Waxholm - The Roslagen trails 05
is an island in the Roslagen part of the Stockholm Archipelago. And a municipality that boldly claims they’re the capital of the Archipelago. At least a hub for the boat and ferry trafic in that part of the Archipelago. The harbor is bigger with more passenger boats than Sandhamn and Utö for instance. As a young punk I thought of it as a magic place because of the Record company and studio there. MNW as the name was. Where legendary Swedish bands like KSMB, Nationalteatern, Tant Strul and others were signed and some records were recorded in the old house in Waxholm. But that is another trail.
The trail there was in the steps of Margot Franzén and Linda Sundgren. Mikaela Lodén is another writer as well as an Archeologist. I’m convinced I will be back to follow in Lodén’s steps. But for now I followed in the steps of the two writers I had read.
I want to mention that none of the writers is by my knowledge translated and published outside Sweden. But I can be wrong about that.I did arrive by bus, not by boat as I imagined. Mostly I was impatient and didn’t want to lose time waiting for the boat. I arrived in the morning just before the bigger streams of tourists and visitors. As I often plan to do.
Let's do the Harbor first. Where the first corpse is found in the novel Morden i Waxholm (The Waxholm Murders, my transl.). I’m glad it starts off there. Because it is where we visitors begin at Waxholm. The novel and me as a trailer walk the walk so to speak. In the Harbor. I guess every Waxholmer has made that thought at least once. And to me it was pretty much my impression of Waxholm through the ages. Yes, I feel ashamed that I never dug any deeper into the town, out of tourist arrogance I think. Now I do.
The big impression and unforgetting view is the Waxholm Fortress. Originally founded by King Gustav Eriksson Vasa in the 1500. NNL readers will always bump into King Gustav I, it is inevitable to not mention him from time to time. The founding father of what became modern Sweden and the Swedes' entrance into the Renaissance. The Fortress dominates the view.I guess I got the canoe club building right. Today an art gallery. If not, I don't know where to find it. Also the view over the sea and Archipelago from the window in ……it all becomes a blur. I am sorry. The locations aren't very obvious. There are few distinct locations in the town itself. More out on other islands and outside the town. So I go for the look and fell of it.
I get seduced by the town of Waxholm more or less. So, like I just pointed out, it all turns into a look and feel of the town and the Island. More than an actual location trail.
The beauty of the picturesque small town.
that day was also a trail in the steps of Swedish Art History. The Facebook followers know I am sometimes doing art posts. Unless Swedish Literature and Music. Swedish Art hasn't made such an impression on the rest of the world. Anders Zorn’s naked women on sea cliffs are the exception. Pretty unknown outside Sweden his fellow artists were more and less superstars in Sweden and possibly in the rest of the Nordic Countries. The Danes have a much more well known bunch of painters in both the Skagen Painters and the CoBrA group (Copenhagen, Bruxells, Amsterdam).
Nevertheless, the rock star-like artists in the late 1800/early 1900 hundred gathered in the big Villa built by painter J.A.G. Acke, Villa Akleja. I would love to be a fly on the wall in that house back when it all happened. Maybe even the late 1900 century rock stars would be jealous? Everything in the hedonist environment died off with Acke’s sudden death by heart failure in his studio. That is what I can make out from the bits and pieces about the artists I gathered. The spirit however seemed to live on some more years but not at Akleja.. Note the Evert Taube Roslagen post. It was cool to spot it at least.
Going home I catched the boat. Not least to pass the harbor at Stora Höggarn, used in the Morden tv-series. And because it is the best way to travel through greater Stockholm. Remember that this is old Viking areas and Stockholm’s placement was decided by the seafaring Hanseatic league. In my comfortable traveling I will not claim any Viking anything at all. But there is a heritage. And the Archipelago can be understood better that way.
One hour by Bus or Boat from central Stockholm.
No 6 on the map.
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| The Harbor from Morden |
