CHAPTER VI

THE SKERRIES OF STOCKHOLM

Interspersed here and there among the countless waterways of Stockholm’s Skärgård, and interposing between it and the Baltic, are some twelve to thirteen hundred islands, many splendidly wooded, others mere rocks, on which the good citizens of the capital have built their summer residences. Islands of every conceivable shape and size, some uninhabited, the others with picturesque villas and cottages nestling among the pines and rocks. A scenery that is typical of Swedish landscape at its best with grey-green hilly country on the mainland covered here and there with fir and birch and flecked with white or even vivid vermilion houses, and pleasant little emerald-green islands, among which a vast flotilla of diminutive small steamers are darting to and fro, as they link up the many villages and summer residences to the capital.

[Illustration: ISLANDS IN THE BALTIC, NEAR STOCKHOLM]

It is from the Stream, the pulsating centre of Stockholm, where large vessels come up from the Baltic to dock on the very city street, that a passage can be taken on one of those many little passenger steamers that cruise about the picturesque littoral of the Skärgård; and whether one embarks on a ship whose destination is some locality famous in Swedish history or selects haphazard the boat that is to convey you east or west, the journey that is taken is worth while, since every steamer route that radiates from Stockholm is one of charm and beauty.

Of the many interesting excursions which can thus be made by water from Stockholm there are several which should obtain precedence whenever the time that can be devoted to them is limited. And taking those which can be made in an easterly direction, the first that I would select is undoubtedly Saltsjöbaden, the most fashionable watering-place of the capital. Here on a narrow peninsula that juts out into the Skärgård and along a circular bay luxuriously wooded, commanding views on the surrounding islands that are memorable, are large hotels and stately villas set in beautiful grounds; an excellent restaurant greatly patronised by the gay and fashionable in which late dancing is a characteristic feature, and swimming pavilions in which the merchant and middle classes of the capital spend their summer months bathing, fishing, or boating. Saltsjöbaden is undoubtedly an attractive resort, yet what endeared it to me, even more than its charm and animation or the beauty of its setting, was the opportunity which it afforded me of seeing the city of Stockholm at midnight as we returned to it by the watercourses that have given it its unique character. Bathed in moonlight and illumined by myriad yellow points of fire whose gleams were mirrored in the waters of the Ström, the city seemed transfigured, almost unrecognisable, like one of those magic towns that you see in dreams. If I remember nothing else about Sweden, I shall remember that experience as long as I live.

Of the other beautiful excursions that may be made in the direction of the Baltic from the City of Bridges there are two or three which are almost equally attractive.

To the south-east of Stockholm is Gustafsberg, a journey of nearly two hours through countless watercourses and past many winding canals and the large fjord of Baggensfjärden. Gustafsberg, which is beautifully situated on Värmdö, the largest island in the archipelago, has the oldest and most renowned pottery and china factories to be found in Sweden. Inland, and only a short distance from Stockholm, of which it was formerly the oldest and most important suburb, is Djursholm, now an independent city. Beautifully situated in North Värtan on pretty undulating ground among groves of fine oak trees, it is a picturesque little town which is in winter a great centre of skating and ice-yachting. It formerly belonged to the Banér family, whose old palace is still to be seen in a restored condition. Equally distant from the capital is Vaxholm, another well-known but less fashionable watering-place. A little fishing town of fifteen hundred people with several restaurants and hotels, it is patronised largely by Swedish-Americans, and is the Mecca of motor-boats and small yachts. The old fortress of Vaxholm stands on the foreground on a small island in the little Sound two hundred yards from the shore. Built by Gustavus Vasa in the middle of the sixteenth century, it has been the scene of many historic events and has for centuries guarded the approach to the capital.

If the excursions that can be made in a westerly direction from Stockholm are not as numerous as those that abound in the Skärgård, they certainly make up qualitatively for their quantitative deficiencies; and within easy distance from the capital are two historic old castles and a city whose historic tombs and monuments single out among their fellows.

