Mariestad - the Graffiti Mariestad Project - on Lake Vanern

 Mariestad
The Graffiti Mariestad Project

Orientation.  Think two big lakes:  Vattern, not far from Boxholm; go around the northern tip, head south toward Toreboda and Fredsberg, then head easily west to the shore of Lake Vanern, and Mariestad.  South of Mariestad is Kinnekulla, but stop for lunch and a nice walk in Mariestad first. Duke Karl became King Karl IX, and he named this lovely spot for his wife, Duchess Maria av Pfalz, see http://www.terella.no/2007/07/19/wandering-through-time-in-old-mariestad/

The old town is not that old because of a fire in 1895, so we enjoyed the waterfront. Very flat land. Stroll, stroll....

Mariestad, Sweden, Lake Vanern

Stroll, stroll, what?  

Graffiti on a silo?  

Yes! On a clutch of silos!  Mariestads Tidningen?  Is that what it says at the top? Go to an online translator.  Tidningen means "magazine."

Graffiti project, silos, Mariestad, Sweden

This is a formal enterprise, with cherrypickers hoisting up the artists.  See an account of people working on it, and how they got there. See  http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=sv&u=http://graffitimariestad.se/blogg/&ei=VSfVTdDHDar50gHv1cWiDA&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CCEQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dgraffiti%2BMariestad%2BSweden%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D925%26bih%3D554%26gbv%3D2%26prmd%3Divns

.  

Only at the bottom arm-height or low-ladder height is there the usual mish-mash of one person spraying over another's creativity, like on our subway cars.

Center Fish! Graffiti project, Mariestad, Sweden

See and hear the graffiti lifestyle, not necessarily this one, but at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECYY_ZycELs

Graffiti, Mariestad.  Or government-sanctioned mural?

What is the difference.  Must graffiti be outlaw in order to be graffiti? Is this instead a fine but authority-approved mural.

Poster, Mariestad: One of the Largest Graffiti Works of Art in the World

Visit the website at http://www.graffitimariestad.se/  Meet Carolina Falkholts, on the video there. The project was just ending when we were there.

Mariestad, Graffiti Project SE

Quiet Mariestad, otherwise. Marina, Lake Vanern, Sweden

Fredsberg Kyrka, Interior, Churchyard, near Toreboda, Sweden

Fred's Church 
The result of translating "Fredsberg" Kyrka from the Swedish.
Go, Fred.

It has a 1498 bell, we think.

Fredsberg Kyrka

Fredsberg Kyrka, Fredsberg Parish, Sweden

This parish originated in medieval times, with early Christian missionaries; and has undergone building and rebuilding so that now the building only incorporates older elements in a 1702 parish building, remodeled in the 19th Century.  There is the plaque commemorating King Carl XIII. See http://www.kongehuset.no/c28580/artikkel/vis.html?tid=28686.  King Carl was crowned in 1809, the plaque notes the present building as completed in 1702.  See the medieval parts incorporated in it.  There were other church structures on the site.

Fredsberg Church, commemorative King Carl XIII, Sweden, crowned 1809

King Carl died without an heir, so Sweden offered the throne to one of Napoleon's marshals, Bernadotte.  Bernadotte took the name of Carl Johan.  More Swedish sounding.  He was effective, and succeeded in compelling Denmark to cede Norway to Sweden.  Nice. He invaded Norway in 1814 to seal the deal.

Stone with missing medallion center, Fredsberg Kyrka, Sweden

Looking to find an explanation for the circular center.

Old grave markers, Fredsberg, Sweden

It looks like three people are shown. 

There is no preservation of old markers at these old churches.  In the weather. Is there some registry for symbols, research. This church is at the beginning of any Christian missionaries coming north -- the symbols look Celtic, or the Norse equivalent.  What of the old religions prevailed?

