Last summer, one of the places that Mirinda asked me to go and check out as a possibility for Swedish living, was Slottskogen on the Skokloster Peninsular. I found it very, very quiet. Apart from the building work going on in the centre of the place. I also found it had no shops and only an hourly bus service to the bigger town of Bålsta, a place I felt reflected the western suburbs of Sydney, the place where I grew up.
This morning, Mirinda suddenly announced, upon my return from the shops, that she wanted to go and visit the slott just up the road from Slottskogan. It seems it’s only an hour away from Ekerö by car. And so, after only a bit of ado, we packed the puppies into Max and set off up the E18.
There are some people who build houses in order to live in them and, therefore, only build them with regard to their needs. Then there are other people who build houses to impress other people. These latter types believe they are improved with a house that’s far too big and costs more money than Croesus ever had. One such man was Count Carl Gustaf Wrangel, a man who loved to brag. And war. He loved war because it gave him the means to brag.
Obviously, a violent man, Carl had made all of his money by killing other people and stealing their stuff. Of course, back in the 17th century, it wasn’t called stealing, and it was perfectly fine to take stuff home after a bit of argy bargy with a perceived enemy. It was called booty, something which has a very different meaning these days.
Anyway, having had a lot of success at war, Carl decided he needed a massive house to further feed his incy wincy ego, so he had the German architect, Caspar Vogel, design him a house that was far too big in order to maintain his bragging rights over everyone else in the country. Carl had to make sure that everyone knew just how much money he had. He was even richer than the King of Sweden. Though, and this is something I’ll never understand, he’d have been richer if he had not built such a house.
Still, he did have it built and now we plebs, can go and visit it.
Or, rather, Mirinda visited it, really. I stayed outside with the girls, laid back on a grassy knoll and enjoyed the warmth of the sun.
Having joined a Swedish tour group and convinced them to speak English, Mirinda roamed the halls, rooms and attic of the Baroque style monstrosity until closing time, insisting that we had to return, so she could see the rest of it.
She was full of stories of the eccentricities of the owners and the fact that there was no electricity above the ground floor. As well as a lot of the place being quite dim with the lack of light, Mirinda said it was also quite cold given the lack of heating. With the cost of energy at the moment, this is probably a good thing and a harbinger of the future.
Given anything I write will be second hand, here’s a link to the castle’s history. I shall make my own comments and opinions when I get to go inside at some future visit.
As for the outside…the estate is pretty extensive and includes a huge church with detached belfry. I would have gone inside, but it closed at the same time as the slott so that didn’t happen. Definitely next time.
Overall, it was a splendid day, further enriched by the fact that, the town of Slottskogen now has a small supermarket in the centre. Last summer, it was a building site, now it’s two blocks of flats and a shop. That’s quite amazing and definitely something to brag about.