Five miles from Kungsholmen, and facing Lake Mälar, is Drottningholm, a royal castle built in the French style after the designs of the two Tessins, father and son, by the old Dowager Queen of Sweden, Hedvig Eleonora, the wife of Charles X., in the seventeenth century, which is perhaps “the most comprehensive and perfect picture of what Sweden’s period of greatness could produce in the field of art”. The main part of the building was erected in the decade beginning 1660 by Nicodemus Tessin the elder, but remained unfinished till the beginning of the next century, when under the active supervision of the old Queen it rapidly took on its present form, Nicodemus Tessin the younger being responsible for the greater part of the designs. And as in the case of the royal castle in the capital, no effort was spared and no expenditure thought too great to make the new royal residence worthy of the pre-eminence which had been attained by Swedish leadership and Swedish armies in the allied fields of diplomacy and war.

Before laying out the park, Nicodemus Tessin the younger made a special journey to Versailles to receive instruction in the formal French school of gardening from the celebrated Lenotre, Louis XIV.’s garden architect, while the staircase, hall and interior were decorated with a magnificence hitherto unknown in Sweden.

French influence was at that time strongly marked, French standards in furniture and architecture generally predominating; and though the Swedes were unable to reproduce all the lightness and elegance characterising French house decorations and furniture, they succeeded on this occasion in giving their country a royal residence whose magnificence almost equalled that of the château of Versailles. The furniture which I saw in many of the apartments belonged to the Louis XIV. period, with ancient chair coverings, many of these hand-painted and in an admirable state of preservation, while the interior, which has lately been restored by the best Swedish art experts, is equally pleasing. Drottningholm contains many valuable tapestries, paintings, and works of art and at least two rooms that are in themselves worth a special visit.

Designed by Nicodemus Tessin the younger, who in this instance worked in collaboration with Burchardt Precht, the celebrated wood carver, Queen Hedvig Eleonara’s bedroom, if a little pompous and over-ornate, is decorated with such magnificence that it never fails to extort admiration from even those who usually prefer a more simple and sedate ornamentation. Profusely adorned with wood carvings, its ceiling and walls are set in with paintings by Ehrenstrahl, while it forms a complete architectural composition, in which the Queen’s very ornate state bed high on an estrade behind high Ionic gilded columns acts as unifying centre.

The other room, Queen Louisa Ulrika’s Library, belongs to a later period and was executed by the celebrated Swedish cabinet-maker Jean Erik Rehn, the founder of the Gustavian Swedish Louis XVI. style. Artistically designed and combining ornateness with simplicity, this room possesses one of the most artistic interiors which I have seen in Sweden, and is in every way worthy of the great name that this artist won for himself in the second half of the eighteenth century, as pioneer of Swedish art industry, while it certainly bears out the words that Tessin engraved, not only in this library, but over one of his frescoes in the National Museum of Stockholm, that “By art the senses were attuned to mildness and harshness put to flight”. If these words faithfully reflect the cultural tendencies of the eighteenth century, then certainly Rehn was successful in his aim.

Fifty yards from the Castle and built in the years 1764-1766 for King Adolph Frederick, by the Court architect Adelcrantz, is a theatre whose collection of theatre costumes and stage _décors_ is perhaps unique in the world. This theatre was used for theatrical performances during the reign of Gustavus III., but at his death in 1792 was converted into a lumber room, in which condition it remained until 1922 when it was restored to its original state.

The interior is a beautiful example of a style that is a blend of the Swedish Gustavian and rococo, and while the auditorium is comparatively small, as befits a theatre that was only intended for the Royal Family, the Court and their invited guests, the stage, which was decorated by Masreliez during the seventeenth century, is unusually deep even for the present day (about twenty-two yards), and provided with a set of machinery and _décors_ that are of extraordinary interest from the artistic and scenic points of view. Both stage and auditorium are practically in the same condition as they were in the eighteenth century, and even the footlights of that time have been preserved and are still in use. The stage mechanism is in perfect working order, and there are no less than thirty scenic decorations which are of engrossing interest for the light which they cast on the stage decorative art of the old regime. Among the stage properties which date from that time I noticed, in addition to some of the original footlights and a clavecin that could still be played upon, many quaint fire appliances and stage weapons such as hatchets, swords, and Hercules clubs, as well as the tail and head of a Viking ship which had been found in a neighbouring pond.