Round medallion? Meaning?  on old grave marker, Fredsberg Church, SE

What is the story behind the missing medallion in the large upright standing stone? We have seen several wreath-like, illegible signs, circles. There is no rack of information brochures when you arrive.  Perhaps a caretaker with a rake, smoothing away footprints with long strokes on the gravel walkways. Courteous, but no signs, no way to decipher the oldest things clearly underfoot. 

Churchyard, Fredberg Church, near Toreboda, Sweden

Graves. 

What is still there, under the grass covering all? Most lost.  All that grass is not empty space, but lost gravesites. The old idea: the buried feed the living trees.

But see the similarities in names as you walk, to appreciate how difficult the tracking can be.  Here in particular, find many given names and surnames at genealogybug.net/ALGustafsonAncestry.  That is a coastal area north of Goteborg, but see more Anna Mathilda there as well, and Johannesdotter, as in Ostergotland. 

Window view, Fredsberg Kyrka SE

It is still an active parish, see Svenskakyrkan.se

Center aisle, Fredsberg Kyrka, Sweden

Swedish style:  light, bright, plain, clear colors; until you see the pulpit and selected other eye-catching and attention-keeping edifices. Wonderful.  See the angel looking right out the window, from the side of the pulpit.  The number of women saints:  also noteworthy.   

Carved, painted pulpit, Fredsberg Church, Sweden

Medieval marker, Tree of the LivesLife pattern, preserved at Fredsberg Kyrka, Sweden

This church has been on a special site for a thousand years. Find the old symbolism, Yggdrasil, Tree of the Lives, World Tree. Intertwined designs on the oldest markers, look Celtic. Is there a connection? For an Everyman's simple start on an answer, see Yahoo Answers

Simple lines, clear colors, Fredsberg Kyrka, SE

Selected displays of color, carving, Fredsberg Kyrka, Sweden

Angel not paying attention pulpit, Fredsberg Kyrka, Sweden

Floor level burial marker, first set, Fredsberg Kyrka, Sweden

The man wears a cape here, and is not praying.  Who is this?

Pew for King Carl XIII?  Fredsberg Kyrka, Sweden 

Not sure. But our Carl Jon likes to think he is related to Carl Johan.

Burials, second set, interior; Fredsberg Kyrka SE

The man wears no cape here, but he is praying. So is the lady. Who are these? 

Inscription (legible?) Fredsberg Church, Sweden

Look at their feet to try to find out what is going on.  I can't read it.  Contact us and I'll blow it up and see if you figure it out.  She has one foot playing footsie with his, or tempting it;  and the other is facing forward to us.  Foreshortening, or hesitation as to the gent?

Fredsberg Kyrka, Churchyard, Family Tree: Kyrketorp, Toreboda, Sweden

Fredsberg Kyrka

Records, Graves Search 1742 beginning

 FREDSBERG KYRKA

Family Ties Untied, Perhaps

What was Everyday Life in the 19th Century: Fredsberg.
Diary, from a coastal area, Rora Parish.

Fredsberg Kyrka, Kajsa Johannesdotter, maternal grandmother side, Toreboda area, Sweden

1.  From Fredsberg to Husaby.

I am searching for my husband's paternal grandmother and side ancestors. Her name was Kajsa Johannsdotter. Johannesdotter appears around Fredsberg.  Is that the same Johannsdotter of other records?

• E's come and go in the records, as do other spellings. Download Swedish geneology at  ://www.genline.com/gff/ and cross-reference on or own

2.  Fredsberg Kyrka.  That is not far from Kyrketorp Church Cottage mentioned often.

Is this Fredsberg? Family photo from 1920's, 1930's.  But the steeple has a taller "up" section, not as squat. Must be Ekeby, paternal grandparent side near Boxholm. 

Ekeby Kyrka, near Boxholm, Sweden

3.  Fredsberg Kyrka Bell - Is it from 1498?

4.  A look at daily life, perhaps. Peasant and nobility, 19th Century - a diary, rural Sweden, Rora Parish

Family ties.  See FN 1 - Chronology, Kajsa Johannesdotter family tree at Fredsberg, Kyrketorp; before, we think, the move of her mother to Kinnekulle. We do not know how the family got to Kinnekulle.

