The Vasa: A Symbol of Sweden's Past ... And the Cedarholms' Future

The Vasas Sinking

  The Vasa, Stockholm’s most popular museum, has only one exhibit. It’s all about the Vasa, one of the largest warships of its time, taking three years to build, but less than 30 minutes to sink on its maiden voyage (1628), and then over 300 years to be recovered, resurrected, mostly restored (98% intact). History, science, archeology and mystery are all there. One of Sweden’s greatest achievements and embarrassments at the same time.  

The Vasa was not just a warship but also a showcase of Sweden’s wealth and power. It was not only brimming in cannons but also magnificent iconography honoring Sweden and King Gustavus Adolphus. But the exhibit is weak on context, especially about Sweden’s great power ambitions that lay behind it all. The Vasa represents not only a marvelous story about an incredible feet of engineering and restoration – all detailed in the museum - but also a powerful reminder of Sweden’s role as a regional 17th century powerhouse.


The Vasa restored in the Vasa Museum in Stockholm

  King Gustavus wanted the Vasa to be the jewel of Sweden’s large fleet of warships, geared toward controlling the Baltic Sea, its lucrative trade routes and the countries that bordered it. Sweden was then at war with Poland, a war that had begun in the 1560s and would continue intermittently till the 1660s. The wars with Poland were crucial to Sweden's rise as a great power in the 17th century, often referred to as the "Swedish Empire" or "Great Power Era" (Stormaktstiden) in Swedish history. They were also crucial to the demise of the Polish-Lithuanian empire, and its eventual dismemberment 100 years later.

  

Sweden’s great power ambitions were burst in the 18th century primarily by Russia, with its own empire-building Tsarist leaders. Sweden's failed ambition was also borne heavily by the common people, people like Samuel Petersson, impoverished with a wife and six children, desperate for a better life and risking all to emigrate to America. Carol's great great great grandfather was never heard from again. 




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Ancestor Puzzle

Image
Swedes and Americans at Tyresbo, Rumskulla meeting for the first time Sept. 2024 Swedish relatives adding to 21 foot long family tree that I brought with me.   Two years ago, with the help of a Swedish genealogist, Christine Bayne, I was able to locate and write letters to surviving relatives in Sweden. I told them about my quest and that I wanted to meet them. I immediately received welcoming and excited letters and emails from about 10 of them. My cousin Birgir Svensson wrote, “I can inform you that we are 34 cousins who meet every 15 years or so. Our ages range from 67 to 93 and most of us are still living. My brother Yngve Svensson is one of the few who still live in Rumskulla today. He lives in Hamra, Rumskulla. He plans to coordinate your visit....So, Carol, I think you will have a great welcome home to Rumskulla when you arrive.”   And we did have quite the welcome home! We had a day long reunion in Rumskulla, a small town in rural south-central Sweden in a ...
Read more

Carol's Rebel Heritage

Image
   Carol's ancestors are from  Småland, and  Nils Dacke was the heroic and revered peasant leader who exemplified the independent spirit that Småland was known for. Between 1542-43 he led an uprising against King Gustav Vasa by  Smålanders .    Excessively high taxes imposed by the king primarily to fund his Baltic expansionist ambitions burdened the people, and they also suffered from his centralization of power, restrictions on their freedom and attempt to establish a Protestant state church (Swedish reformation).    With widespread popular support, Dacke’s peasant army succeeded in bringing all of Småland as well as neighboring areas out from under the monarch's grip. They defeated the royal forces in several battles, forcing Gustav Vasa to negotiate. So Dacke won a peace agreement with the king on November 8, 1542,  and agreed not to move on to Stockholm with his army .  Småland gained a degree of independence. The Nils Dac...
Read more

Cedarholm Swedish Roots

Image
  Samuel Petersson’s home, where he lived as a crofter (tenant farmer) for thirty or so years before leaving for America in 1849, is now a barren piece of land in  Källeberg, Rumskulla . We visited it this past week, along with many other locations related to Carol’s heritage. This was the precious place where Samuel's wife Greta Catharina bore seven children between 1826 and 1838, including Lars Johan, Carol’s great great grandfather. Carol and Yngve Svensson (her "third cousin once removed") co-organizers of the family reunion that brought 70 American and Swedish family members together in Hamra, Rumskulla, Sweden.    However precious, it was not economically productive or viable for the family. This small piece of land couldn’t have been much even to begin with, given the famously rocky soil of  Småland. It allowed the family just to barely eke out a living primarily with livestock. Samuel and Greta depended on only a few cows, a horse and some sheep. We...
Read more