Goteborg - Gothenburg, Emigration, Ernst Taube, Lilla Bommen

Goteborg.  Pronounce it "Yutebori" and you might be close.  Maybe. Goteborg, Gothenburg, the city for many meant the leaving place. Many spellings. Aim for the water. There is a market area nearby, with the umbrellas, flowers, produce. Quick park, intending to be right back after seeing the market. Quiet day, no crowds. Then see a ferris wheel - what is there?

I.  Goteborg then.  Goteborg and Immigration - Emigration 

Think Wheels of fortune.

Here, the ferris wheel at the Gothenburg docks, at the mouth of the Gota River, where the ships to America and other places filled with seekers and sailed off.

Gothenburg, Lilla Bommen, Marina, ferris wheel, Sweden

II.  Gothenburg then. Emigration

To America

There are more Swedes and Swedish descendants in America than there are Swedes in Sweden.

The Swedish government fostered a settlement in America in 1638, with the expertise of explorer Peter Minuit, from the Netherlands.  The colony was located at the Delaware Bay, and named Christina, ir Fort Christina (now Wilmington DE) with 50 passengers on two ships from the Swedish West India Company:  the Fogel Grip and the Kalmar Nyckel, see http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Place:New_Castle,_Delaware,_United_States.  In 1640, another town, New Sweden, was settled. But in 1638, the Dutch had already settled what is now New Castle. The Werelate site details the land grabs, purchases, shenanigans, jockeying and fights, of interest maybe only to those of us who used to live there and know the names.

Gothenburg harbor.  Peter Minuit? You shall board here now. Goteborg, Sweden

Enterprising people, the Swedes.  They soon joined the fur and tobacco trade and did well.  That angered the Dutch and the English, however, who were more firmly ensconced in their colonies. The nearby Dutch settlement, for example, was huge: from Staten Island (New Amsterdam) all the way up the Hudson River to Albany. The Swedes ended up outnumbered, outmaneuvered, and outsettled.

The Dutch Peter Stuyvesant, then governor of the now New York (then New Amsterdam) brought his Armada up the Delaware and took Christina by force.  The year was 1655.  See http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAEsweden.htm 

Visit Delaware today and find Christiana Hundred, a "Hundred" being a form of land division, like a county, perhaps. Go to Philadelphia and find Old Swedes' Church, Gloria Dei. They lost the colony but not the heritage. The next wave of immigrants arrived in the 19th Century, with population pressures, economic problems and agricultural disasters in Sweden at the time. During the period 1820-1920, a million Swedes emigrated to the United States. See http://www2.needham.k12.ma.us/nhs/cur/kane98/kane_p6_immig/swedish/swedish.immigration.htm


III.  Gothenburg now. Lilla Bommen Marina

Lilla Bommen Marina - and the Lipstick Building. Just over there, past the ferris wheel. The Skanska Scraper, or Skyscraper built in 1989.  The address:  Lilla Bommen 1.

Lipstick Building, Lille Bommen 1, Goteborg, SE

A glimpse of that requires a closer look. Leave the amusement area and the docks, and walk that way. Enjoy the ships. This is also known as the Guest Harbor. The building is the Lappstiftet.

Sailing ships at Lille Bommen, Marina, Goteborg Harbor, Goteborg SE

Evert Taube.

Culture and beloved figures

Find Evert Taube 1890-1976 there at the waterfront, the troubadour of the docks. Hear the jaunty songs at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zpi-vV2gH4g.
He was raised on an island. His father ran the lighthouse. Tired of school, he ran off to Stockholm and when his father found out, went to sea rather than return to school. He settled in Argentina in 1910, did a variety of jobs, then returned to Sweden in the WWI years, becoming a marine (Sweden had armed forces although was neutral).  He started writing songs, and recording when acoustical systems emerged. He remained in Sweden for WWII years, and is known for the sensitivity of his lyrics, see bio.

Evert Taube, Goteborg docks, Sweden (Gothenburg)

We found another expressive statue of Evert Taube, in Stockholm, in the Old Town, Gammla Stan.

Most everything is on the water in Stockholm, since is mostly all islands.  See Evert Taube there, another waterfront, at  http://swedenroadways.blogspot.com/2011/05/stockholm-fourteen-islands-archipelago.html


IV.  Realities.

The Lipstick Building does dominate. It is an excellent navigation device, for getting back to your car.