Husaby Kyrka, maternal grandmother side, family photo 1920's, 1930's

That is a mystery: need Kinnekulle info.

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

Fredsberg.

1.  Our interest was in finding the church most often mentioned in accounts of graves or other records of the parents/family of Kajsa Johannesdotter, my husband's great-grandmother.That is Fredsberg Kyrke, Kyrketorp for Church Cottage, and parishes in that small area. Kajsa Johannesdotter's parents -- Kajsa, if this is the same (Johannsdotter? Johannesdotter?) is the daughter of

• Johannes Persson who was born November 3, 1798 in Kyrketorp, and 
• Stina Ericsdotter, Skaraborgs County, Fredsberg parish. She was from Nolasen in Fredsberg Parish.
• Kyrketorp means Church Cottage.  Past some roadside memorials ...  here we go.

Found:

The places, but not the graves. With more time, go back to Vaxjo and the central records for immigrants or stay the night until someone came who could tell where old church records are.  The old stones are barely legible in the churchyards. Other people on geneology sites provide more details than we could find. 

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

1.1.  The search

Aim for back country roads if you are looking for old family graves. They are in excellent condition.  Find there so many old churches, servicing local people in days of horse and buggy and walking.  See the Toreboda area at //www.kyrkokartan.se/  But you will see few marker signs.

Someday perhaps Sweden will install the series of Information offices as seen in many other countries even in small towns, with the cheery "i" and all sorts of pamphlets and maps and helpful people.  Or put up tourist site logos on the roads. Swedish people are friendly and helpful, but some of us like to stop less often for directions and see more.

Rural Sweden, roadside memorials, Toreboda

1.2  Kyrketorp.

Kyrketorp Kapell, or Kyrketorp Chapel, is between two lakes, north of Toreboda. As we understand it, Fredsberg is included in the larger area where Kyrketorp with the Kapell is the main place.  Like a sub-parish, or branch.  If people were going by horse and buggy, or walking, they would need local parishes. Is that so? We are figuring this out as we go.

Kyrketorp, or Church Cottage, near Toreboda, Sweden

Found! That's a Kyrketorp! Quick! Turn!

1.3  Johannes Persson was born in Kyrketorp, November 3, 1798.  Is this it? See tree at FN 1

There must be many Kyrketorps, as a word meaning Church Cottage, but only this one had the sign as a special Church Cottage.

But it is not very near the Fredsberg Church, or Kyrketorp Kapell. Fredsberg is nine 9 km from Kyrketorp Kapell, say 6 miles -- a long way in those days. We think of the parson's manse as next door to the church, but in those days, surely the pastor would have a place to live that also would be self-supporting.

Kyrketorp. Is this the one? Toreboda, Sweden

Look again at all the churches listed and shown on this map near Kyrketorp Kapell, at http://www.kyrkokartan.se/T%C3%B6reboda/Kyrketorps_kapell/

2.  Fredsberg Kyrka, Fredsberg Church, Fredsberg Parish.

When you are looking for a church with medieval roots, as Fredsberg, expect many changes through time. At Fredsberg, luckily many old artifacts and stones are preserved. Then there is Kyrketorp Kapell, a chapel affiliated with the larger church.

Pulpit, Fredsberg Church, Sweden

The Church of Sweden is Evangelical Lutheran, from the Reformation era, but with a history in the early Christian Church extending back to earlier medieval times, with missionaries moving north from Germany. See present organization of the church at http://www.svenskakyrkan.se/default.aspx?di=657804 -- main administration for the 13 dioceses, through the Bishop, is at Uppsala.

FREDSBERG.

Records indicate a Fred Burg Parish; parish identification number 166 302, and that places it right here.  Some English translations call it "Fred's Church" -- not exactly a magnetic draw.  Parish identifications: See http://home.swipnet.se/~w-13626parishyes1.htm#F.  See FN 1 for the family chronology we think is accurate, so far:

3.  Fredsberg Kyrke Bell.

This bell is set inside the church. Inscriptions, markings unknown.