[Illustration: GRIPSHOLM CASTLE, NEAR STOCKHOLM]

The auditorium, which like the stage has been left untouched, contains many attractive cut-glass chandeliers and wall brackets which, originally adapted for wax candles, have now been wired for electric light, as well as the carefully preserved place-marks which used to indicate the seat which every guest was to occupy. The first row appears to have been reserved to the Royal Family, the Court and diplomatic world; and behind, those of minor degree were seated, from the King’s body-guard to his second valets or barbers. As was usual in the eighteenth century, the royal party and their invited guests always retired for supper to the foyer after the performance, while the ladies and gentlemen of the Court strolled or waited about in the top gallery, in case their presence should be required by their august masters.

In the rooms adjoining the theatre are several interesting collections of pictures and costumes illustrating the history of scenic art from mediæval times to the age of Gustavus III. I was shown a number of particularly beautiful costume sketches by Primaticcio which had been designed for a fête given at the Court of King Francis I. of France, and also some original sketches by Desprez, the chief stage painter of Gustavus III., and a series of rare Italian and French theatrical designs dating from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries which undoubtedly constitute invaluable material for the student of stage history, yet the clou of the whole collection, in my opinion, lies in the exquisite little model theatre which I found relegated in one of the smaller rooms. Designed by Tessin some time before the theatre had been completed, this little gem reveals this artist at his best and is in every sense admirable.

Picturesquely situated on the most southerly shore of Lake Mälar near the small town of Mariefred, and within three hours by steamer from the capital, is the mighty brick-built fortress of Gripsholm, historically and romantically perhaps the finest castle in the whole of Sweden. It was originally built by a knight called Bo Jonsson Grip, who was the most powerful subject of his time, and was named after the grip or griffin which he bore as his arms.

Mirroring its huge tower-crowned walls in the placid waters of Mälarviken, this castle embodies in every line the rugged strength of its founder, while nowhere in Sweden have I seen an edifice which, in its solitary grandeur, stately aloofness from the world and picturesqueness of situation, is more pervaded by the atmosphere of the remote days when Gustavus Vasa and his successors were carving a nation out of chaos and paving the way for the prosperity that was to follow. Here Gustavus planned and organised the machinery that was destined to bring an almost unparalleled prosperity to his country, and here in turn his two sons, Erik and Johan, kept each other prisoner, Erik dying ultimately in another prison at Örbyhus in 1577. For centuries, in fact, there was little of national importance that was not transacted in Gripsholm; and if it had a chequered history, its days of glory more than adequately compensated, its heyday probably coinciding with the reign of Gustavus III., during the time this monarch was expending vast sums in adorning its halls with beautiful frescoes and decorations. On the 29th of March 1809, moreover, it was the scene of the abdication of Gustavus IV. Adolphus.

The castle has been restored so often, however, that only in portions of its exterior and interior does it really date back to the time of its founder, while many rooms have been wainscoted and illumined with coloured woods and frescoes in order to house the portraits of the kings, queens and famous men who contributed to the history of the last three centuries. The collection of royal paintings which has thus been formed is consequently of unique character, while the stately proportions of those parts of the building which have remained unchanged since the sixteenth century enable us to imagine what a princely effect the whole must have presented when its walls were hung with damask and filled with masterpieces of art. As all the rooms contain, moreover, many pieces of the original furniture which were used by Gustavus Vasa and his successors, it is easy to reconstruct in one’s mind the manner in which Swedish royalty lived in those remote days. Of the oldest portions of the castle no room impressed me more than the one in which lived Duke Charles of Södermanland, the younger brother of Princes Erik and Johan, and which is supposed to have been fitted up by him as far back as 1596. Practically unchanged from those early days, it is an interesting example of an interior of the sixteenth century, and while its woodwork is pure Renaissance, though very simple in character, the paintings adorning its walls and ceilings are by Hans, a painter who hails from the town of Strängnäs, the capital of Charles’ duchy. In all the older rooms I noticed window recesses which were so long and narrow that they formed almost a corridor, the thickness of the walls (usually five to eight or even ten feet) often making such recesses a necessity.