Wander the wharf, Lilla Bommen, Marina, on the way back from the Lipstick Building, Gothenburg, Sweden

Amble, amble.

Oh, rats. A ticket. What next.  FN 1

..........................................................

FN 1  Quick! Look up the police station on the GPS to pay it fast with nice crisp bills  -- ferry leaving for Denmark soon. Find the police station.

Go in with money and apologies, so sorry, time just got away.  Sorry, lady, we don't take payment here.  Try XYZ.  Find XYZ. Another police station.

Go in. Hold out now-damp bills. Sorry, lady, we don't take payment on Sundays. Come back Monday. But we are leaving! So sorry, so sad, hope you enjoyed your stay. Have to pay in person and get receipt because cash just disappears in the boiler room.

Recourse:  Tickets. If you get a ticket in the country where you rented your car, the rental car company maybe can pay for you.  Leave the money with them and get your receipt. But we rented in Denmark.  The rental car company would not pay for Sweden, currency issues, etc.

You are stuck with a wire transfer from your own bank.  That is expensive, so hope that by the time you read this, Sweden progresses to Italy.

In Italy, if you get a ticket, the notice will direct you to the bad people website and you can put it right on your credit card.  Zoom.  Done. Receipts, all covered, thank you.

That does not resolve, however, whether the ticket was proper. Where cameras are involved, it is hard to say.  I got a letter nine months after our return saying I was filmed in the bus lane at such and such a square in Milan. Was I? I do know I was lost the entire time. There are a million squares in Milan. Were they writing the same letter to everybody in the picture and nobody else would pay? Who knows. Pay anyway.

Tickets. Trust and move on.

Stockholm - Fourteen Islands. Archipelago.

Stockholm:  Aim for the Old City

This is a town on fourteen islands, so choose an easily found destination -- usually the old town is well marked.  Park safely, and walk. Find sculptures, this one of a joyous guitar, is held by -- who?  We wrote it down, have to find the log.  Meanwhile, find more unusual instruments at http://siegelproductions.ca/fiddlefarmers/unusualinstruments.html

First impressions of Stockholm:  old and new, side by side. Surprises around corners.

Evert Taube, Stockholm, Troubadour, Old Town, Gamla Stan

Statues are in settings for a purpose.  Here, the waterfront is at the heart of the work of one Evert Taube: Troubadour, who especially loved and collected sailors' songs.  He lived from 1890-1976, and is much beloved -- hear and see him from 1921 at Evert Taube, YouTube, Byasan Lull. Go for more at  Evert Taube, YouTube again.  He was a singer and a songwriter, not just for mariners, see bio at http://evert-taube.co.tv/#Biography.
More songs:  Brevet fran lillan, here on YouTube

Taube is a noble family, see its coat of arms at http://armorialblog.wordpress.com/category/swedish-heraldry/page/3/ Evert Taube's son, Sven-Bertil, was also a musician, and you can hear him at the armorialblog site. Click away. Or click for YouTube here

The Old Town:  manageable. Park and walk.  Here is a walking tour site, at http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/city-guides/stockholm-walking-tour-1/

Stockholm view toward Gamla Stan

Repurposing old ships.  In Antwerp, these were called flotels. If you can't find a room in a port city, try the docks.

Stockholm, old vessels become hotels, restaurants

The water is good quality, enabling fishing right downtown.

Stockholm, active fishing nets

No railings make for easy on and off the boats, and right off the docks if you are backing up for a better picture on the shore. In Europe, you are supposed to look where you are going.

Stockholm waterfront. Watch yachts, and water buses and huge tour boats pass

King Gustav III in 1792 began a museum, the Museum of Antiquities located in a wing of the castle in the Old Town. He had been in Italy 1783-84, was obviously impressed, and brought back sculptures and sculptures; and artifacts. It was never quite finished, see photos at http://www.stockholmgamlastan.se/lang_en/se_gora/antikmuseet.php

Stockholm, King Gustav, Gamla Stan, Old City

Then take a short water ride around.

Stockholm view to government buildings

Dan Widing in Stockholm, waterfront

Be careful not to direct your subject to back up too far.

Dan Widing upstages palace guard, Stockholm

From this fjord archipelago of so many islands, the waterway fans back and widens to pass Vasteras and Orebro, the fjord depth enabling a prosperous water trade for centuries.  Settlements once on the water, however, are now inland with the silting.