Fredsberg Kyrke, de-steepled bell, Sweden

We found an account later about a "pilgrimage badge" of Saint Helena being soldered onto the Fredsberg Church bell.  This is the bell, but we see no badge.  See http://hem.passagen.se/anesa/data/eng/saint_helena_2r.htm, at 167.  The date is given at that site as 1498.  Is that the date of the bell?

Bells and the community:  Living near the church meant hearing the bell toll. At least one diarist, a Jakob Jonsson from the 19th Century, in another area of Sweden, near Goteborg, used the bell tolling to keep a record of the deaths, the weddings.  See http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol43/gustavsson.pdf.  Read the entire diary of events in the parish there, for a flavor of life here as well.  Both were farming communities.

4.  Peasant and nobility, 19th Century -- from the Gustavvson folklore site

Funeral customs:

Since we list what we know of births and deaths, here is an example of customs in the 19th Century.

Read at the folklore site an account of peasant customs on the crofts and small farms of the day. For example only the mighty had funeral services inside the church, services for others were held at the graveside.  For them, a "forest" of cut spruces in the example were arranged around the coffin, 4 or 5 at each side, 2-3 at head and foot, outside on the porch. The corpse would be inside, on a platform, near the altar, for a ceremonial sprinkling of earth.  See folklore site.  Where to find the old rites reflected in that? Anything pre-Christian? Why not?  Corpses were carried on a bier from house to church, and only in the late 1800's did horse-drawn carriages appear. Fish and schnappes were considered essential for part of the funeral "repast" at the home afterwards. All was cleaned and ready in the house the day before the funeral.

Causes of death:

Records of contagious diseases interest us because of the story that Kajsa Johannesdotter's parents and siblings all died in a season with an epidemic.  That would be Fredsberg area over to Kinnekulle area somewhere, we think, perhaps a farm lower in Skane.

The folklore site lists these among many other causes (do see the photos there, and descriptions of the diseases, Rora Parish, coast and island area, Goteborg to the south?

Diarist Jakob Jonsson, editor Anders Gustavsson)

• 1850-1900 -- over half the Swedish illness deaths were from scarlet fever. A particular epidemic was in 1870.  We are interested here because of the family story of a catastrophic epidemic that killed all (we thought) family members in the owners of the farm, parents and children, except for young Kajsa, who married what we thought was a farmhand who nursed her back to health. In this story, a daughter similarly survives, and marries the "half-owner" - not a mere farmhand, and the name Olausson appears.  Do we have a wild match here or are we just enjoying the historical hunt -- see Kajse Johannsdotter's Story, Epidemic
• Typhoid, called a "nerve fever", a kind of salmonella
• Fewer numbers but significant: Epilepsy, called "falling sickness"; and smallpox; childbirth, accidents, drowning, etc.

King Carl, commemorative 1809, Fredsberg Kyrke

Find a list of noble burials, including at Fredsberg, at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~corpusnobiliorum/bonde.html

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FN 1 

Recap: Kajsa Johannesdotter, Carl Jon Widing's Great Grandmother, died in Philadelphia, where she had been residing with her daughter Anna Osterlund (his Grandmother) and her husband, William Widing,  Kajsa Johannesdotter: born 1829;  see Family Tree Maker, at http://www.familytreemaker.geneology.com/users//a/l/m/Brian-L-Almquist-OR/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0638.html

Fredsberg seems central to this family. See how many times everybody is born and married and dies, if known, here. More births than deaths can be documented, however. Is this the area of the great epidemic that took Kajsa's family? Is Stina who died in Nebraska really a surviving sister, not part of our lore before? Spellings vary. The parents of Kajsa Johannesdotter were Johannes Persson and Stina Ericsdotter, married here on February 25, 1824. See geneology site above.

