hybertsson to built four ships. Vasa is one of them. From his headquarters in Poland, the King sent new measurements to Master Henrik. In 1628, war rages between Sweden and Poland. Every 10th man was liable for military service. They are shipped off to an existence full of disease, injury and death. Few return home.

Another look at the Vasa.

The Stern--- Note the lions, coat of arms

More carvings

There was exhibit of painted replicas of the actual original carvings which are on the boat. The originals would have also been brightly coloured. One can read about the symbolism of the carving and then look for it on the boat.

Replica in the exhibit-- Roman warrior--"A Roman warrior stands in a defensive position on a lion's head with a dog at his feet. The lion allows the irritating and disrespectful dog to live. The sculpture indicates that Gustav II Adolf is as merciful toward his defeated enemies as the lion is to the dog".

Drawing of the figure

The original on the Vasa

Lions on the gunports-- to scare the enemy

King David, Chosen by God. "The Biblical hero David was chosen by God, defeated the giant Goliath and later became king of Israel. The sculpture was meant to show that King Gustav II Adolf also had God on his side, and that he commanded the same power and wisdom as King David." (Replica)

Actual figure on the Vasa, under the Coat of Arms

Anders Franzén (1918-1993) was the discover of the Vasa. In the 1950s, he began to search for the ship. He knew that wooden ships are preserved in the brackish water of the Baltic. In more salty water, wood is rapidly destroyed. In 1956, he found a piece of black oak. A Navy diver went down and found a large hulk and a cannon port. Franzén knew that the Vasa had been found. A massive undertaking started to raise the ship which finally occurred in 1961.

Another view--- we kept climbing to the 7th floor

Our guide said the sculptures were propaganda and very important.

In the basement there were remains of 15 of those who drowned when the ship went down.

This man was around 35 years old. When disaster struck, he was pinned down under a gun carriage on the lower gundeck.

The crew of 445 men. According to the navy's planning, the crew was to consist of 145 mariners and 300 soldiers. The soldiers were not on board when the ship sank- they were only taken on board when the ship would depart for battle service. About 150 people were believed to be on board when it sank, about 30 died. It is now believed that there were some women and a child among the skeletal remains. Because the ship had not travelled very far, salvage boats were able to rescue most of those on board.