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In 1892, Lieutenant Artur Bäckström leased Julita Manor from his father, Johan. This sounds a strange arrangement however, the manor actually belonged to the tobacco company that his father owned so, really, Arthur leased it from the company. When his father died in 1902, Arthur inherited the company, which meant he became his own landlord and, therefore, could stop paying rent on the estate.
Arthur served in the Sörmland Regiment and held the rank of Lieutenant when he retired from the army in 1906. So, naturally, everyone on the estate called him Lieutenant. He died in 1941, but his presence is still felt around the estate and even more so in the big house, Julita Manor.
We went and visited the estate today which, by sheer chance, was Apple Day.
This may explain why the café in the grounds had run out of apple juice when we stopped for a light lunch. It doesn’t explain why they didn’t replenish their supplies from either the shop or one of the many stalls set up by the big yellow greenhouse
Not that that was a problem. Just a mystery, really.
Moving on…the Lieutenant’s mother, Lilly, was a great friend and supporter of Artur Hazelius, the man behind Nordiska Museet and Skansen so, naturally, when Artur Bäckström became the owner of Julita, he turned it into a mini-Skansen.
He had buildings moved from various locations and placed them, decoratively, throughout the estate.
In the 1920’s, the Lieutenant decided to donate the entire Julita estate to the Nordiska Museet upon his death. Actually, it was kept a secret from everyone except the museum people until he died. I don’t know why. Maybe so the staff wouldn’t worry about their jobs.
Anyway, we visited because it is included on our Nordiska card. And, just like Svindersvik and Tyresö Sl0tt, we went on the tour of the house. In Swedish. And, with great delight, Mirinda declared that she understood about half of it. Naturally, I understood about five words.
The house is, as you’d expect, something of a stately home. Rooms full of paintings, books and the aroma of the financially secure. Speaking of paintings, I was very excited to find a very impressive painting of Salome in one room.
The guide lady said something about Rubens. And, on further investigation, it is a copy of the Rubens in the National Gallery of Scotland which means I have probably already seen it. Anyway, it was very exciting and totally unexpected.
The library, consisting of around 5,000 books, was also very impressive.
All in all, the tour was excellent, even if I have no idea what was being said. Seeing the rooms and, most impressive, the furniture made by the extraordinary craftsman Henning Forsman, was fantastic.
And, of course, the grounds and other buildings on the estate. It all made for a marvellous day out. Julita Manor is definitely worth a visit though, of course, the house is now closed for the season.
Oh, and we saw a couple of moose (meese?) on the way home. They were in a field, chomping away at something vegetarian. They were, presumably, a lot happier than this chap, who the Lieutenant probably bagged in his pyjamas. Though, what the moose was doing in his pyjamas is anyone’s guess (thank you, Groucho).
All up, an excellent day out.