CHRONOLOGY OF BIRTHS, 
FOCUS ON FREDSBERG KYRKE AND FREDSBERG PARISH 

ALSO KYRKETORP NOT FAR

1742  Petter Pehrsson (I) born Svenningstorp, Fredsberg, married Greta Jonsdotter

1744  Greta Jonsdotter born Svenningstorp, Fredsberg, married Petter Pehrsson (I)

• Had son Petter Pehrsson (II)
  

1751  Petter Larsson born Kyrketorp married Maria Bengtsdotter

1753  Maria Bengtsdotter born Kyrketorp married Petter Larsson

• Had daughter Maria Pehrsdotter [spelling from Petter to Pehr?]
  

1767  Petter Pehrsson (II) born Goranstorp, Fredsberg, married Maria Pehrsdotter

1773  Maria Pehrssdotter born Kyrketorp married Petter Pehrsson (II)

• Had son Johannes Persson [note the H dropped from earlier Pehrsson - is that ok?]
  

______  Johannes Persson, son of Petter Pehrsson (II) and Maria Pehrsdotter, married Stina Ericsdotter 1824 at Fredsberg

______  Stina Ericsdotter, daughter of ________________, married Johannes Pehrsson 1824 at Fredsberg.




Stina is found as

Photo: Gustaf and Anna Pettersson
Category: Headstone
Attached To: Anna Stina Johansdotter (1820-1891)

See ancestry.com (use the cite, will need to subscribe or go to library to view>)

Anna Kajsa Johannsdotter is at the same ancestry site, as
Anna Kajsa Johannesdotter
Birth: date - city, Älvsborg (Västra Götaland), Sverige (Sweden)  Additional information requires a payment.

There is also an Anna Caisa Johannesdotter at that site, 

Birth record Document Copy of Swedish parish record. Skaraborg; Björsäter; Volume: C:6; Födde (Births); 1805 - 1837; Roll/Fiche:... Anna Caisa Johannesdotter (1823-1827)

And
Name Anna
Mother: Anna Brita Österlund  (there is a current living Osterlund relative named Brita - connected?)
Birth:  2 aug 1886 - MO, Västernorrland

Kajsa Johannsdotter -- see Ancestry for long list of emigrating persons of that name, including a Britta Kajsa, Anna Kajsa, where to start.
................................................................................................
 This is getting like a researcher's laundry list.

• Start now with Johannes Persson and Stina Ericsdotter.

Their children were, and here is a mystery.  We had believed all had died in an epidemic.  Stina's death date is given as unknown; and Johannes Persson's death date is also given as unknown, as is the death dates of their children except for one, Stina.

We know that one of the missing dates is for Kajsa Johannesdotter, died in Philadelphia early 1900's, where she lived with her daughter Anna Osterlund and family, so the absence of death dates otherwise for children and parents in Sweden might support a large catastrophe -- all the children except for one also named Stina, and our Kajsa Johannesdotter, my husband's great grandmother, surviving.

The other children of Johannes Persson and Stina Ericsdotter are listed as Johanna, Lotta, Erik, Anna Lisa, see - go directly - and see if we have it right - at http://www.familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/a/l/m/Brian-L-Almquist-OR/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0635.html

This geneology list shows a daughter Stina that we had not known, with a known death date, dying in Nebraska in 1910. If this is the same family. Kajsa Johannesdotter is a common name. Should we go to Johannsdotter.

Move over to ancestry dot com and find Petter Pehrsson (the SENIOR) in Skane, born 1742, so looks like the same pehrsson, see all the work these Andersons have done here --

Petter Pehrsson - Anderson Family Tree

Greta Jonsdotter - Anderson Family Tree

That site lists Skane as place of origin -- large generic geographic delineation, not as precise as the parish. Skane is a broad flat area, south-south:  about 121 km northwest of Ystad.  Same people? Are we sure?  Is the link with Kajsa Johannesdotter a solid one?  Andersons, speak up. 

