Skansen and Vasa

 

1830 Farmer

This morning, we explored the Skansen open air museum. Established in 1891, over 150 structures from throughout Sweden were moved here to celebrate Swedish culture and tradition. First up was a 11^th century Rune stone. Next was an 1830 farmhouse. The farmer explained that the cows, pigs, and chickens spent 7 months of the year in the barns, but all their feed for the winter must be grown in 3 months. They grow primarily barley and potatoes. The women take care of the animals, while the men do everything else. We continued to a 19^th century town, Several different other farms, windmills, churches, schools, and tradesman. Further on were the typical farm animals of Sweden, and then a zoo of Nordic animals like moose, caribou, and brown bears.

14th Century Storehouse

The Vasa is a unique find, a 17th-century century ship where 98% of the ship is original. This warship was designed to be the most powerful ship in existence: 64 cannon arranged on two decks. 

Two decks of cannon

At the time, Sweden was at war with Denmark, Poland, and Russia. King Gustavus Adolphus wanted a new flagship for his navy. The ship set sail on August 10, 1628, sailed 1300 meters, a gust of wind came up, the ship was top-heavy, foundered on its side, took on water through the cannon ports, and sank. The ship was 53 meters high, 69 meters long and only 11 meters wide. In the museum the masts are only half the original height, the full height extends outside the building. The ballast of the ship was too light compared to what was above the waterline. During testing for stability, they learned that the ship was unstable, but who was going to tell the king that he couldn’t have a second deck of guns? This ship was meant to impress with over 600 carvings, originally in very bright colors. 

Model of ship in original colors