[Illustration: THE KINGS’ MOUNDS, UPSALA]

Lying north of the lake and picturesquely situated on the banks of the river Fyris is the old town of Upsala, the residence of the Archbishop of Sweden and the oldest and most important university town in the country. It can be reached in less than five hours by the waterways of Lake Mälar or in one hour by train from Stockholm, though a stop should certainly be made on the way to it at Skokloster, if only to visit the magnificent turreted castle that lies on the forested fringe of Lake Mälar. This imposing edifice, which was erected in 1649 on the very site of a mediæval monastery which Gustavus Adolphus once presented to one of his generals, contains valuable collections of furniture, portraits, tapestries and arms which illustrate the Thirty Years’ War, its collection of old weapons being probably the largest private collection to be found in Europe. Upsala, in addition to being a celebrated university town, is also a city that presents many attractive features from the antiquarian and artistic points of view. A few minutes’ drive from the centre of the town brings you to Old Upsala, which was the seat of the early pagan monarchs of the country, and here to this day are to be seen tumuli of three kings, the Mounds of Odin, Thor, and Freyr. Excavations made during the second half of the nineteenth century in the mounds of the first two have brought to light remains of charred bodies as well as many gold ornaments, which conclusively prove that Odin and Thor were buried here about five centuries before the Christian era, while similar excavations made as early as the seventeenth century on the alleged site of Upsala Temple, the great holy place of the Svea race (as Swedes were once called), unearthed bones of horses and ravens that had once been offered by the Svea people as expiatory offerings to Freyr, the god of yearly crops. Here was held the Witan of the Sveas, when, with great clanging and clashing of swords and shields, their leaders would debate and decide the wars that they would wage; and here too, not only men and animals were offered up to Freyr, but even kings if times were bad or pests came to lay waste the land or deplete the nation of its fighting men.

Upsala itself is a pleasant and picturesque town which, if a little marred architecturally by the unnecessary restorations that have been made to its old Cathedral, the largest church in Sweden, presents many attractive and beautiful features. On the highest point of the town stands the castle, a huge red-bricked building with two round towers erected by Gustavus Vasa in the sixteenth century, which dominates not only the city but also the surrounding countryside, while other buildings which are worthy of notice include the somewhat severe but attractive neo-classical University Library called Carolina Rediviva, the dome-covered building Gustavianum, and Deprez’ Orangery in the Botanical Gardens, which was opened in 1807 during the centenary celebration of Linnaeus’ birthday. There are also a number of old bridges on the river Fyris which have not been replaced by modern ones, while the town has generally an old-world atmosphere which predisposes the traveller and student to regard it with friendly eyes. Though lacking in the architectural beauty that has given Oxford such an unique position among the universities of the world, Upsala possesses a tradition that is almost as venerated among Swedish students as Oxford is among Englishmen.

As will be seen, therefore, there are few capitals that have at their doors surroundings more picturesque or more easily accessible than Stockholm, the combination of attractions that it affords to the traveller, its beautiful site and historic associations, its old-world buildings and sparkling waterways being unsurpassed anywhere. There is but one thing lacking to the Swedish capital, and that is cheap, good accommodation. The town is almost entirely bereft of hotels that are both good and inexpensive, and its charm would be immeasurably increased by their presence. Many commodities, too, are far dearer than in England. Cigarettes, shoes and articles of clothing cost nearly twice as much as in London, while whisky and wine are almost prohibitive, an ordinary whisky costing as much as one shilling and sixpence and being unobtainable if you do not take food with it, though in fairness I must add that the quality of the wine, and especially the Burgundy, that may be bought in the best hotels is exceptional. The best hotel in the capital is the Grand Royal, and while there are others that are also first-class there are none which possess as good a cuisine; its dining-hall, moreover, being one of the finest in the world. The tables are arranged on two sides of a court in the centre of what was the old Royal Hotel, and under the high glass roof there is a lawn of perpetually green grass with a fountain in the centre and flower-beds, palm trees, and shrubs. Sometimes tables are set out on the grass. One side of the court is fashioned to represent the tower of an old royal castle.

[Illustration: TIMBER ON THE RIVER ÅNGERMAN, HARNÖSAND]

It would be ungracious, however, to insist on a single defect in a spot so rich in varied beauties, and throughout the north of Europe it would be difficult to find a town so full of attractions as the Swedish capital. At the same time the intending visitor will do well to choose his time for seeing it. The pleasantest time to visit it is undoubtedly June, before the Swedes take their yearly holiday; but in winter, as I will show in a subsequent chapter, it may also be seen to advantage, the thermometer being usually so low and the sun’s rays so ineffective, that winter sports can be practised almost continuously for several months of each year.