There must have been many Pehr's for Pehr's son to have married Pehr's daughter in Fredsberg Kyrke in November 17, 1793.  Petter Pehrsson picked a peck of no don't. That spelling may be the answer:  Maria Pehrsdotter's father was Petter, not a Pehr. Not a peach but a pear. Died date unknown.

Orebro - Castle in the River. Stolid Fortress.

Orebro, in the south-central part of Sweden, on the Svarta River, placed its castle wisely:  where future tourists would love it on its own island.  The town was a commercial and political center, coming to prominence in the 14th Century.  Later remodelings and renovations of its castle buttressed its function from defense, to commercial display of power, with windows for looking out; no arrow slots.  The crenellated roofline embellishes one end.  The bulbous towers are echoed in other structures nationally, from monasteries, see http://www.satie-archives.com/web/arkitekt.html
and other castles.  Very stolid. Solid. Heavy. Protectionist, not imaginative, is that so?  This is a land with few natural defenses, such as mountains, and coastal areas are flat, and inlands have lovely lakes and farmland, so this architecture makes sense:  once invaders landed, the Swedes fared best with musclebound fortresses.

Orebro, Sweden, castle on island

The town is known for Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson, hero in a rebellion against Denmark, 1390's-1434 or so; and Church Reformers Olaus and Laurentius Petri.  No connection to the petri dish?  Denmark, Sweden and Norway had been united under King Erik of Pomerania (Germany).

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.

Uppsala - Korven med brod! Sweden's French Hot Dog

The Global French Swedish Danish Hot Dog

At Its Best

Fransk korv med brod. Or Fransk korven med brod, for more than one, we think.  French hot dog, Swedish style.

French hot dog stand maestro, Uppsala Sweden

Find street kitchen wagons - near parking lots, the sights, this one in Uppsala.  Meet the maestro within, conducting the hanging condiments:  for hefty squeezes of ketchup, mustard and a great runny mayo.

The baguette comes with the hole already in the middle, just waiting to be grilled up just so, then squeeze in the mustard and ketchup and mayo, and jam in the hot dog - sausage - that you already grilled up on its own  -- Lantmannen-Unibake dot com -- Fast-Food/French-hot-dog-baguette/

Shake hands.

See one at the Lantmannen site above. Our own photo is at a Danish stand, in Roskilde, see it below -- http://denmarkroadways.blogspot.com/ 

French hot dog, Scandinavian fast food (This one from Roskilde, Denmark)

It can be a good thing to get a standardized product when you want to eat fast.  Bring thesse, please, to America,

Why is this called a French hot dog? 

The Lantmannen site says the French hot dog probably comes from use of the soft baguette. Is that so?  The Lantenmannen site says it originated in Denmark, but we first found it in Sweden.  We never noticed it was on the menu in Denmark -- lured by the pork sandwiches instead.

Enjoy! These were made to order, no stack of already grilled dogs sogging on the side, or barely heated rolls. No mess. These could readily be tossed down the seats at a ball game -- far superior to our open-sided ones, and they stay hot longer. 

Fast food here is in the sense of getting it faster than restaurant, but not pre-made.  That would make this product a detriment at the ball game, where the dogs get jammed in a side-slit bun, seasoned, and tossed in a hopeful napkion. But the taste here is better. No soak. No joke.

French hot dog stand, Uppsala. Sweden

Stroll with yours around the Cathedral area. Find doors with herringbone patterns, this perhaps to what had been a school attached.  Traces of changes in architecture, uses, a roof at one point.

Sit here and enjoy the hot dog.

Side entrance, tower beside Cathedral, Uppsala - remains of earlier side sacristy?

Sit out here and enjoy the hot dog.

Wars, Particulars, and Sandwiches. Culture and Political Movements in Fiction and Real Life: Culture, Politics, WWII to Now. Den Svenske Nationalsocialisten. And the human side: Food.

Wars and Sandwiches
Stieg Larsson, Author

Cultural frameworks for political and novel acting out.
 Wars and Sandwiches.  
The Novel Escape.

 1.  Wars, museums and novels. A look at food in Stieg Larsson's mystery novels; and references to repressive politics there and in museums.

2.  Stieg Larsson's dark world; politics then and now. Immigration and supremacism, as here and elsewhere in Europe

3.  Food through it all. This is stressful. I think I need a sandwich. Open face. Descriptions and some recipes. Stieg Larsson on sandwiches and snacks.

I.  Wars and museums; then novels.  The neutral country examined, a little.

The air museum near Linkoping shows some stage-setting scenes of life at home and in the air during war.  Living rooms set up, people listening to radios, a mock-up of a plane crash.  We saw little interest in presenting Sweden's experience with Naziism, however, so we are looking that up ourselves.

Our interest in Sweden and Nazism started not with a museum at all, but with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson.

Larrson is the author of the fine series of dark mysteries that abound in people taking showers, enjoying wonderful sandwiches, coffee at all hours, while solving grisly situations.

The Stieg Larsson Girl With the Dragon Tattoo also mentions the Swastika and the WASA Sheaf, a paper by Helene Loow, about symbols adopted by German Nazis and Swedish Nazis.  How could a people who so love good food do terrible things.  Answer.  We all do and do.

Is this it?  A sheaf of wheat. What is the WASA?  Something about National Socialist Worker's Party? Fair use thumbnail from www.uwasa.fin, that looks like Finland's form.  Looking for one for Sweden.

Here:  fair use thumbnail from Wikipedia, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Socialist_Workers%27_Party_%28Sweden%29/  The Vasa Sheaf is the Vasakarven here.

Vasakärven

 

Larsson and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo also refers to

• The National Socialist Worker's Party is mentioned at 72; along with 
• A 1933 Lindholm movement  a/k/a NSW that must mean National Socialist Worker's. 
• A Sven Olof Lindholm who formed a party called the NSAP in January of 1933, National Socialist "Arbitare Pariet" (is arbitare "worker??"). Then it changed its name to Svensk Socialistisk Samling (SSS) and that carried on until dissolved in 1950.  See ://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/16675-nsap-sss/  Its flag:  yellow swastika on blue ground.  Click on posts at the site for pictures of events, Lindholm, etc. Wikipedia says it was dissolved by 1945.

The NSW moved away from Hitler's ideas, see the site above, and by 1938 (in 1938 WWII began) had abandoned use of the swastika, and continued on a path stressing anti-capitalism and socialism along a Swedish and not German model. However, it was and (is?) a strong denier of the Holocaust, and some groups known abroad by the "skinhead" description.

In 1945 a group Den Svenske Nationalsocialisten began the holocaust denial movement in Sweden, is that a correct understanding?

Then we ask, from the Stieg Larsson book's character, Was there really a Richard Vanger? The new genre of Nordic Noir lists him at sites but these appear to be all fictional, Dragon Tattoo related, see somebody's blog at ://nordicnoir.wordpress.com/2010/05/09/nazis/



II.  New incarnation of population issues, one asserting supremacism:  Anti-immigration.

Now, the Den Svenske Nationalsocialisten group has accelerated an anti-immigration focus:  Anti immigration party formed of skinhead movement seizes balance of power in Sweden, see March 28, 2011 at ://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1313639/Swedish-election-Anti-immigration-party-formed-skinhead-movement.html

Sounds like the US and just as sinister.  Global fear virus. An expanded lifestyle, more inclusive, is not "loss" of lifestyle, but it looks like half the US is scared stiff of empathy and opportunity for other than those like them, or is that too harsh?  Global discussion needed.

Humanaphobia.  Fear of other human beings, pick the arbitrary attribute of distinction.  Tint, origin, caste.  Not of my tribe! Think the Teas east and west. Nuts.

Other issue is looking up how neutral was Sweden during WWII.

Theorem:  No governmental position ever represents agreement in the entire population, is that so, and commerce and other baser motives, as well as sincerely held ideological positions, pull in high places. So it is not surprising here to find ongoing profitable financial relationships between Sweden and Germany during WWII, see ://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1146462/Revealed-How-neutral-Sweden-secret-loans-Nazi-Germany-WWII.html/   Is this a neutral site?  Need to vet the sources.

There were also sizable numbers of Swedish volunteers in the German armed forces, see ://www.feldgrau.com/sweden.html/  Also to be expected according to the Theorem. There as here in the US, people retain their allegiances, ideologies, hatreds etc.,  even if the national rulers are moving in another direction.

Here is a refresher course on Swedish history, its expansions, at ://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Europe/Sweden-HISTORY.html/ Scroll down to Sweden and Neutrality and see the number of ways that Sweden has chosen a path differing from neighboring Norway or across-the-water Denmark.  This takes time to absorb, but omnia scandinavia in tres partes divisa est but each divisa is different.


III.  Food!  War, Crime, Peace

Pass the coffee.  Shall we make a sandwich. Open face.  Buy one in the morning where you are enjoying your pastry and coffee.  It'll keep. Top with caviar, cucumber, dill, dollops delish.

Swedish open-faced sandwiches, Ystad shop (includes bakery-pastry  case, and, yes, coffee. See Ystad post.

See more at Stieg Larsson and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo:  There, people under stress and people sorting through it all eat, eat, eat. and wisely. We are enjoying it all immensely -- pages from our library book refer to

• roast hare with currant jelly and potatoes 90,
• ordering or eating sandwiches 113, 139, 231, 320, 347 (that one at a vending machine -- Scandinavian sandwiches and many in Europe's vending machine are indeed delicious, and fresh); 
• sausage and liverwurst (for the cat) 117, 
• more making coffee,
• "big open rye-bread sandwiches with cheese, caviar, and a hard-boiled egg" -- as a nighttime snack 215;  
• boil some potatoes and have "open sandwiches of pickled herring in mustard sauce with chives and egg:  279;
• "sauteed lamb chops in wine sauce" 297-- ooh. A simple reduction sauce perhaps, remove chops, keep warm, drain fat, add butter, swirl in red wine, reduce? 
• Then there are horrid, greedy and dumb product placements all over. Skip those. Any product mentioned in a book or movie we avoid on principle.  Cheap shots, propaganda. Don't want to know the brand.  
• Then, heroine smiles are wry or crooked or lopsided or people curl their lips.  That takes practice

Larsson sandwiches.  The best.

Sandwiches as World Cuisine:

Many people offer favorite recipes for this cool take and go, including some who since emigrated from Sweden, like Marcus Samuelsson here.  Here, he lays out his open-faced salmon sandwich, saying he had that as a child in Sweden often -- see ://www.kitchendaily.com/2010/07/09/open-faced-salmon-sandwich/   Try a mussel and bacon one, at ://www.chow.com/recipes/12769-swedish-open-faced-mussel-and-bacon-sandwiches/  The shrimp one is in most of the best shops, and even some vending machines -- you can trust the freshness -- see ://blogs.sweden.se/photo/2011/03/28/land-of-the-open-faced-smorgas/

The Girl Who Played With Fire has fewer references, so we move on to the last in the trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest.

  [and always coffee]

• Breakfast:  "two slices of toast with cheese, orange marmalade, and a sliced avocado" page 19
• Midnight snack:  cheese and liver pate sandwich

That was about it on food. Larsson mysteries seem to have covered that.

Old Wars.

More of interest in Hornet is the accounts of Amazons, women warrior tales, and that Ireland finally passed a law forbidding it, that meant (of course) that they were actively doing it at the time, in 697, as the (ahem amen) gents' Church took over and made edicts against nature.  Amazon, says Larsson, comes from Greek meaning "no breast" but there is no real proof that they removed a protuberance in order to archer better. Linguistic riddle:  is the "a" a prefix meaning without, or meaning With (sizeables).  See 147.